I've been attempting to tidy up the bike room in the cellar and I have too much stuff, but I'm struggling to deal with it.
I'm 100% of the opinion that if I throw something away, I'll need it the next week. I'm also so tight I squeak when I walk, so chucking stuff in the bin rather than monetizing it is BAD. Also landfill BAD...
But still.
I have an overflowing tray of chainring bolts. Having "some" spares would be useful, but I could lose half a day sorting through them and making up sets and still not actually reduce the numbers noticeably. Ally? Steel? Black, silver? Is good (Shimano) ally better than cheap rusty steel? How many is enough? And I know if I'm building a new bike, I'll probably buy new ones if needed, because "new"...
Rotor bolts, the same - every new rotor comes with 6 bolts, but I have Ti bolts on all the bikes in use, but throwing away any kind of fastener is just wrong. I also have another tray of very similar looking bottlecage bolts. Impasse
I've got a shelf full of tired SPD pedals. The kind where the bearings are a bit sloppy and the cleat bindings are noticeably worn so release is a bit touch and go. Fine for commuting (but I only need 1 pair for that), too rattly for road riding; too unpredictable for MTB. No one would buy them, even the XTR ones, as they don't come with cleats (£20) and you can get an entire new pair of pedals with cleats for £30...
Chain link offcuts from new chains. What do you do with them? Surely they have "A" use?
25 knackered disc rotors. Mostly Hope floaters, so they were quite expensive when new. Keeping "A" spare in each size as a get out of jail option would make sense, but then there's another few hours gone measuring and sorting them to weed out the best ones. To weigh them in at the scrappies with all the other scrap metal (there's a bunch of carparts I need to take in too), I'd need to drill the rivets out and split the spider out - I've got better things to do.
....and on and on and on...
Then I think at a rough count I've got 7 frames in the loft, just taking up space. They're all "good" stuff, but well used. While I still have them, they're worth "something" and they all have good memories attached. But what's a 2009 Intense Uzzi VP with a downtube that looks like its been beaten with a ballpein hammer actually worth?? What about a Cotic Hemlock (1 careful lady owner), or a Santa Cruz Roadster with a cracked fork and corrosion bubbling up underneath the paint?
Someone will no doubt say ebay - I've never sold stuff there (or FB market place). I just can't be bothered with dealing with dickheads, and it all seems like far too much effort for an unpredictable return.
Bike recycle places? A possibility, but I have it on good authority that they bin a lot of the stuff they get donated as they just can't move it on or use it - which I get. The kind of person who goes there as a customer will be after a practical life bike/parts for getting to and from work or doing the shopping - not mostly worn out high-end jewellery or 2.5 sticky rubber DH tyres.
...so all the shite carries on sitting there and looking at me. And I keep looking at it....
(and then there's all the wood offcuts in the other cellar we moved house with 14 years ago "but useful"...)
Help....!
I'm similar(ish). Just last night I put some chain links from a brand new chain into my spares tub which already houses probably 10 similar length bits of chain "offcut". Chain on the bike is setup perfectly so I'll never need to add anymore links...
*is the Roadster a medium? 😉
It's hard isn't it? Too good to bin, not good enough the bother selling!
Unsentimental and sensible option? Metal to the tip for recycling, anything useful to a commuter to a recycling place.
*EDIT*
I have a mk1 SC Chameleon with a dented top tube in my garage rafters. It'll never be a bike again so I might as well skip it, the rear disc adapter might be useful to a retro fan...
On the flip side, I occassionally have a mass clearout and a) it feels good and b) I've never (yet) needed anything I've binned/sold/given away/donated etc
You might be me, or vice versa.
So many of those little triangle bags that hold 6 Hope rotor bolts. As for chainring bolts, most of my bikes have direct mount chainrings. Tools as well, I have a 3 piece campagnolo spanner set for cup and cone bottom brackets and 1" threaded headsets. Found some PD-M636 in the bottom of a box the other day. I ride flats off road. There's even a Fox Alps 5 rear shock kicking around as well
I had a hard sort out and took loads of stuff to a local charity that builds and sells bikes to underprovided kids and adults. Meant none went in land fill and most (lets me honest, not all) will get used for good.
I will never use most of the stuff anyway.
I once sold a Hope Pro 4 hub 142x12 as all mountain bikes were boost.
About a month later, I needed a free hub body which cost more than the hub I sold.
It's hard to throw out good kit.
I once sold a Hope Pro 4 hub 142x12 as all mountain bikes were boost.
About a month later, I needed a free hub body which cost more than the hub I sold.
