New Standard Cycles thrives due to the donations that you make of your old bikes, bike parts and volunteer time. While we would love to be able to accept donations of all shapes, sizes and condition, these are the items that we actively look for (and those that aren’t as helpful):
Do want:
-Used bikes purchased through bike shops. Especially desired are bikes that could be used as commuter bikes, so extra points for hybrid and mountain-style bikes with rigid forks. Example: Trek, Specialized, Giant, Cannondale, Surly, Fuji, Bianchi and others. We do take some single speed bikes, so it is worth checking with us.
-Road bikes made in the last twenty years. We love cool old bikes, but it gets increasingly hard to get quality parts for that beautiful old 50-pound Schwinn.
-Bikes purchased from the internet, in good condition. Again, we are looking for road, hybrid or rigid mountain-style bikes, for the most part, but we are open to other kinds!
-Kids bikes in good condition. Kids outgrow their bikes fast, and we would be happy to take them off your hands!
-New combination-style locks. The thicker the cable, the better.
-New lights. Especially those that are rechargeable. Switching out coin batteries can be expensive, and the brighter the light, the faster the batteries drain.
-New helmets. Everyone profits when they can ride safely.
-New or gently used bike components. Anything from those handlebars you switched out to the pedals you switched out, as long as you didn’t switch them out because they were broken!
Do not want:
-Beach cruisers and mountain bikes from big box stores (Walmart, Target, etc). These do make comfortable bikes, but they aren’t wonderful as commuter bikes. Example: most new Schwinns, Mongoose, Next, Roadmaster, Genesis, and others. Bikes purchased at REI and some newer Schwinns are exceptions.
-Single speed/fixie conversions.
-Rusty bikes. The more rust on a bike, the higher the cost to us of repairing the bike, and the higher the odds of the components failing in the future. If your bike has a little surface rust, we can give you a second opinion.
-Used tires and tubes. Tires are made of rubber, so they dry rot over time and collect road grit, like little bits of glass, etc.
-Used helmets. Helmets have a shelf life of only a few years, and can be compromised by one good fall or impact.
-Used locks and keyed locks.
-Kids bikes not in great condition. It can cost more than the purchase price of a new kids bike to replace both wheels on a kids bike.
-Unscheduled drop-offs. We are busy folks, and want to make sure we can be at headquarters to accept your donations.
We would be happy to answer any questions you have, and to schedule your donation drop-off. Please contact us via email at john@bicyclecampaign.org!