Andy this video was almost perfect timing. My wife and I started a bicycle charity in our small town. We have struggled with the idea of selling bikes that are shop quality to offset the cost. I want to thank you for some insight on the process for co-op and bike giveaways.
The surplus is real! I started tinkering with old bikes this year and unwanted bikes magically started showing up in my garage when friends and neighbors realize I can get them back on the road. Clean, lube, adjust, rinse, repeat! Thanks for the videos!
I gotta be real, I am quickly becoming enamored with your work, and your channel. You have such an honest focus on community aid and organization, and that's just downright inspiring. I think young people really need good role models like you, because this is what being great looks like.
Nice lugged frame on that critter. My first road bike was an Orbea-Eibar 10 speed. Weird Spanish bike but beautiful lugged frame. Didn’t know what I had when I bought it for $50 (in 1974). Rode it awhile and gave it away.
If someone gave me a free bike when I was a wee lil kid, I'd be super happy. My mother sold our bmx because we were short of cash at the time. Sold for $20. That was a sad day.
This breaks my heart to hear. I feel bad for your Mom having to make that decision, and I feel bad for you having to sell your possession. I really hope things got better for you.
I had a French touring frame, a circa 1975 Motobecane Grand Record, talk about weird sizes for everything. lovely riding bike, reynolds 531 double butted everything, silk sewups (ok, it came with cottons, but I upgraded), campy shifters (friction 2x5). its beat all to heck, even has a dent across the front of the head tube where I ran into a road cable at twilight, but its still hanging in my garage.
I have 10 old bikes. I just had an old Bob Jackson upgraded by my LBS with nice Shimano 105 parts. Most of my old steel frames have been restored into daily riders by my local shop. I picked up a few 1970s Raleighs for next to nothing and they were excellent bikes with a little TLC.
That's exactly what I do here in my town, too. Our non profit organization takes donations, I fully restore the bikes (no cost for the organization, all by me, including new parts) and we use them on social events. Tomorrow, for example, we have an event: every person who donates an used toy in good shape can join the draw and win a fully restored bike. All the toys will be donated to poor kids on Christmas.
I love it so much that as I'm sitting here watching this video, uploaded less than an hour ago, the view count is just SOARING. We love to see it. 😁🖤🙏🏻
Dude here in Belgium it's completely insane how many people have really nice old steel road bikes! I myself got a free one with Columbus SLX tubing, a Cinelli spoiler BB shell, Campag dropouts, internally routed rear brake and rear derailleur cables and Shimano 600 tricolor. I ended up sinking a chunk of money in it and it's a really great road bike now. Keeps up with the latest carbon bikes just fine.
Andy, my understanding was that it was a major sponsor of fb4k's that did not want to sell any of the high end bikes even though those bikes wouldn't be a good fit for what the program was designed for. Now sponsorship has changed and we are trying to offer these bikes 1st to volunteers as incentive for their work. That money can be rolled back into the program as they always need supplies like tires and tubes. People donate so much bike stuff like studded tires, tubular tires, bike racks, saddle bags, etc, etc, etc. Now if we don't find a good home for it, it gets packed up in storage every year which just cost the program money. Ideally fb4k's needs to realize that inventy like any business has a carrying cost. Talk about a surplus of bikes, someone dropped off a mint Klein Kirsten bike at my local shop. They just dropped off in the bike like many people do. Only issue with it was the STI levers were gummed up due to infrequent use. The heat gun trick brought them back to life. Back in the 70's we would occasionally tap a french or english BB that had stripped threads to Italian as its a slightly bigger diameter thus saving the frame. Take care.
Look for a Columbus dove stamped into the steerer tube. And Italian bottom brackets are different in that both sides are right-hand thread, so the left side can unwind while you’re riding-brilliant!
@@bkefrmrSupposedly the actual ball bearings spin in the opposite direction, creating a tightening of the BB. It's kinda counter intuitive, but it works in practice.
@@bkefrmr Think about the drag when things rotate. Every bearing has some kind of drag. Now BSA is designed to tighten in, because the cups can be dealt with by applying proper force when time comes to undo them. Pedals on the other hand are threaded in a way such they don't over tighten to prevent the aluminium threads from getting slowly but surely stripped.