It's hard to throw out good kit.
I've had a pair of DT240s built into 26" wheels hanging round spare since 2019 - plan was they'd end up in a gravel wheel set. of course hasn't happened. A couple of months ago, the missus needed a new rear hub on her commuter, having worn out the ratchet on the 98(?) vintage Hope Ti Glide. So the DT got rebuilt into 700C - hurrah - "keeping old stuff IS a good thing!!". But of course it needed changing from XD/142x12-> HG/QR, which cost as much as a cheap hub would have done and leaves me with more spare parts and a not-matching anything front hub.
...and a quite pretty, but fundamentally ****ed assembly of ally and Ti. What do you do with that???
It's hard isn't it? Too good to bin, not good enough the bother selling!
...and that's before we even get onto bikes. £1k bikes for which you'd struggle to get someone to pay £200 now, barely feels worth the effort
If you’ve got a DT Swiss 24H 142mm centre lock disc mount rear hub in there I’m interested in it!
Otherwise I’m in the same situation- have a pair of Kona bars from 1995 in my workshop that are about 500mm wide - not sure why I still have them!
Ebay hemlock and uzzi frame
Everything else in the bin/recycling!
My workshop/shed is too small to store loads of stuff and still have enough room to work in it, so I'm ruthless about getting rid of crap. Just take what is usable to the charity place and take all the rest of it to the metal recycling bin at the tip.
Don't think I've ever missed anything that's gone, certainly not if it was replaced because it was worn anyway.
Tools as well, I have a 3 piece campagnolo spanner set for cup and cone bottom brackets and 1" threaded headsets.
I don't think I've got anything of quite that vintage but I definitely have an ISIS BB tool and probably a square taper BB tool.
Haven't used either such standard for many years.
I've done eBay for a few of the higher value bits (old MTB, wheels etc) but it does become a pain listing everything then dealing with the inevitable flood of idiot questions.
Oh, and 4 Reverbs, all of varying degrees of f*ckedness plus spares. There's got to be someone out there who like rebuilding them and will take them for the cost of postage???
Another vote for taking it to the local bike charity/community/repair shop.
All the expendables to you like chainring and (new) rotor bolts will be incredibly useful to them. Even tyres that might be past their best to you but have life left in them to someone else, my local one has a 'we've not checked them but they're yours for £10 each at your own risk' pile. I took a few boxes of my unwanted tat to them and they were incredibly grateful, they helped get a lot of bikes back on the road.
I do still have a drawer of inner tube valve caps that I'm not sure what to do with.
It’s the tool thing that gets me. I have got loads of AF and non metric tools that I will never ever use again, but what to do with them?
I recently had a bike purge and took three bikes, a load of forks and wheels to the local bike charity but still have lots of what is basically junk. I think it will be down to my kids to clear it all when I have gone!
Sell any bigger items on eBay and donate the rest to a bike co-op, or take it to your local recycling centre if it's of no practical use (old chain bits etc).
Yep, I have a similar issue. My problem is I love the process of building a bike so have a lot of 'bit's lying around.
The biggest issue I have is dealing with dickheads. I don't like random people coming to my house, especially where higher value items is concerned. This rules out FB marketplace completely and now Ebay are so difficult I'm reluctant to use them too. Shipping stuff is a pain in the arse. So things just get stashed.
One of my difficulties is being a bit more remote so there are few local buyers and then I'm relying on Royal Mail for everything. I mean, how much does it even cost to post a pair of wheels?
It’s the tool thing that gets me. I have got loads of AF and non metric tools that I will never ever use again, but what to do with them?
There's a charity called TWAM, (Tools with a mission) that would have them off you.
The biggest issue I have is dealing with dickheads. I don't like random people coming to my house, especially where higher value items is concerned. This rules out FB marketplace completely and now Ebay are so difficult I'm reluctant to use them too. Shipping stuff is a pain in the arse.
ebay almost force you to use Evri unless you stipulate that you will pay postage and you will decide what courier to use. They disguise it as "easy post" or something.
I've always arranged collection / delivery of larger items like bikes away from my house. Smaller stuff I'll post although I only realised this easypost nonsense in the last two items I sold. Not an issue, there's a drop off point 2 min walk from mine but just the worry of dealing with such a notoriously shit courier company.
Really must get myself down to Bristol Bike Jumble one day. It's a hell of a trek but might shift a lot of stuff in one go.
I'm going through this process to...
