Thrifty #12

Bikes

This weeks thrifty post is not something I found in a thrift store but something I bought off of Craigslist. I don't look on Craigslist all that often and this is the first time I have actually bought something off of there. What I bought is two bikes. They came as a pair, and although I was only looking for one bike I just could not let this deal pass. I have been looking for a bike for a while, nothing fancy just something that I could give a paint job and ride leisurely around town. I was sort of interested in an old Schwinn cruiser type bike but they are hard to come by cheap.

So back to the two bikes I bought, one is a newer beach cruiser and the other is a regular old mountain bike. Both of these bikes are is perfect ready to ride condition and the beach cruiser even still has those little rubber nubs that are on new tires. I don't think I will keep both of these bikes because I just don't have the room. I'm still not sure which one I will keep and which one I will sell. I think I could probably sell one for even more then I paid for both which would actually be kind of nice, I just need to decided which one.


Here is a picture of the first bike. It's a Diamondback Topanga SE. Its your typical mountain bike. Nothing to fancy, good tires and gears. The paint is a little worn in some spots and I think I may give it a new paint job, still not sure if it will be worth it though. Its a good bike and I rode it around today to and from Fremont.

The second bike is an Electra Beach Cruiser. Now this is a great looking bike and fun to ride around even though it's technically the girl version, which I don't really care. Its a fixed gear bike with no hand breaks and an internal three speed shifter. It has a comfortable stance and wide handle bars and big knobby tires, and pretty flowers.

Now I decided to give this one a new paint job, not that I don't like purple, I just want to give it a more unique style. I decided to paint the fenders and chain guard black to match the handle bars. I was a little unsure what color to paint the frame and even thought of going all black. Then I decided to try some of the extra paint we had left over from the bell project. The color is sort of an orange rust color. I'm still not fully sold on it yet and I will have to wait until everything is put back together.

Here are some pictures of the painted pieces, they are drying tonight and I will try and put it back together tomorrow.

Any comments of which one I should keep, anyone want to buy one of the bikes? Maybe I shouldn't tell you how much I paid for them if you want to buy one but...

Cost of bikes off of Craigslist: $37.50 each

And also in case your counting this is my 101st post. I didn't notice that yesterday was my 100th and maybe I should have done something special. Then I remembered that every post is special, at least that's what my mom says.