Any scavenging suggestions?

[Ed no-more-lemons]

Of to the dump to ditch some truly wothless bits. Got me reminiscing for the days when you could rescue the odd frame or BSO from these places. While I have never recovered any cycling gear from a skip, just wondering at anyones luck in scouting out any gems these days. As I have a some time of work, little money and it is still too wintry to venture that far into the countryside.
I can understand people may not want to reveal their sources, but any general pointers may be worthwhile. Markets for example, all in the interests of heritage conservation of course.

 

[fossyant]

It's not possible at our 'Recycling Centre'. Other option might be the scrap metal merchants that sit outside said facilities.

 

[Cycleops]

You might find some useful tips on this Canadians guy's site http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/FREE_SITE_VALUE/VALUE_2_Introduction.htm He has a section devoted to acquiring bikes.

 

[biggs682]

our local recycling centres stopped selling ' cash in the hand ' items about 2 - 3 years ago , local Gumtree has some bargains every so often

 

[XRHYSX]

I think most recycling centres have stopped selling back to the public, I did get a couple of scrap kids bikes for my trike project from the local metal yard for a couple of quid. The police do sell some of there stolen/unclaimed bikes from time to time, worth a look

 

[cyberknight]

our local recycling centres stopped selling ' cash in the hand ' items about 2 - 3 years ago , local Gumtree has some bargains every so often

Ours is the same, private companies that have to turn a profit form the scrap / recycle value of what they receive all done on the books rather backhanders for the odd bit.

 

[David Higson]

Only a couple of days ago, I found the frame from a cheap and cheerful bike just lying at the foot of some long concrete steps by the roadside. Kids had obviously been trying to see how many times the bike bounced and got too bored to carry it uphill again. The stuff isn't startling but worth stripping down for parts and I'd wanted a spare frame for painting/spraying practice anyway so I'm happy.
A lot of local authorities and dump operators now offload to Bike Recycling projects. It is getting increasingly difficult to source old bikes as a "civilian" for whatever reason. As someone else has said, Gumtree is pretty reasonable. I picked up a couple of old roadsters at the beginning of April for not a lot of money via them. Check local paper-shop or supermarket "community" boards for local sales. Round about now, (June/July,) students are going home after their stay at uni. If you lived near a university, you could tie luggage labels on the handlebars of bikes you fancied, leaving your contact details and a ball park figure of what you were prepared to pay. Students usually bought a beatup old bike for way too much at the beginning of their course and just want rid before they go home.
Good luck!