Old skool and in!! Retrobike charity scheme?

Shaznaz786 · Oct 1, 2021

Where do I start?
Ok. Bikes, raleigh chopper was my first bike red and yellow. What a heavy, cumbersome, risk your life going downhill more than 6 miles an hour.. front wheel wobble..but the adrenalin buzz was great.. how I loved it and hated it..
There was a bike shop near where I lived in Bury, mountain bikes.. 80's.. wash lane. Leisure Lakes with really expensive bikes..always wondered why they'd located there?, as mine was a downtrodden area. Maybe rent was cheap..
Fast forward 1996. Start a job. Buy a bike new from leisure lakes in Tarleton, near Preston. kona explosif columbus max..
Love that bike. Many adventures.
My formulative years involved bikes, made me who I am.
It's time to give back..
It's fairly bleak out there.
Children addicted to social media, drugs and not doing very much. I remember the old days...
There are some community cycling schemes around.
The retrobike Community have skills, parts they don't need, heck even whole bikes hanging on walls?? Imagine that.?
What's going to happen in the future?
Our kids will inherit some of them.. Will they be appreciative.? Or flog them quick.
I'm simple, 19 bikes no wallhangers..
I don't know.. I've got bikes I'd like to give away.. karma. Frames, forks etc.
There are others with a similar mentality, that has been demonstrated time and again on this forum.
Find some good causes, send bikes over or some of us can do karma builds with others sending required parts in..all the non minty but functioning..
Donate bikes to said good causes.
Pics to confirm.
Frankenbikes at their best.
Could even have a frankenbike of the month?
I buy most of my bikes because I wonder how they ride ?
Once I've ridden them I lose interest 50 percent of the time..
I think it'd be good to try and help communities to get on their bikes, no pun intended..
My tuppence worth, may be worth less than tuppence in this modern age..
Just a discourse required methinks.

Shaznaz786 · Oct 1, 2021

Here's one..I'd give it away. Posted. Marin pine mountain set up as a tourer. Alivio groupset. I might keep the seat, and wheelset, stem, post etc.. but a wheelset will be included. It will be a fully rideable bike for those who can't afford a decent one.
Kona explosif is a no no btw.

Shaznaz786 · Oct 1, 2021

I've also got same year pine mountain frame with a stuck seatpost.. I've got some bars, stems, etc etc which could be donated for someone to build a bike. Aluminium frames etc.. need a concerted effort though.

amoto65 · Oct 1, 2021

Well said that man, Could do with finding( setting up) an operation like the one in London that supplies bikes to people looking for work so they can get to interviews and commute, Count me in though it's a good plan.

Shaznaz786 · Oct 1, 2021

Imagine.. said John Lennon..then someone shot him.
Dedicated charity even? Funded by us.
Monies collected used to have a central hub for parts and frames.. or some of you klein and yeti collectors can give a few acres out of your garden

or one of those big hangers they have at the airport for servicing aeroplanes..?
Some other retrobikers could assemble said parts into bikes. Obviously, the hub would be located where the greatest number of retrobikers could participate easily.
Third group to distribute fittingly once completed.
A fourth group, known as the reconnaissance would snipe the online vendors to secure more items to distribute..
If you're going to dream.. make it big.

Shaznaz786 · Oct 1, 2021

amoto65 said:
Well said that man, Could do with finding( setting up) an operation like the one in London that supplies bikes to people looking for work so they can get to interviews and commute, Count me in though it's a good plan.

Thanks Steve,
There's too many of us getting older and hoarding bikes... I'm one of them.

marc two tone · Oct 1, 2021

Could be depth of memory wobble, but im sure a similar scheme was discussed. Many years back.
Although intentions are worthy of praise and count for a lot of goodness....

There's too much legality/red tape. Affiliate to this, that. Register as, this, that just to get anywhere. Premises? Costs of said premises. Staffing, who deals with all the logistics...
You could stand in the street with a bike and give it away, then the feds may want to know its origin/proof of ownership.
Totally dumped on the concept, havnt i?
Its not me though, im with you.
I just have experience of that donate-do up-give away/sell on schemes.
It all ends up a business like structure.

Alternatively, advertise locally, provide locally. A more personal edge to it all.

Shaznaz786 · Oct 1, 2021

The level of oversight, bureaucracy and interference has reached a new zenith in the past 18 months..
Will get worse..
George Orwell was right. " big brother is watching you"

Tootyred · Oct 4, 2021

I tried to set up a scheme through a local reuse charity to give bikes to rural community centres, so people could borrow them to promote cycling and healthy living.....great.....everybody onboard......brill.

Then the council piped up and said " on your bike, not a chance". They wanted the bikes inspected professionally after every ride, due to their concern about being held liable should an accident occur ( what happens if the previous rider undid the front wheel etc). Then they started asking about the level of instruction and training each user was going to get!.....this is the brakes, this is pedal, this is your arse, here's your elbow etc!

Non starter at that point.

Bureaucracy.....oh yes.

Repacker · Oct 4, 2021

Maybe I'm missing the point of this post, but there are lots of place that take donated bikes / old tools/ part that we might not want, and turn them into something good for the local community. And they'll take care of any red tape and H&S aspects....

I just did a quick search on bike recycling for various cities, and saw there's plenty of opportunity to send your bikes to a good cause.....

Here's a random few as examples, I'm sure many locations have something similar -