That bike frame is actually so cool. If that dropped into my lap I would defiitly tune her up and use it as a bar bike. (my wife, however, would not agree however and I would probably end up stripping the parts too)
Another good “rant”. We recently found out our local prison is starting their bike program back up. They will, again, be taking donated bikes, fixing them up, and getting them to kids who want them😊
I’ve bought 4 bikes (3 Treks and a specialized) in the last year…the most expensive was $50. 1 was free. There’s a TON of $25 bikes out there that work well enough.
One way is to collect a bunch of steel frames and sand and paint them in bulk in the same color like black or whatever is popular. If you do this for like 10 frames the cost is below 100$. Of course no decals and detail work.
Makes me sick when I see that. I have to hold myself back from stopping and grabbing the bike because I simply no longer have enough room in my tiny garage for more sh!t.
What makes french and italian bottom brackets a hassle is that the right side is threaded in the normal way unlike english bottom brackets. They have a tendency to unscrew them self.
I fully agree that an old road bike is hard to refurbish and sell without making a loss but ITA bottom brackets are easy to source, even the cheap Shimano Ultegra BB is available for ITA threads (20$). But of course this is not relevant to the overall problem.
There's more bicycles than people to ride them, hence why they are just sitting and rotting in garages/sheds/etc. One issue is there are people riding crap bikes that aren't worth keeping in service, so it would be nice if there were greater reach for community bike coops and used bike stores like Gibbs. Even if every single person who could use one of the idle/unused bikes got one, there'd still be a massive surplus, I suspect. My solution is to hoard a few really pristine 80's/90's bikes for another 25 or 30 years and then release them to the world and see what society does with some 60+ year old bikes. That ought to be interesting.
Interesting you would say bikes could transform the world. I saw a picture of 1980s Beijing and 2000s Beijing. They replaced all the bikes for Cars. Sounds like a marketing problem.
Slap L'Eroica on the sales tag, "profit". When I see bikes like this I think. Can it fit a 28mm tire? (My Italian job can only fit a 23mm in the rear) Can I get a modern square-taper on it?
The reason that we have so many bikes sitting around is manifold. Primarily, it's because most of us are cheap dreamers. Bikes aren't pricey like cars or motorcycles and we tend to dream that the purchase of a bike will unleash our fun, touring side. Rolling along meadow-lined avenues with the wind in our faces and all that - like an old French film. Yeah, no. Doesn't happen. We buy those little dream machines, try fulfilling the dream, and then realize how scary it is to be on the same road with cars. We also realize quickly that running errands on a bike isn't going to happen like we thought because we simply do not have the infrastructure for any purpose other than "occasional wheeling around the neighborhood". I live in the Minneapolis suburbs. There are too many damn cars around here and I've been hit by one (one was enough). I also hit my face VERY HARD on a fire hydrant a few years ago. From those two accidents, I was "blessed" with a torn anterior meniscus, three broken ribs, a severely sprained wrist (still hurts six years later), a shattered jaw, missing teeth, and - the coup de grâce - a brain bleed and a whole lotta recovery time for all of the above. It's frustrating when I find that I could take $2000 on a Craigslist spending spree this weekend and come home with 10-20 fully-functional, perfectly-serviceable bikes. Unfortunately, I already have four old bikes in my garage. I wish I could add more because bikes are just so cool-looking. The point of this is that if we have the infrastructure MAYBE we will have more people riding and fewer dormant bikes. Maybe. If you listen to some conspiracy theorists, perhaps bike riding will be forced upon us some day ("You will have nothing and be happy!").
High-end Italian racing frames are almost useless nowadays. Look at the rear triangle, for example. It was built for 23mm tires. What if you wanted to run a supple modern, high-quality 32mm tire? Fenders are out of the question. Enormous front chainrings, tiny rear cogs. The bike is slow compared to modern bikes, with almost no accounting for aerodynamics. If you are looking for an old steel frame, a better option is to look for a good quality non-racing frame usually from around 1986 or earlier that could accommodate larger tires. Those bikes almost always came with eyelets, making installing fenders and rear racks easy.
Can I put a shout out to a UK charity - Cyclists Fighting Cancer. If you have a decent bike from the past decade or so you don’t want, they’ll take it off your hands, refurbish it and sell it on. The money goes to an excellent cause. They are based in Stratford upon Avon.
That bike is far better quality than any modern racer, & not much slower. Unless you are a professional & paid to ride plastic throwaway devices there is no reason to ride anything more expensive.
