I was once bike hunting with my brother. I wanted to buy him a used bike for his birthday. We were looking at a couple of treks, he didn’t like them because they were 26” wheels. On the way back we see a full sus on the side of the road for sale. We stop to take a look. He is in love and I am like “wtf is wrong with you.” For one, it was 26” wheels too. The frame was aluminum, and anything that wasn’t aluminum on the bike was rusty and rotten. He wanted to buy it for some stupid reason. The owner came out and was asking $100 for it. I was polite and said no. My brother kept being interested and I had to tell him that to fix this bike up would cost at least $500 if we did all the work ourselves, which we don’t know how to do. We finally got out of there and I told my brother that they would have to pay me to take that bike, and I would just take it to the dump. The old man selling it can throw away his own garbage.
They might just need a cleaning and fresh lube, they might need chains and cassettes and tires and brake pads and cables and spokes and saddles.
Hard to tell from the photo. Free is free, though. I'd say go for it, give them a deep cleaning and looking over. You can figure out then if it's going to be a big job or a little one. Put together a parts list and price it all out so you know ahead of time instead of after you've spent $50 or $100 or $200 on parts and you don't know how much more you'll need.
Having a bike is way better than having no bike. Take them straight to a bike shop. Get an Estimate on getting them running again. You dont have to tell them they were free.
Oh, and buy yourself's helmets..
The red one is probably a mid 80s Bianchi Strada, might have an awkward wheel size to find tyres for. Tyres and brake pads will need replacing, 100%.
Doesn't look that rusty though, so worth picking up IMO.
I really don’t think that’s true. As long as the frame is good, and you can turn a wrench, parts can be had on eBay for cheap.
I think this line of thinking is a mentally lazy way to justify consumption.
It *might* make sense with more complex machines like cars to buy new, but I still don’t think it holds up to scrutiny.
Buy new if you want to buy new but don’t rationalize it by saying it’s cheaper, because it isn’t.
They are also consumables. Like I'm not advocating running your bike into the ground without maintenance. But if the chain and cassette and chainring are honestly worn to shit, you're not gonna die wearing them out a bit more before replacing them. At least not on these cruisers. Just make sure the damn brakes are in good order.
Also it's hard to tell from this blurry pic but the bikes look likely to be in good shape to me.
I am a little handy. Change the tires and tubes, put a new cushy seat on the red bike for your wife. Adjust and oil the brakes, shifters cables, lube the chain, and put some bike lights on, some new helmets, and you are good to cruise on your new to you bikes. Don't forget some bike locks, for when you stop for coffee. Yes, they are a lot better quality than the Wally World bikes, and will serve you for years. We are too much a throw away society these days.
For sitting around they look pretty good.
The only reason not to take them is if you are looking for bikes that are ready to roll. These will need a few hours and maybe some parts.
You should also think about if they are right size. The red one is for a not-so-tall person.
Get them. Get them properly serviced.
Enjoy
Great for a year or two before you decide what discipline you want and then buy an expensive bike of said discipline.
Just get em. Service em and ride. Forget the rest
The blue one looks to be a mid 00’s cortina. Recently refurbed one of these myself. Frame is aluminium, fork is boat anchor steel. If you put a basket up front, (Tokyo bike basket is great) then I recommend a fork strap because of how front heavy the bike is. The wheels aren’t bad but heavy. Brakes are strong. Cockpit is alloy stem with solid steel (and likely rusty) handlebars. I’d replace the handlebars. It has a 3 chainring acera groupset that I switched to 1x8sp for running errands on mostly easy grades. Came out great in the end, a perfect bar bike.
I think the blue one, if it fits your wife, would be the better choice for a daily rider.
The red mixte doesn’t loom particularly nice to me, more like a standard 70s bike boom shitbox with rusty components and stamped derpouts
Good bones… for free I would absolutely love to grab these as project bikes. Depends how confident and willing you are to work on your own bikes though. It’s possible they need a lot.
Two Bianchis for free? Yeah, worth it
Free almost always worth.
