What's the best source for cheap used bikes in the Washington DC area?

October 7, 2006 9:41 AM

I'd like to find an old road bike ripe for conversion to fixed gear on the cheap. Thought it would be easy, as it seems to me there must be a huge cache of these sitting in a warehouse somewhere. (Doesn't WMATA and/or the cops pick these up on a regular basis?). The only source I can find is Craigslist, but that has not been very good, at least not yet. Anybody know of anything better? Police auction? Used bike wholesaler? Or perhaps my expectations are too high? Thanks.
posted by gregoryc to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (16 answers total)

Try some thrift stores.
posted by lee at 10:00 AM on October 7, 2006

Ebay is your friend. 100 billion steel road bikes from the 1980s with horizontal dropouts just await your $250 bid...
posted by perissodactyl at 10:04 AM on October 7, 2006

Perhaps these folks might know where to point you? Also, many regular road bike frames won't be great for use as a fixed gear. The rear dropouts need to be fairly "deep", for lack of a better word, and horizontally oriented. Meaning, you need some range available for the location of the rear axle, since there won't be a derailer to give or take slack in the chain. You can certainly make this conversion with good results - just something to keep in mind when looking for a frame. (Sorry if you're already aware of this.)
On preview, as perissodactyl notes.
posted by zoinks at 10:09 AM on October 7, 2006

Also check Chain Reaction. It's a bike shop that specializes in fixing old bikes and they ahve a few to sell.
posted by destro at 10:20 AM on October 7, 2006

Got mine at the Salvation Army for 20 bucks, I think. Search the AskMe archives - there's been more than one thread on this, I think.
posted by Opposite George at 10:26 AM on October 7, 2006

You are inducing some pretty terrible old steel frame hunger pangs in me, gregoryc-- thanks a lot.

Check out this old ('82) 58cm, triple-butted Fuji which, to judge by the strange derailleur-hangerless dropouts, appears to have been manufactured to be a single-speed.
posted by jamjam at 11:16 AM on October 7, 2006

It's hard to find them, actually. Here in Philly we've got Via Bicycle which sells just what you want, as complete bikes, but even there they're approaching $200 each.
posted by The Michael The at 11:27 AM on October 7, 2006

dont look in big cities. drive out to suburbs and you'll find them everywhere in garage sales. in the cities, as TheMichaelThe pointed out, they are in high demand because many, many people have had the exact same idea.
posted by yonation at 12:41 PM on October 7, 2006

Second yonation's get-out-of-town tip, adding that thrift shops in those areas seem to price their merchandise lower, and have less traffic which means the good stuff sticks around longer.
posted by Opposite George at 1:49 PM on October 7, 2006

Oh, and here in CT, there's a paper called the Bargain News which doesn't charge for most listings, meaning it's loaded with ads from people clearing out the garage. This means lots of old (you want old -- P(horizontal dropout) ~ (age of bike) ) and cheap bikes.

Maybe there's a similar publication in the DC area?
posted by Opposite George at 1:57 PM on October 7, 2006

drop me an email and ill send you a link to a small dc based fixed gear forum. they should be able to help. adam at onetwentyeight.com (id post the link here but im not sure they'd be thrilled with a heavy influx of traffic). They're a tight little bunch, good people for sure. adam at onetwentyeight dot com
posted by atom128 at 2:28 PM on October 7, 2006

oh and welcome to the fun world of riding fixed!
posted by atom128 at 2:30 PM on October 7, 2006

Thought it would be easy.

Although you should give all the sources listed so far a try, I am sad to inform you that you are jumping on the bandwagon a bit late. Every latte-sipping, beret-adorned hipster has been scouring bikeshops for old frames with fixed-gear potential for the last couple years. Most of the low-hanging fruit have been picked -- you will have to look really hard or pay the market price for a newer fixie.
posted by randomstriker at 2:43 PM on October 7, 2006

What I read once was that you could convert ANY bike into a fixed gear bike buy making use of a small handful of sturdy man-sized zip-ties and lacing the backside of the rear sprockets to the closest spokes.

Just make sure to pick your favorite gear first, and don't shift. ;-)
posted by Wild_Eep at 4:44 PM on October 7, 2006

Yup, I too have had lots of success from garage sales in the suburbs.
posted by -harlequin- at 10:16 PM on October 7, 2006

I'd subscribe to the local freecycle and if allowed post a wanted.
posted by Mitheral at 9:38 PM on October 8, 2006