One of the best things about blogging is meeting other people with similar interests and making new friends. I’ve learned so much from Everett Bogue and I’m thrilled he agreed to write a guest post for RowdyKittens. Everett is the author of The Art of Being Minimalist. He writes about living a simple minimalist existence at Far Beyond The Stars.
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Bike rentals are very hard to come by in most cities, when they’re available they can be extremely costly.
In this day in age, with so many digital vagabonds moving from city to city, it can be difficult to budget in a good bike rental. This is why I’ve developed this little hack to get you a free bike rental. It’s worked for me, maybe it’ll work for you.
If you’re spending a month in a city, before heading off to another part of the country, you need a bike, but you don’t want it to cost a lot.
Last year I moved to Portland with all of my possessions in backpack. This being Portland, I had to have a bike. However, due to the fact that I’d just quit my job and only had a couple thousand dollars in the bank, buying a brand new one wasn’t an option.
I also wasn’t sure I was staying in Portland forever. In fact, I ended up leaving two months later for new adventures.
So, I opted for a free rental. I bought a cheap beater off craigslist, rode it for two months, then sold it on Craigslist for the same price.
The $150 bike market.
There are thousands of bikes in most cities on the market for around $150. Get on Craigslist right now and give it a search, you’ll be overwhelmed with the results. Everyone has a bike in their garage from the 1970s that works perfectly, but they don’t need anymore.
There are two reasons for this.
1, Everyone thinks they need a bike at some point in their lives, but then they go back to driving their cars because it’s easier.
2, People who ride bikes all the time are constantly upgrading to new bikes, and when they do they sell their old bikes.
This is a huge opportunity for a free bike rental, and Craigslist makes it all possible.
$150 is, as far as I can tell, the magic number at which the value of quality bikes cannot fall further. When you buy an older bike from say the 1970s-80s, one that stills works perfectly but can no longer be sold for any amount of money, the value will bottom out around $150.
This is also the point where the value of the bike will not decline after two months of intense use.
Do your research though. If you buy a bike with no value (a complete junker) for $150, you can’t resell it.
Personally, I’m a fan of vintage road bikes from the 1970s. Motobecane, or Peugeots. I can’t speak for what other bikes are good, just do your research and make sure you’re buying a respectable old bike and not just an old bike.
Here’s some general guidelines about what will resell.
1, It will need all working parts.
2, There can be no rust or other deformities.
3, The bike must have wide appeal, it can’t be a weird custom job.
How to buy a $150 bike.
1, Search Craigslist for the bike of your choice.
2, Email and/or call the person who listed the bike and request a test ride. Tell them you need it today, because a lot of listings on Craigslist are first-come first-serve and if you wait three days someone else will probably snatch it and you will have wasted your time.
3, Ask this one question: can I ride it home? The seller needs to be honest if the bike needs repairs. Don’t buy a bike that needs repairs, you’re liable to spend another $150 making it work. There are plenty of working bikes out there, you don’t need to buy one that doesn’t work.
4, Meet the person for the test drive, with cash in hand. Ride the bike. If it seems to be in working order just buy it.
Now you’ve got your rental. Ride it around town for a couple of months, until you have to leave, and then sell it again.
How to sell a $150 bike.
1, List it on Craigslist for the exact price that you purchased it for. List any problems that the bike may have that will require repair, so that no one is surprised when they come to your house.
2, Take a really amazing picture. Upload the picture to a remote server so that it can be incredibly large and pretty (like the photo on this story.) The reason for this is that Craigslist sizes down all photos you upload directly to 300 pixels, which is overly small and will make your bike look lousy. People buy bikes with nice pictures.
3, Answer all calls and emails immediately. Tell the buyer that three other people already emailed you, and they’re coming by tonight.* If they can come by before the other people, they can have the bike. Tell them to bring cash. You will probably need to line up 5-10 people, bike buyers are notoriously flakey and will probably just not show up and won’t call.
*I know this sounds slightly dishonest, and you’re welcome to skip this part if you’re not down. The reason for this step is simple: people need urgency. If they believe you’ve been sitting around with the bike in your garage for the last 6 years trying to sell it, they will wait 6 more years to buy it. If you have to leave the city the next day, waiting 6 years won’t be helpful.
4, Let them test drive the bike. If they have any questions be sure to answer them truthfully.
5, They will attempt to haggle with you. Everyone wants to get $20 off their bike purchase. Tell them that there are three other people coming later, and they’ve already agreed to pay the full amount. This will put a stop to haggling immediately and close the sale.
Don’t forget to check out The Art of Being Minimalist and Far Beyond The Stars.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this post, these are great ideas!
Lovah! Unrelated but this totes reminded me of you; http://urbancasita.com/2010/02/05/teensy-tiny-bedrooms/
Hey lady – thank you! I love the photos.
I’ll include this in my Monday news update. Hugs to you…
Sweet article. People should avoid buying Murray and Huffy bikes. The local Community Cycling Center, which creates working bikes from donated bikes and parts, generally just recycles (instead of using) any parts from any of these bikes because they cannot make a lasting bike from them.
Schwinn, Trek, Cannondale, Raleigh, Fuji, Panasonic, Univega… these are fairly plentiful and usually made very solid.
Note: I’d say that it’s ALL people on Craigslist (and Freecycle for that matter) who are flaky, not just bike buyers!
Cool article. Craigslist is great for selling random stuff. I’d say make sure to get a bike with STD. Whel size, like 700c or 26″ and avoid the older 27″ wheels. That would make it easier to sell.
Dig the article but wish it wasn’t true! I live in the Portland area and this retarded concept of crappy 70′s bikes going for $150 is a real bummer. I guess it’s a cool way to turn a profit especially if you already have a bike, but yah. Just 10 years ago these same ones would go for $30. Even the thrift stores in this area have followed the trend and are charging $100 for a rusty, flat 10-speed. The hipster money in town with the hot trend of chopping up anything to turn fixed gear is inflating the market and really makes it hard to find anything worth riding.
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