I started off being pretty ruthless and binned stuff I knew I'd likely never need and had little or no resale value (worn stuff, cheap crap taken off new bikes, broken bits)
I'm now in phase two - sorting through the resaleable bits (and whether it's worth eBaying, bikes mostly, or taking to the bike jumble for random other stuff). Also sorting out a bit more shelving in the garage to help with organising what I'm keeping.
Phase three will be binning/giving away anything that doesn't sell and properly organising anything I'm keeping
Phase four will be buying more random stuff I don't need and slowly getting myself back to the starting point over the next few years...
I'm about to embark on something similar. I've just ordered my first new bike in about twenty years which leaves me with a well used but functional 26" Cotic Rocket to shift. I'll probably swap some bits onto the new bike, and some onto the 456 that I'm keeping but then do I sell it as a full bike or split? There are some bits that are still fairly useable and others that are pretty much retro. We'll see...
Really must get myself down to Bristol Bike Jumble one day. It's a hell of a trek but might shift a lot of stuff in one go.
I think there's one in Manchester, at least there used to be, worth a Google at any rate.
Cheers for that.
i think On-One should start making the 456 again.
A budget/cheap steel frame that will take a wide range of forks, from suspension adjusted rigid, up to 150mm.
has swappable dropouts so you can put boost or non boost hubs with single speed, geared, hub gears, on it.
barnacles for bike packing and commuter pannier racks,
IS brake mounts (cause you can go from IS to PM, but not the other way.
external cable hose routing options.
A dissapoint lack of flexible parts-bin frames around these days.
Anything worn out needs to be binned, including part chains etc. Just had a massive garage clear out and binned some retro Mavic TT bars, some old lights and a Rolls saddle. Just couldn't be bothered to sell. It has to be done sometimes. I only have two small boxes of spare bits.
Scrap man for metal obviously
I have just literally had a clear out at the weekend, old 11 speed mechs, shifter, rotors, rings, cassettes, bar, stems and other crap. I bagged it all up and emptied it in to the metal skip at work this morning. Couldn’t be arsed to photograph it and advertise it for the little money I’d get and the hassle of posting it if it did sell.
I've done this several times over the years and can’t think of anything I’ve regretted getting rid off.
The thing is even if 1% of what you toss out is a thing you need next year you can buy online and have it in a few days.
I will need to have a clear out. At least two or three tents can go. Mrs IRCs camping days are behind her. The only tent I need is my one man bike tour/backpacking tent.
I've got every Singletrack magazine , all 164 of them , or I will have when issue 163 turns up . I cancelled in the middle of last year but then STW persuaded me back 🙄 I know they aren't worth anything but ....
I've also got a set of a magazine called Hot Rod and Custom UK in binders as well as Classic Motorcycling Legends again in binders 🙄🙄🙄
I drop mine at the local ReCycle group in Uxbridge. I give them decent stuff as well as surplus. They've had:
A ladies dutch roadster
A WTP BMX
A caad8 frame which needed serious BB replacemebt
A KMX trike
Wheels and a baby seat, saddles and bars.
i’m happy to see nice stuff go somewhere it will be used. All but the CAAD8 could have been sold for nominal value. But O’d tather donate.
I have come to the conclusion that one upcoming weekend I am driving a car full of bikes, spares and every last bike related thing that isn't getting used (or realistically likely to be used in the next 6 months) to the local community cycle centre.
What they don't want is going in the bin (metal bin etc when appropriate).
Otherwise my shed is effectively pseudo landfill, other than it's just sitting on the surface.
Re. the ebay easy post thing. Last few things I sold on there I just ticked the option that said it was oversize or weight or whatever it says(it wasn't either of those things). Then you can just enter a cost for postage and use whichever courier you prefer.
Then you can just enter a cost for postage and use whichever courier you prefer.
This is a fairly recent addition. the last set of bars I had sold I had no choice but to go DHL post for about £15. recently listed another set and it's allowed me to pick a price and use my own courier.
Just had a holiday garage clear out and tidy up. Put a load of stuff on Freecycle. Half of it went straight away, some things are sat in the porch awaiting collectors who haven't bothered to turn up. I'll give it until the weekend, anything left will go to the tip, which does annoy me but what can you do.
I had collected part worn chains, cassettes and chainrings for a while, they all go to metal recycling at the tip now.
Trying to sell a Kurt Kinetic turbo trainer with a Tacx tyre for a tenner but it's not smart so no one wants it. That'll be going on Freecycle next. Anyone want it? Or a pink Micro scooter? Or some waterproof Halfords car seat covers? Or a Bosch strimmer that needs a plug? Save it from landfill, please! I'm in Worthing