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vickster
Legendary Member
Dorset according to his profile
Lozz360
Veteran
- Location
- Oxfordshire
Do you know how he managed to acquire so many bikes? I can only recall two individuals who acquired more. One is the late Robin Williams and the other was a prolific bike thief in Oxford.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Weigh them in for scrap, give the cheque to charidee. I've dealt with large batches of unwanted bikes (found and detained property) and maybe 1 in 20 was with the effort to revive, and as few as 1 in 50 a genuine gem. At auction they sell in bulk batches for 10 or 20 quid for 20 or 30 bikes, so the likelihood is that your chum is having a giraffe with the asking price.
Electric_Andy
Heavy Metal Fan
- Location
- Plymouth
It's likely that he is over-estimating their scrap value and expecting a hundred or more. Where in practice he'd be lucky to see £20 for the lot if he weighed it in for scrap. otherwsie he is a high class nobber if it's £500 to you, or he's throwing them away. What about showing him current scrap prices and offering him a tenner if you can have your pick of the best 3? Then he still gets to weigh the rest in for scrap if he thinks he's on to a fortune.
It is a nice idea to try and keep them all on the road. Unfortunately unless you donate them to a dedicated cycle restoration group/charity then very few people would want them. Often it's the free things that end up costing you most. New chains, cables, levers, brake blocks etc etc can add up to 50 or 60 quid if you include the materials used as well (sand paper, paint, WD, etc). And at that price point, I think it unlikely that anyone would be able to shift them and still break even. When there are lower end Halford's bikes on sale for £40 which need very little work.
It is a nice idea to try and keep them all on the road. Unfortunately unless you donate them to a dedicated cycle restoration group/charity then very few people would want them. Often it's the free things that end up costing you most. New chains, cables, levers, brake blocks etc etc can add up to 50 or 60 quid if you include the materials used as well (sand paper, paint, WD, etc). And at that price point, I think it unlikely that anyone would be able to shift them and still break even. When there are lower end Halford's bikes on sale for £40 which need very little work.
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
I just did a quick calculation !
27 lb per bike multiplied by 50 at today's scrap steel prices would come to around £50 to £70 . Could be less if they classed them as cars .
27 lb per bike multiplied by 50 at today's scrap steel prices would come to around £50 to £70 . Could be less if they classed them as cars .
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
If they were all titanium then the price would go up ! 
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
You really need to go through the pile and see what's in there. If most of them are absolute junkers and BSO's with some missing saddles, a wheel, a crankset etc, then I'd agree they are probably close to scrap metal value by weight. However, if there's a reasonable number of viable bikes in there, ones with a full complement of wheels and mechanicals, and they are of better than BSO quality, then I would say a tenner a pop is probably not far off.
Most of the secondhand bikes I have purchased needed very little spending on them mechanically. I don't routinely replace cables, so long as they are not frayed and in danger of snapping. I just lubricate and adjust the ones that come with the bike. The item I replace most often are tyres, but that's only because I want puncture resistance if the bike is deemed better than a pub hack. Even most of the old tyres that come with my secondhand bikes have plenty of miles left in them, and do not really need changing, if puncture resistance is not the main criteria. I keep and use them for local rides only.
Most of the secondhand bikes I have purchased needed very little spending on them mechanically. I don't routinely replace cables, so long as they are not frayed and in danger of snapping. I just lubricate and adjust the ones that come with the bike. The item I replace most often are tyres, but that's only because I want puncture resistance if the bike is deemed better than a pub hack. Even most of the old tyres that come with my secondhand bikes have plenty of miles left in them, and do not really need changing, if puncture resistance is not the main criteria. I keep and use them for local rides only.
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