Not really. The italian bottom bracket is crap. The ergonomy of the cockpit got better (I'm not referring to the electronic nonsense here). A slightly sloped top tube and longer saddle stem is indeed more convenient. Quilt stems are problematic too. A modern "plastic" frame just rides better. However the overpriced "western brand" hydraulic disc-brake tubeless carbon wheel nonsense is indeed just that: nonsense without technical merit.
Andy this video was almost perfect timing. My wife and I started a bicycle charity in our small town. We have struggled with the idea of selling bikes that are shop quality to offset the cost. I want to thank you for some insight on the process for co-op and bike giveaways.
I just restored a Torelli that looks very much like this one. Such a nice bike.
The surplus is real! I started tinkering with old bikes this year and unwanted bikes magically started showing up in my garage when friends and neighbors realize I can get them back on the road. Clean, lube, adjust, rinse, repeat! Thanks for the videos!
I gotta be real, I am quickly becoming enamored with your work, and your channel. You have such an honest focus on community aid and organization, and that's just downright inspiring. I think young people really need good role models like you, because this is what being great looks like.
Make Bicycling Great Again, or something like that.
@@HunterAtheist it was always great
Nice lugged frame on that critter. My first road bike was an Orbea-Eibar 10 speed. Weird Spanish bike but beautiful lugged frame. Didn’t know what I had when I bought it for $50 (in 1974). Rode it awhile and gave it away.
I'm glad i gave my 90's 10-speed racer to a friend who got good life with it. I miss him.
If someone gave me a free bike when I was a wee lil kid, I'd be super happy.
My mother sold our bmx because we were short of cash at the time. Sold for $20. That was a sad day.
This breaks my heart to hear. I feel bad for your Mom having to make that decision, and I feel bad for you having to sell your possession. I really hope things got better for you.
I had a French touring frame, a circa 1975 Motobecane Grand Record, talk about weird sizes for everything. lovely riding bike, reynolds 531 double butted everything, silk sewups (ok, it came with cottons, but I upgraded), campy shifters (friction 2x5). its beat all to heck, even has a dent across the front of the head tube where I ran into a road cable at twilight, but its still hanging in my garage.
I have 10 old bikes. I just had an old Bob Jackson upgraded by my LBS with nice Shimano 105 parts. Most of my old steel frames have been restored into daily riders by my local shop. I picked up a few 1970s Raleighs for next to nothing and they were excellent bikes with a little TLC.
That's exactly what I do here in my town, too. Our non profit organization takes donations, I fully restore the bikes (no cost for the organization, all by me, including new parts) and we use them on social events. Tomorrow, for example, we have an event: every person who donates an used toy in good shape can join the draw and win a fully restored bike. All the toys will be donated to poor kids on Christmas.
I love it so much that as I'm sitting here watching this video, uploaded less than an hour ago, the view count is just SOARING. We love to see it. 😁🖤🙏🏻
Dude here in Belgium it's completely insane how many people have really nice old steel road bikes! I myself got a free one with Columbus SLX tubing, a Cinelli spoiler BB shell, Campag dropouts, internally routed rear brake and rear derailleur cables and Shimano 600 tricolor. I ended up sinking a chunk of money in it and it's a really great road bike now. Keeps up with the latest carbon bikes just fine.
We have something like Free Bikes for Kids in Saint Louis, called B-Works STL. It's a great program, and also does Computers too!
Andy, my understanding was that it was a major sponsor of fb4k's that did not want to sell any of the high end bikes even though those bikes wouldn't be a good fit for what the program was designed for. Now sponsorship has changed and we are trying to offer these bikes 1st to volunteers as incentive for their work. That money can be rolled back into the program as they always need supplies like tires and tubes. People donate so much bike stuff like studded tires, tubular tires, bike racks, saddle bags, etc, etc, etc. Now if we don't find a good home for it, it gets packed up in storage every year which just cost the program money. Ideally fb4k's needs to realize that inventy like any business has a carrying cost. Talk about a surplus of bikes, someone dropped off a mint Klein Kirsten bike at my local shop. They just dropped off in the bike like many people do. Only issue with it was the STI levers were gummed up due to infrequent use. The heat gun trick brought them back to life. Back in the 70's we would occasionally tap a french or english BB that had stripped threads to Italian as its a slightly bigger diameter thus saving the frame. Take care.
