Let's see your BICYCLE!

[univalve]

BMX is a life Style. I still have Mine but don't Swing it since 6 years. It is far to stressful for distance rides and i don't have time for Session riding.
And i still have my dirt bike...
Breaksmy Heart to mit Ride them, but Even more painful to think about Selling them. So they are ready to ride in my Garage.

[Disarm D'arcy]

Finally got to make it work. Cycling to and from work all summer

I've been looking at cargo bikes too, mostly the bullit from Larry Vs Harry. Looks pretty rad and I'd love to ride that kind of mofo everywhere for groceries. Though I'm a little concerned with the price and having it stolen. Do you guys have experience with those?

[repoman]

No, those look super cool though.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k-o2-1IA4A[/youtube]

[Chankgeez]

Bullitt looks awesome. I wouldn't wanna ride a bike like that everywhere though.

How many groceries are you carrying?

Maybe just get a big backpack or something?



http://www.bagaboo.hu

[Disarm D'arcy]

I'm not gonna carry laundry soap and toilet paper and such in a backpack.

I have a chill Eastpak backpack with fluorescent paracord wrapped around the handle. Roomy enough for a couple baguettes and a couple more items. Already keep so much stuff in there: a D lock, a small toolkit (wrenches for wheels, multitool for everything else, tire levers), spare tubes, some water, an emergency wind breaker and a set of lights.

[Chankgeez]

I'm not gonna carry laundry soap and toilet paper and such in a backpack.

Why not?

I think those backpacks are huge. The capacity of the large pack is 34 litres. How much laundry soap and toilet paper do you buy at a time?

[Thylacine Dream]

Hey ILB!

So I don't know dick about bikes, only learned to ride relatively recently, but I found what probably used to be a nice bike (pic in next post, having trouble attaching it) in the trash and was hoping for some guidance on cheaply getting it safe and rideable, and if it'd even be worth it.

I'd need a new seat, obviously. The brakes seem good, I can't really check the shifters till I can ride it (still have a tenuous grasp of how shifting works anyway), the back tire's nice and plump but the front is either punctured or needs air. Is a chain that rusty in danger of snapping? Anything else I need to look out for?

Thanks y'all! I'm on mobile, so I don't know if the pic'll be too big, I'll try to edit if so.

[Thylacine Dream]

Okay, second question, I've tried a couple different sizes for the pic and it just reloads the draft page every time I hit "add the file," anyone know why?

[Chankgeez]

IDK. If you use an image hosting site, try to do it that way. The pic may still be too large to post otherwise.

I'll have a better idea of your first question after I see the bike.

[Thylacine Dream]

Here ya go
http://imgur.com/a/ySR3E

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, it's a nice bike. Good quality components: Shimano Deore shifters, Tioga headset, Araya rims.

I can see why it might be in the trash though. It's definitely worth fixing up, but it may not be cheap.

Probably needs: new tubes, new tires, new chain, new cables, new saddle, new brake pads, maybe more?

The chain likely won't snap, but isn't worth saving. A new chain will make for a much better ride.

How much are you willing to spend to fix it up?

[Thylacine Dream]

That's the thing, I'm broke but I'd love to be able to ride it, even if the ride is shitty, so right now I wanna spend as little as possible. But if I'm getting plenty of use out of it I wouldn't mind investing in it later if/when money improves. But since I'm new to bikes, my tastes are still simple.

[Chankgeez]

I'd fix it up.

Do you have a friend who's a bike mechanic or are you gonna take it to a shop?

If you're taking it to a shop, I could easily see it being at least $300 to get it riding nicely. (Of course, you could always just do the bare minimum to get it going and then upgrade stuff when you have the funds.) At the least, you should bring it in to a shop and listen to what they tell you about fixing it up. Even if you don't plan on having 'em do the work on it.

[Thylacine Dream]

No mechanic friends. So what would you say the bare minimum is, new saddle and tires? Or would I just have to take a shop's advisement on that?

[Chankgeez]

It's difficult to tell from photos what it really needs. You can bring it to a few different shops to get a few opinions on what's the least you can do to get it going.

So, the saddle has all the padding stipped off of it? If that's the case (and nothing else's wrong with it), it's still rideable. It'll just be a little uncomfortable. You can pick up a cheap saddle though. (Bike shops have what they call "take-off" bins. New parts that've been taken off new bikes that people've upgraded. You can find some good stuff in there.) May not be the best fit, but it may take a little while to find one you like.

If the rubber's cracked on those tires, I'd replace 'em. If not, they still might have some life left in 'em.

Best thing to do is take it to a bike shop and tell 'em you wanna do the bare minimum to it to get it riding. You can post what they tell you here and we can figure out what you really need.