Pro tip: the bike kitchen in Portland has a $2 bucket of random single speed cogs and I finally finished my beater build | Bicycle Mechanics - The Design Community Hub
Pro tip: the bike kitchen in Portland has a $2 bucket of random single speed cogs and I finally finished my beater build
I swung by the Community Cycling Center over on Alberta in Portland yesterday just to donate some old bars and wound up digging through their parts room for like 40 minutes. Tucked in the back corner was this plastic bucket full of loose single speed cogs, all mismatched, two bucks a pop. I grabbed a 16 tooth and an 18 tooth, took them to the bench, and realized the whole beater I've been building from scrap was one cog away from working. The chain line was off by maybe a hair but a spare spacer from the same bucket fixed it. Rode it around the block twice and it shifts dead quiet, no skipping. Total into this bike is maybe $60 now, mostly tires and a chain. The shop guy said they get those buckets from bike swaps and co-op cleanouts and nobody ever looks through them. Anyone else got a spot like that where the junk pile is actually the gold mine?