Swap Meet Ethics.

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Permalink Reply by jlj on January 18, 2011 at 11:24am

A month ago If I would've went to the swap-o-rama and seen the (insert expensive bike name here) for $200, I would've bought it, no questions asked.  It would've been nothing less than a great victory for me.  I would have a set of awesome wheels at a price my unemployed ass could somehow recoup.  I didn't know about the reclamation efforts, I never put the face of a fellow bicyclist into the equation of how that bike got to be so cheap.  Now I couldn't buy a bike there because I know with certainty that I would be supporting individuals that hurt my community.  I didn't have that clarity before I read the posts on the chainlink.

  I think that is awesome.  I thank you Chainlinkers.  You have better aligned my actions with my thoughts and goals.  Total win.

  This experience makes me think more about the other communities I belong to: explicit and implicit, macro and micro.  This experience makes me think of the REAL cost of goods and services.  This experience makes me think of the interconnectedness of our world, where all our waste goes, etc...

  I am once again reminded that by allowing myself to be blinded by possessions, convenience and comfort I am ultimately harming the person that I most care about preserving: myself.

  We all gotta be better monkeys.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on January 18, 2011 at 4:26pm

This is catagorically false.

 

There are MANY MANY MANY good used bikes out there that aren't "trendy" these days. It's only recently that people have become aware of the vintage 3-speed gold-mine.  These old bikes used to get thrown away because so few people wanted to spend the $25 they would sometimes go for if someone was looking for a bike and wasn't as concerned about trendiness as they were about old-school build quality. Now in areas like this they are running north of $150 for on C-list in the bigger cities, and that is before they need to be cleaned up and rebuilt.  But they ARE good bikes...

 

Given a choice between riding a 60's era Raleigh and a modern $650 comfort bike I'd choose the Raleigh any day as it'll outlast the newer bike if ridden regularly.

Trendy & good = NEVER cheap.  But there are plenty of good bikes out there that are gold-plated under the patina.

 

Joe Willis said:

 Good bikes are NEVER cheap . You might find a random deal on Craigslist on occasion but rarely and most of those are shady.

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