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n + 1

08.31.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

How many bikes should a cyclist own? According to the old joke, the answer is: n + 1.  Where n is the number of bikes he currently owns. He can always use one more.

Monday was bulk trash pickup day in our neighborhood, and as Mrs. Noob and I returned from our morning ride, it seemed every house had some junk piled on the curb. Our neighbors across the street had a bike mixed in with their stuff.

“Hey,” I called out to Pat.  “A bike!  I’m going to check it out.”

A few minutes later, I was the proud owner of a new (to me), free bike.

It’s a beauty.

It's red. (Click to embiggen.)
If I get nothing from this bike but the rack, I'm still ahead.
The previous owner had a novel handlebar setup -- one bar extension. I think I can do a better taping job than he did.

It’s an old Schwinn Moab mountain bike, unsuspended.  A little cleanup and fixup, and the possibilities are endless.  It can become an errand bike, or just something to cruise the neighborhood on, or I can put on some fenders, drop bars, and 28 mm tires, and go out to see the world.

Realistically though, it’ll probably contribute some parts to my growing stock.  Watch this space for further details.

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Categories // Bikes Tags // fixup

Comments

  1. Loving the Bike says

    August 31, 2010 at 8:26 pm

    Great find….I’ll be watching to see what you end up doing with it. I’d love to have the time to play around and build some fixie bikes. One day.

    Darryl

    Reply
  2. Doohickie says

    September 1, 2010 at 6:30 am

    Cool! A diamond in the rough! That will be a fun project.

    Reply
  3. Al says

    September 1, 2010 at 6:30 am

    I see some serious rust on there. Hope the frame is salvageable.

    Reply
  4. Tim says

    September 1, 2010 at 8:02 am

    outstanding!

    Reply
  5. Alice says

    September 1, 2010 at 11:07 am

    Score! Congrats on your “new” bike!

    Reply
  6. bjjoondo says

    September 1, 2010 at 1:19 pm

    Well I didn’t get it free but “way cheap”, so I too now have finally reached the bicycle zenith of N+1! 😉 It’s a all chrome molly butted frame, just Tange OS MTB tubing, (LOL, oversized along time ago!). I put on a old set of wheel’s from the wife’s bike a left over OEM seat, a headlight I found in a pile of misc. bike stuff and the rear rack off the wife’s commuter, getting her a more HD touring rack awhile back.

    It’s a ball to ride, I forgot how much fun a “RIDGED” was to ride! Mine’s a real weird make, it’s a Trail Ridge, Trailhead CT-10 but a web search found nothing on “Trail Ridge Bicycles”. Still, it was fun to raid the old parts bin and bring a old bike back to life! 🙂

    Reply
  7. Sine Botchen says

    September 1, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    $194.00

    That’s my estimated cost of what you’re gonna spend to get the “free” bike up and running.. btw, I might have some parts you can have (for free, of course) in the way of brakes, rear der, etc., that’ll prolly fit that old bike.. lol..

    Reply
    • rainycamp says

      September 2, 2010 at 7:52 am

      Nothing is free, is it?

      Reply
  8. Wes Robinson says

    September 1, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    Nice addition. This will make a perfect bike for running down to the grocery or to the coffee shop or, when the Alamo is built, to the movies. Best of all, you can lock it up outside and, if it is gone when you come out, no biggie! Smart man.

    Reply
    • rainycamp says

      September 2, 2010 at 7:52 am

      My thinking exactly.

      Reply
  9. Weiland says

    September 8, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    I picked up a free bike from a neighbor that was moving and had their kids Schwinn Mountain Bike in the garbage. I’ve been parting it out all summer. It’s saved me from getting a seat post quick release, sram grip shifters, handle bar grips, pedals, tires and I’ll probably be able to use the rims too at some point. The drive train is pretty well rusted, but that’s probably the only thing that’s not usable.

    Reply

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