This made me sad

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Permalink Reply by Garth Liebhaber on December 30, 2012 at 12:53pm

It actually doesn't make me sad, because people are putting those abandoned parts to use. It's being recycled!

There's an abandoned bike I see regularly which has some parts I'd really like to use but it frustrates me I can't get ahold of the owner.  

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on December 31, 2012 at 5:40am

It evokes a feeling of abandonement, but afterwards mostly anger at the previous owner that uses a public space to store thier immobile scraps.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on December 31, 2012 at 6:33am

Problem there is how do you know if it is abandoned or just left there for a long time?

Taking parts of a bike that is not yours is stealing.

Garth Liebhaber said:

It actually doesn't make me sad, because people are putting those abandoned parts to use. It's being recycled!

There's an abandoned bike I see regularly which has some parts I'd really like to use but it frustrates me I can't get ahold of the owner.  

Permalink Reply by Nançois on December 31, 2012 at 6:41am

I often wonder about the owners of the disintegrating bikes that are locked to various objects in my neighborhood. Did they die? Wind up in jail unexpectedly? Trade up? Sometimes I watch people swing by the bikes on the city bike rack across the street and take parts off in the middle of the night. Calling 311 does not help.

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on December 31, 2012 at 9:04am

Only to be picked at by thieving bicycle vultures.

Juan said:

It evokes a feeling of abandonement, but afterwards mostly anger at the previous owner that uses a public space to store thier immobile scraps.

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on December 31, 2012 at 4:10pm

Who's to say it was abandoned before the fork was stolen?  Once the bike is immobile I can see why it's abandoned.

But jeez... who steals a 19" schwinn varsity fork?

Permalink Reply by Garth Liebhaber on January 1, 2013 at 4:55am

I guess it's why bikes are supposed to be registered, so owners can be located?

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on January 1, 2013 at 4:59am

Meth...Not even once.

Juan Primo said:

Who's to say it was abandoned before the fork was stolen?  Once the bike is immobile I can see why it's abandoned.

But jeez... who steals a 19" schwinn varsity fork?

Permalink Reply by Garth Liebhaber on January 1, 2013 at 2:09pm

so, ethical dilemna question: how long should a bicycle be abandoned before it's okay to recycle it?  At some point the original owner clearly has no interest in it.

The police have stickers they put on bicycles they believe to be abandoned, giving the owner a week to claim it before it goes to auction. This is all around ethical. If the owner has registered, the police have an even better chance of maintaining ownership.

Consider also that at some point an abandoned bicycle becomes an eyesore and is also taking up space where someone else could be locking their bicycle. Ethically, it is in the place of the police to sell abandoned bicycles at public auction. 

Part of the dilemna comes into being when the police are lax in this duty and others see opportunity. If a bicycle has been abandoned for three years and is beginning to rust, isn't it safe to say the owner doesn't care about it anymore?

Permalink Reply by william on January 1, 2013 at 4:34pm
maybe get your own bike parts, rather than resort to mental masterbation to rationalize taking something thats not rightfully yours. If I need a fork or a saddle, I'll buy/trade for one myself instead of sneaking around taking parts off bikes and convincing myself it's ok.
Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on January 1, 2013 at 4:51pm

Metal recyclers.  Every ounce counts.  What I want to know: how do you NOT lock your f^*&ing fork to the rack too?

Juan Primo said:

Who's to say it was abandoned before the fork was stolen?  Once the bike is immobile I can see why it's abandoned.

But jeez... who steals a 19" schwinn varsity fork?

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on January 1, 2013 at 4:59pm

OK, deep breath everyone: I am sure that the comment about wishing for parts to take from what seems like an abandoned bike are just wishful thinking.  No need to treat Garth like an incipient bike thief.

Second, go to any college campus.  Abandoned bikes abound, their chains rusted solid, all sorts of parts stolen while others are just there, locked to a bike stand that's otherwise unusable.  Where I work, at the end of every school year, the campus cops put notices about removing the bike on their frames, and them come mid-summer, they clear them out.

The same thing happens on the street: bikes get locked to a nice spot, and the owner never comes back.  But since we have no way of being sure the owner won't ever come back, the bike stays there, being picked clean slowly by people with fewer scruples than Garth. 

So, a solution?  All you Chainlinkers, when you see a bike locked up for a while, put a plastic tag on it, reading "This bike was locked up as of TODAY'S DATE."  A week later, add another tag.  A week after that, add another.  Then maybe Mayor Emanuel will pass a law where if there are six months worth of tags, then the bike is cut loose by Streets and San workers, its parts used to educate our youth, its random metal melted down for recycling into pylons for dedicated bike lanes. 

Otherwise, I see no solution.  It's true that abandoned bikes are both eyesores and encumberances that prevent the rest of us from using that lock-up spot.  But there's no shared common standard for what constitutes abandoning a bike, so we're stuck with what we got. 

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