Rule #1 of running a nonprofit: donors don’t make the rules
Look for a Columbus dove stamped into the steerer tube. And Italian bottom brackets are different in that both sides are right-hand thread, so the left side can unwind while you’re riding-brilliant!
I’ve always wondered why English BBs are threaded so they will loosen clockwise like while pedaling forward. The someone explained it to me. Can you?
@@bkefrmrSupposedly the actual ball bearings spin in the opposite direction, creating a tightening of the BB. It's kinda counter intuitive, but it works in practice.
@@HunterAtheist HIRED!!!
@@HunterAtheist I’m sorry, I know I could never afford you!
@@bkefrmr Think about the drag when things rotate. Every bearing has some kind of drag. Now BSA is designed to tighten in, because the cups can be dealt with by applying proper force when time comes to undo them. Pedals on the other hand are threaded in a way such they don't over tighten to prevent the aluminium threads from getting slowly but surely stripped.
That bike frame is actually so cool. If that dropped into my lap I would defiitly tune her up and use it as a bar bike. (my wife, however, would not agree however and I would probably end up stripping the parts too)
Free bikes are the best bikes!!
Another good “rant”. We recently found out our local prison is starting their bike program back up. They will, again, be taking donated bikes, fixing them up, and getting them to kids who want them😊
That Dawn powerwash spray is the real deal.
Torelli was an American company that imported contract built frames from various Italian builders.
IIRC most were made by Bilatto Brothers in Italy. I had a beautiful pre-Trek LeMond track bike made by them.
NYC has a non-profit that take in bike for donations or look for abandon ones, tune them up and sell/give away. Some local bike shops also do that.
Recycle a Bicycle is great! They do free bike maintenance classes as well.
I’ve bought 4 bikes (3 Treks and a specialized) in the last year…the most expensive was $50. 1 was free. There’s a TON of $25 bikes out there that work well enough.
One way is to collect a bunch of steel frames and sand and paint them in bulk in the same color like black or whatever is popular. If you do this for like 10 frames the cost is below 100$. Of course no decals and detail work.
true i see people putting out perfect working condition old harldly used bikes for garbage pickup
Makes me sick when I see that. I have to hold myself back from stopping and grabbing the bike because I simply no longer have enough room in my tiny garage for more sh!t.
Italian bottom bracket specs are pretty simple. It has a 36 mm diameter, 70 mm width, and 24tpi. They are readily available.
Did you know that off the top of your head?
@@bkefrmr
He wakes up in the morning and recites it before getting in the shower.
What makes french and italian bottom brackets a hassle is that the right side is threaded in the normal way unlike english bottom brackets. They have a tendency to unscrew them self.
@@Prizzly92 I wish I knew how to unscrew myself
@@Prizzly92 French is right hand threaded on both sides. Italian is reverse threaded on the fixed cup, just like English.
In ottawa we have re/cycles which gives space to repair with guidance and tools etc. i am going to build my bike there
I fully agree that an old road bike is hard to refurbish and sell without making a loss but ITA bottom brackets are easy to source, even the cheap Shimano Ultegra BB is available for ITA threads (20$). But of course this is not relevant to the overall problem.
There's more bicycles than people to ride them, hence why they are just sitting and rotting in garages/sheds/etc. One issue is there are people riding crap bikes that aren't worth keeping in service, so it would be nice if there were greater reach for community bike coops and used bike stores like Gibbs.
Even if every single person who could use one of the idle/unused bikes got one, there'd still be a massive surplus, I suspect.
My solution is to hoard a few really pristine 80's/90's bikes for another 25 or 30 years and then release them to the world and see what society does with some 60+ year old bikes. That ought to be interesting.
Thanks!
Thanks hey!
Danke!
Thanks
Interesting you would say bikes could transform the world. I saw a picture of 1980s Beijing and 2000s Beijing. They replaced all the bikes for Cars. Sounds like a marketing problem.
Where is my free bike? Bridgestone MB-1.
Slap L'Eroica on the sales tag, "profit".
When I see bikes like this I think. Can it fit a 28mm tire? (My Italian job can only fit a 23mm in the rear) Can I get a modern square-taper on it?
