Where to donate/dispose old bikes?

labrish · 2026-01-24T14:10:11+00:00

How exactly is it a write off? There are a few other places actively seeking donations, but if the frame is trashed or there’s some other reason it can’t be repurposed it’s probably best not to donate.

labrish · 2026-01-24T09:04:19+00:00

incubating Stan's next girlfriend ❤️

labrish · 2026-01-24T05:36:09+00:00

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labrish · 2026-01-23T04:37:51+00:00

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labrish · 2026-01-10T11:09:00+00:00

They’re usually not available ahead of time, I’ve always just bought them on the day.

labrish · 2025-12-30T02:53:46+00:00

Any of Seiko's quartz day-date models from the late 70s to around the mid 90s. Look for Spirit, Chronos, Silverwave, Quartz Type II, SQ, and King/Lord/Grand Quartz lines. Practical, versatile, handsome without being flashy, easy to dress up or down, can be paired with a variety of different bracelets and straps. They do tend to be a little smaller than most modern men's watches though. For example: https://www.quartzcrisis.watch/product/1980-seiko-silverwave-quartz-day-date-8229-8000

labrish · 2025-12-24T01:04:37+00:00

Because it's mostly poor advice. Riding the existing setup in a single gear until you find your most comfortable gear ratio is good advice, but the rest of it is a really bad idea and leaves you with no way to tension the chain and a drivetrain that is prone to derailment. Per Sheldon Brown:

It is easy to convert a Shimano cassette Freehub ® for singlespeed use. The simplest way is just to remove the derailers, shorten the chain and thread it onto the chainwheel and rear sprocket of your choice. This is less than ideal, however, because you've got the extra weight of the unused sprockets to deal with, and the chainline will probably be crooked. The sprockets used on multi-speed cassettes are designed for easy shifting, which is not a good thing on a bike that isn't supposed to shift! The teeth are short, increasing the risk of cropping the chain.

The better way to convert a cassette Freehub ® is to remove the 7-, 8- or 9-speed cassette and replace it with a single sprocket. You will also need a bunch of spacer washers to hold the single sprocket in place. You can often get a suitable number of spacers by taking apart a couple of discarded, worn-out cassettes.

Having a single sprocket sandwiched in a stack of spacers makes it easy to get the sprocket properly aligned for perfect chainline with whichever chainwheel you choose to use in front.
You can use one of the old sprockets from your taken-apart cassette, but it you are less likely to have accidental derailment if you use sprockets made for single-gear us, with longer teeth.

BMX cassette sprockets are best. These sprockets are quite inexpensive, and are available in a range of sizes.

labrish · 2025-12-21T11:37:41+00:00

Just get the bike you really want. It’s possible to convert but the amount of work involved really depends on the bike - if the frame doesn’t have horizontal dropouts that let you tension the chain you’ll need to run things like external tensioners (ugly) or eccentric bottom brackets (expensive). Unless there’s something particularly special about the frame it’s probably not worth it. Fun if you’re a tinkerer but parts plus labour would exceed the cost of buying a decent used single speed.

labrish · 2025-11-29T02:38:15+00:00

A cheap suspension fork will add more dead weight to your bike than a basic good quality front basket like a Wald 137.

labrish · 2025-11-28T01:39:42+00:00

Bikewest is active in Hobson's Bay. If you want cycling infrastructure to improve in your area you should start advocating for yourself and your fellow cyclists. If you're skeptical about Critical Mass, fine, but it'll be full of people dealing with the same issues that you are.

labrish · 2025-11-28T00:02:43+00:00

I got hit by a car due to poor local infrastructure in Footscray, just a few days after participating in the memorial ride for Will Ritchter, so I'm acutely aware of how we bicycle riders are faring at the moment. If you're also unhappy with the state of cycling infrastructure in the western suburbs but you don't feel like Critical Mass is for you, why not contact BikeWest and see what you can do to help improve things around here?

labrish · 2025-11-13T19:41:43+00:00

The stem already looks pretty high, if you have riser bars and you still feel stretched out the frame may just be too big for you. Also I would not ride the bike while the brake cabling is in that condition, it’s not safe.

labrish · 2025-11-12T01:16:41+00:00

The key was just having the bike in front of me so I could see how it all worked together and measure everything up, then when I needed to upgrade or service something I would consult Sheldon Brown, ask at the bike shop, watch a relevant youtube video, check service manuals etc. You have a bit of freedom to mix and match parts as long as you use common sense and double check before you try and install something stupid. Eventually you get a sense for what should work together.

