The Old Bikes of Spring

Now is the time to haunt Craigslist if you're looking for an old bike to restore or refurbish this spring. As people clean out their sheds, basements, and garages for spring cleaning, they just want to get rid of these "rusty old clunkers" and put them up for just a few bucks. In the last few days, the following CHEAP old bikes have been posted to my local Craigslist, along with several others without photos, all for $50 or less. Alas, with two almost-finished projects, and one long-term unfinished project, I can't justify rescuing any of them. Sigh.

Cycleworks Tyseley, Birmingham, England, single-speed ($30)

Murray 3-speed ($20)

With bikes like this, you can be pretty certain that they're not stolen, since the photos are clearly taken in someone's back yard, and they look to have been just recently pulled from the shed, which is probably just out of the shot. I've bought several (the Runwell, the Huffeigh, and the Mundo project) from people cleaning out their sheds, all for around $50 or much less.

If you don't have a bike rack on your car, bring along your tools (and some old sheets or towels to cover the seats), take the wheels off, lower the handlebars, and you should be able fit the whole works in your trunk or back seat without a problem. If I can fit 'em in our little Hyundai, anything is possible. Happy hunting!