Used bike parts

[Psyminh]

Hi everyone!

A compound question for you:

I was recently given a beat up old Raleigh road bike for free. Free? Yeah, free, because it's not in working order, and needs a big overhaul. I was going to make it a project of mine to repair this summer, as a learning experience for how to put a bike together (never done it before).

The thing is (and here's the compound part): I'm trying to make 2008 my Buy Nothing Year, meaning that I'm doing my best not to purchase anything new, other than essentials (food, toiletries, etc.) I've posted on Facebook about it, if you want to check it out.

That being said, I was wondering if people could suggest places where I might go to get used bike parts - potentially wheels (including a rear cassette), chain, innertubes and tires. The brakes seem to work okay, so that's one less thing to worry about ;-)

Let me know!

[Pouya]

Great! That's a great idea to fix it yourself. You will learn a lot. I have heard of Bike Pirates which either you can get parts for free at certain times or for really cheap. I haven't personally been there but you can find out more about them here:

http://bikepirates.com

Good luck!

[Svend]

Put the word out on craigslist in the bike buy & sell about your project, I think you might get donations of some parts or a chance to barter something else you might want to get rid of.
Bike Pirates sounds like a cool group, I bet they'd help you especially if you can trade something useful.

[Psyminh]

Thanks guys, that's a big help!

[joe]

Hey Psyminh,

That "Buy Nothing Year" sounds cool - what's the facebook link you mentioned?

[Psyminh]

Woops... I just checked, and it used to be easier to find just by searching on FB. You can find my note here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=8139882314