Economics of Bicycle Recycling and Reselling

[Jameshow]

I for one really appreciate your posts and what your doing!

Working in an allied job I do sometimes wonder if I'm up to the job so reading your posts I feel that others are in the same boat, dealing with organisation, management and processes yet supporting some of the most destitute is society.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Are the frame and forks sound?
Is anything important stuck / seized?
Do you already have spares for the type and vintage of bike you have?
What is minimum you are likely to get for the bike once done up, therefore determining what is the maximum you can spend fixing it?

 

[biggs682]

Test ride for 50- 100miles

Andy would never be seen in the workshop again!!

At least you can say it's been tested thoroughly

I did fo a moment wonder what my boss would say if I took up @biggs682's suggestion.

You could tell him product testing is being done

 

[Gillstay]

I do do a quick test ride on every bike I do up as it's so easy to forget a small task such as getting the levers in the comfortable position.
You can forget it at the bench, but the moment you ride down the street you know it's going to mar the ride and so you sort it out.
I think knowing which bikes to not bother with is the most important point. Either because something is stuck, broken or it just won't sell for even a reasonable sum.

 

[Jameshow]

I do do a quick test ride on every bike I do up as it's so easy to forget a small task such as getting the levers in the comfortable position.
You can forget it at the bench, but the moment you ride down the street you know it's going to mar the ride and so you sort it out.
I think knowing which bikes to not bother with is the most important point. Either because something is stuck, broken or it just won't sell for even a reasonable sum.

I think you'll get a reasonable idea pretty quickly. Those bikes which hang around whilst others sell will be the ones to avoid working on.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I think you'll get a reasonable idea pretty quickly. Those bikes which hang around whilst others sell will be the ones to avoid working on.

Trouble is they're already repaired by the time they are in the sales area. I found fairly quickly that even if a customer asks to see an unrepaired bike they are unable to see past the dirt and rust, so when I say what it will cost after I've repaired it, they often walk away saying it's too expensive.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I do do a quick test ride on every bike I do up as it's so easy to forget a small task such as getting the levers in the comfortable position.
You can forget it at the bench, but the moment you ride down the street you know it's going to mar the ride and so you sort it out.

It took a while for the clients to understand that a "test ride" didn't mean riding it for a few metres in the workshop.

I think knowing which bikes to not bother with is the most important point. Either because something is stuck, broken or it just won't sell for even a reasonable sum.

Agreed. Unfortunately I can't tell just by looking at them so we have to check some things on the stand, the question is what to check first to avoid wasting time later.

 

[Jameshow]

Trouble is they're already repaired by the time they are in the sales area. I found fairly quickly that even if a customer asks to see an unrepaired bike they are unable to see past the dirt and rust, so when I say what it will cost after I've repaired it, they often walk away saying it's too expensive.

But if they hang around you won't restore any simalar bikes going forward!

 

[Cycleops]

Trouble is they're already repaired by the time they are in the sales area. I found fairly quickly that even if a customer asks to see an unrepaired bike they are unable to see past the dirt and rust, so when I say what it will cost after I've repaired it, they often walk away saying it's too expensive.

I think people who are not familiar with bikes and don't understand them can't see the value in an older bike. To them it's just an old bike. Many just don't hold them in high regard, unlike a car perhaps. It's about expectations.

 

[wafter]

In my mind the big issue underscoring all your potential problems is requiring a certain level of knowledge, skill and understanding that (no disrespect) your staff may lack.

How do you envisage the workflow - will you have the time and resources to oversee every repair yourself from initial assessment to checking and signing off? It sounds like you'll need to micro-manage your staff to ensure they remain on the right track, and will probably have to provide a lot of training at the least, and do some of the more complex tasks yourself. Of course being safety-critical you'll need to do a rigerous check-over pre-sale to ensure your arse is covered.

I can't offer a whole lot in the way of answers to your specific questions, other than to suggest that really most can only be satisfied by experience. Initial assessments of value can be carried out on the basis of ebay sold prices plus the cost of any work that a bike needs, and over time (if not already) you'll get a good idea of what's worth saving and what's not. I would caution you to give the benefit of the doubt to old steel; the practical value of which might not nec. be reflected in its market worth.

What's the main source of your bikes - donations from the public? If so I guess you'll mostly be looking at lowish-end stuff, probably with a fair vintage element. Obviously you'll need to make a judgement call on the numbers; free labour will help but the cost of service items can quickly add up (take my Raleigh for example - cost me nowt, owes me about £60 in mostly consumable but I think I'd struggle to get that back if I tried to sell it).

I think once you've written off all the non-viable crap (cheapo modern BSOs that require more than just a few consumables etc) you'll probably have a fairly narrow spectrum to work within.

Good luck - it sounds like a commendable project and I'll look forward to hearing how you get on

 

[Jameshow]

Do you triage bikes on delivery

Perhaps

Junk stripping if useful parts.
Cleaning
Gears
Brakes
Wheels / tyres
Cosmetics - saddle handlebars.

So that everyone doesn't need training on each work station.

Perhaps put your best clients on gears + brakes

Just a thought...

 

[Andy in Germany]

This illustrates the problem and a possible solution:

Raliegh Max, not too old, missing a badge and with a badly damaged rear wheel and luggage rack, but otherwise looked fine until I tried to put a replacement wheel in and found the rear triangle itself is bent.

However, I've finally introduced a new checklist; a translated version of one kindly sent as a PDF by "Reycke 'y' Byke" in Newcastle (who have been really helpful answering my damfool questions and very generous with stuff like this) The translated checklist replaced a rather basic one I brought in when I started just so clients would get used to the idea. This checklist is much more detailed and clearly written from experience. It follows a different order and I suspect this is is why I found this problem pretty quickly and managed to minimise time wasted.

 

[palinurus]

My biggest time killer at the moment is stuck and damaged bottom brackets, and dynamo lights: Dynamo systems are great when they work but there are so many reasons for them not to work and I have to go along finding them. I'm working on a "test station" so I can test all the parts quickly instead of trying to guess why a light isn't working.

I can imagine based on your location that dynamos are pretty common- the test station seems like a really good approach as fault finding can take a lot of time- having a systematic approach will allow you to make quick decisions on the viability of the parts.

 

[astrocan]

I help out at a similar workshop. We take donations, check that the frame is straight, seat post free, quill stem free, if not, strip and scrap.
My only other observation would be not to get too attached to hoarding all the servicable parts from all the bikes, you will reach a point where you have to ask the question 'How many functional low quality derailleurs do we need?'.
As to customers feeling that a bike is too expensive, my pitch is that the best value bikes are good quality second hand, we offer a 3 month guarantee but that requires a competent sign off before the bike is released. Reading through your responses this might be something that needs developing by your team.
We don't believe that recyling bikes is a question of 'bodging'. Sometimes you might have to be a bit unorthodox and an ability to be inventive is useful, but (especially with safety critical parts) bodging is not an option.
You will learn new stuff every day and things will improve with practice and experience but you'll be a better mechanic for all that so good luck and enjoy!

 

[Neilka]

I work once a week in a workshop where we repair donated bikes for refugees. It's organised through the local council, who allow us to use a school cellar as a workshop and donate financial help quarterly. When bikes are worthy they get sold on eBay to help buy new parts.
We say if we would be happy enough to ride a bike, it's ok for someone else.
The difference is of course that we don't sell the bikes, there is no garantie and if anything does break they bring it back and it gets fixed again.
Nobody gets paid, it's just fun and nice to help.