DI Y

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This well-used kids’ BMX bike needed only new tubes and some chain oil to return it to use.

BIKE SCROUNGING

How to fix a castoff bike and give it away.

By Thomas Arey

I’m going to venture a guess that many makers’ earliest experiences working with tools and trying to figure out machines involved a bicycle. Even today it’s the rare kid who hasn’t tried to fix or even modify their bike. It’s one of the reasons I still have great hope for humanity.

Photography by Thomas Arey

Cycling is good basic transportation, a boon to the cardiovascular system, and most of all, fun! But have you ever considered that cycling can also be free?

In the course of the trash picking and dumpster diving I do to bring these occasional articles to MAKE, I often run across bicycles left at the curb with other signs of our society’s tendency to toss away what might be repaired or repurposed.

I’ve taken many of these rejected rides, turned them back into working bicycles, and donated them, either locally or through service organizations, to

folks whose lives can literally be changed by owning a bicycle.

My general experience shows that the parts from 2 or 3 disposed bikes can make for 1 good bike. Any leftover parts from each scrounging venture go into storage to support future bike recovery operations.

Bicycle recovery is the perfect “learn by doing” process. Beyond stripping some threads (also repairable) you can’t really hurt anything. Mixing and matching parts from different bikes will make you more adept at repair. This can even turn into a marketable skill with enough practice. Good bicycle mechanics are hard to find.

Your public library and the internet will turn up dozens of books and websites to help you get beyond the basics quickly. A good book that covers just about everything you need to know and more is The

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