The reason that we have so many bikes sitting around is manifold. Primarily, it's because most of us are cheap dreamers. Bikes aren't pricey like cars or motorcycles and we tend to dream that the purchase of a bike will unleash our fun, touring side. Rolling along meadow-lined avenues with the wind in our faces and all that - like an old French film. Yeah, no. Doesn't happen. We buy those little dream machines, try fulfilling the dream, and then realize how scary it is to be on the same road with cars. We also realize quickly that running errands on a bike isn't going to happen like we thought because we simply do not have the infrastructure for any purpose other than "occasional wheeling around the neighborhood". I live in the Minneapolis suburbs. There are too many damn cars around here and I've been hit by one (one was enough). I also hit my face VERY HARD on a fire hydrant a few years ago. From those two accidents, I was "blessed" with a torn anterior meniscus, three broken ribs, a severely sprained wrist (still hurts six years later), a shattered jaw, missing teeth, and - the coup de grâce - a brain bleed and a whole lotta recovery time for all of the above.
It's frustrating when I find that I could take $2000 on a Craigslist spending spree this weekend and come home with 10-20 fully-functional, perfectly-serviceable bikes. Unfortunately, I already have four old bikes in my garage. I wish I could add more because bikes are just so cool-looking.
The point of this is that if we have the infrastructure MAYBE we will have more people riding and fewer dormant bikes. Maybe. If you listen to some conspiracy theorists, perhaps bike riding will be forced upon us some day ("You will have nothing and be happy!").
I would have loved that bike back in the day but they were pretty pricey. I bought Japanese bikes because you could get a lot for your money.
Dude keeps his dough in coffers. He's old-money.
High-end Italian racing frames are almost useless nowadays. Look at the rear triangle, for example. It was built for 23mm tires. What if you wanted to run a supple modern, high-quality 32mm tire? Fenders are out of the question. Enormous front chainrings, tiny rear cogs. The bike is slow compared to modern bikes, with almost no accounting for aerodynamics.
If you are looking for an old steel frame, a better option is to look for a good quality non-racing frame usually from around 1986 or earlier that could accommodate larger tires. Those bikes almost always came with eyelets, making installing fenders and rear racks easy.
if that was my bike from the 80's it wouldn't have been a hornets' nest in the seat bag, it would have been a couple of roaches
just sayin'
Everyone wants the new expensive fancy stuff, not realizing that these dinosaurs are still kicking butt with a little love needed.
YES. With Mountain biking, people don't realize that a cheap hardtail will get you into a sport where the perceived entry point is multiple $1000's.
You should hire a college student for a couple of hours a week to do your eBay stuff.
Or a poor retired guy.
So when do we get to see the finished bike?
That bike was worth to keep in one piece, is small chance that someone will try to put it back together...
Ope! Mic drop. Lol
Can I put a shout out to a UK charity - Cyclists Fighting Cancer. If you have a decent bike from the past decade or so you don’t want, they’ll take it off your hands, refurbish it and sell it on. The money goes to an excellent cause. They are based in Stratford upon Avon.
I'd love to restore old bikes and sell, but peps not willing to pay the price. Bike values do drop considerably, totally understandable.
What's a good used frame i could transform into a gravel?
One that fits 32 mm tires. Gravel is a new fancy name for cyclocross. That's all there is to this fashion trend.
I've been using a 26" 1990s mountain bike for gravel riding since 2011.
@@chicomojo I want a larger tire size. 700c.
@@rosomak8244 Thank you!
Ever think of doing a live video? Whether that be a typical bike fix video or a Q&A?
Yes. I’m thinking once the weather turns to shitty to golf, I’ll do a weekly live stream tuneup and answer questions on the fly. Might be kinda fun!
@@bkefrmr Awesome! I’d definitely tune in! Keep up the awesome videos!🤝🏻
That bike is far better quality than any modern racer, & not much slower. Unless you are a professional & paid to ride plastic throwaway devices there is no reason to ride anything more expensive.
Not really. The italian bottom bracket is crap. The ergonomy of the cockpit got better (I'm not referring to the electronic nonsense here). A slightly sloped top tube and longer saddle stem is indeed more convenient. Quilt stems are problematic too. A modern "plastic" frame just rides better. However the overpriced "western brand" hydraulic disc-brake tubeless carbon wheel nonsense is indeed just that: nonsense without technical merit.
@@rosomak8244 yes really. Steel bikes don't break when they fall over, handlebars are easily changed, & nobody cares about bottom brackets.
Bikes for Burritos!
Geez, Rick.. rough up that seat rails a bit more will ya?!?