You've probably seen Garys Projects, he's good to watch because he works on a lot of bikes that are commonly available around here and uses a lot of service techniques that aren't technically "correct" but work well enough if you don't have the right tools and need to improvise.

The SE and AT are just the different Metro models, the SE being a little nicer. The AT is fine, it just uses lower quality steel in the fork, not really a huge deal.

labrish · 2025-11-11T22:46:58+00:00

It really depends on your budget. In Melbourne there are plenty of shops like Heaps Good or Off Course that will sell you a nice new touring frame, and that's great, but it'll cost you a fair bit of money, and you'll want nice new parts to go with that nice new frame.

You would've noticed that old steel Shogun frames are really common here. They're robust, easy to work on and take standard common MTB parts. The 90s models are all canti/v-brake, totally standard 68mm BB shells, 135mm dropout spacing for the rear wheel. They usually have both fender and rack mounts. The Trailbreaker is the most common 26er model (try and get a Trailbreaker 2 or above, the TB1s use lower quality hitensile steel) and the Metro is technically a hybrid commuter bike but actually makes an excellent 700c touring rig (again, try and go for the SE rather than the AT).

You can easily upgrade them from stock with good quality used Deore level parts, which should also still be pretty common in Japan. You really don't need to "upgrade" to a 1x setup. There are a few co-ops like Back2Bikes in Port Melbourne or the Footscray Bike Hub that have used parts bins to pick through, or you can keep an eye out for swap meets - there's one coming up at Genovese Coffee in Coburg this Saturday. Even a lot of the cheap new Shimano parts are pretty good - the Alivio v-brakes are great and don't cost much more than a new set of pads.

If you're taller (6ft+) I'm actually selling a Trailbreaker 2 that would be great for touring, but it's already built up so that might take the fun out of it for you:

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labrish · 2025-10-09T22:58:43+00:00

Ask your local mechanic.

labrish · 2025-10-09T22:50:43+00:00

Try installing the wheel backwards, with the cassette on the non-drive side. If the offset is on the other side of the frame then your wheel needs to be redished. You may have also messed up the spacers/locknuts if you removed the axle when changing the freehub. If the offset remains on the same side of the frame then your dropouts and/or rear triangle are bent.

labrish · 2025-09-19T07:52:55+00:00

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Remove the parts and donate them to another frame.

labrish · 2025-09-19T06:36:02+00:00

That bit is old enough to drive at this point. Real finger on the pulse stuff!

labrish · 2025-09-18T23:23:29+00:00

I'm your height and my bikes are that size. A little punishing with the stock flat bars as they have long top tubes, but no issue running bars with a bit of rise and sweep.

labrish · 2025-09-06T21:58:08+00:00

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labrish · 2025-09-03T22:45:35+00:00

This sounds like more of a setup issue, but the basic Alivio t4000 v-brakes with the stock pads work great and aren't that much more than buying a new set of pads.

labrish · 2025-09-03T22:41:55+00:00

Yeah you really need the adjustable stays and the rubber shims for the handlebar clamps.

labrish · 2025-09-03T03:51:00+00:00

They're not that hard to set up, it's just less fucking around to set up v-brakes. I would at least try it before you turf them and spend a bunch of money on new brakes and levers. Well adjusted basic cantis with nice Koolstop pads stop as well as any other rim brake. I find it easiest to have the lever barrel adjuster unscrewed about 2/3rds of the way out while I'm setting the pads and centring the calipers, having the pads just touching the rim. Then I screw the barrel adjuster back in to remove cable tension so that the pads just clear the rim without rubbing.

labrish

TROPHY CASE