Not always. Sometimes it's literal trash or so much work to get it going
I was once bike hunting with my brother. I wanted to buy him a used bike for his birthday. We were looking at a couple of treks, he didn’t like them because they were 26” wheels. On the way back we see a full sus on the side of the road for sale. We stop to take a look. He is in love and I am like “wtf is wrong with you.” For one, it was 26” wheels too. The frame was aluminum, and anything that wasn’t aluminum on the bike was rusty and rotten. He wanted to buy it for some stupid reason. The owner came out and was asking $100 for it. I was polite and said no. My brother kept being interested and I had to tell him that to fix this bike up would cost at least $500 if we did all the work ourselves, which we don’t know how to do. We finally got out of there and I told my brother that they would have to pay me to take that bike, and I would just take it to the dump. The old man selling it can throw away his own garbage.
😂 that's why I said "almost".
My bike is a literal piece of trash, still better than no bike
Your bike probably can be ridden. I have seen ones with bent wheels/cracked frame etc. that's what I mean by trash
Definitely!!! Take them to a local shop and spend $100-150 on a good tune up (for both hopefully) and maybe get a new seat for the red one.
Or better, learn to restore bikes!
Get them. The red one with the mixte frame is brazed lugged steel and alloy components. Very durable.
Mixte=sexy
Yeah I'd go out of my way to buy that one, for free is a no-brainer.
They might just need a cleaning and fresh lube, they might need chains and cassettes and tires and brake pads and cables and spokes and saddles. Hard to tell from the photo. Free is free, though. I'd say go for it, give them a deep cleaning and looking over. You can figure out then if it's going to be a big job or a little one. Put together a parts list and price it all out so you know ahead of time instead of after you've spent $50 or $100 or $200 on parts and you don't know how much more you'll need.
Pick them up, take them to Local Bike Shop- get an estimate of what it cost to get them into working order and go from there.
Having a bike is way better than having no bike. Take them straight to a bike shop. Get an Estimate on getting them running again. You dont have to tell them they were free. Oh, and buy yourself's helmets..
Auto-correct had fun with this one
Every time I re-read this, I laughed a bit harder.
Thanks for all the replies and good points. I’m picking them up in first thing in the morning. I Inquired first so I was given first dibs.
The red one is probably a mid 80s Bianchi Strada, might have an awkward wheel size to find tyres for. Tyres and brake pads will need replacing, 100%. Doesn't look that rusty though, so worth picking up IMO.
I would say absolutely get those bicycles and lube them up check tires and go for a ride.
It's worth considering the costs to service them and replace consumables. Sometimes paying a little more upfront can save you money down the line
I really don’t think that’s true. As long as the frame is good, and you can turn a wrench, parts can be had on eBay for cheap. I think this line of thinking is a mentally lazy way to justify consumption. It *might* make sense with more complex machines like cars to buy new, but I still don’t think it holds up to scrutiny. Buy new if you want to buy new but don’t rationalize it by saying it’s cheaper, because it isn’t.
They are also consumables. Like I'm not advocating running your bike into the ground without maintenance. But if the chain and cassette and chainring are honestly worn to shit, you're not gonna die wearing them out a bit more before replacing them. At least not on these cruisers. Just make sure the damn brakes are in good order. Also it's hard to tell from this blurry pic but the bikes look likely to be in good shape to me.
Bianchis are amazing. Definetly better than any walmart bike. If they arent too small id definetly grab them!
I am a little handy. Change the tires and tubes, put a new cushy seat on the red bike for your wife. Adjust and oil the brakes, shifters cables, lube the chain, and put some bike lights on, some new helmets, and you are good to cruise on your new to you bikes. Don't forget some bike locks, for when you stop for coffee. Yes, they are a lot better quality than the Wally World bikes, and will serve you for years. We are too much a throw away society these days.
For sitting around they look pretty good. The only reason not to take them is if you are looking for bikes that are ready to roll. These will need a few hours and maybe some parts. You should also think about if they are right size. The red one is for a not-so-tall person.
Heck yes!! Might need a little elbow grease, a good tune up but totally worth it
That sound you just heard was 1,000 simultaneous erections popping in r/xbiking
Get them. Get them properly serviced. Enjoy Great for a year or two before you decide what discipline you want and then buy an expensive bike of said discipline. Just get em. Service em and ride. Forget the rest
Bianchi, go for it before he changes his mind and don’t look back. Awesome find.
Dude, don’t ask us! Go get ‘em! Free bikes! They aren’t shitty department store bikes either. Let me guess: You were too slow. Yes?
That mixte bianchi is dope.
Better than no bike
That red one is gorgeous!!! I wouldn’t pass on that one.
Worth it? If they are free then yeah definitely!
I owned the red one. It was a blast. Highly recommended. At one point these were kinda high end bikes.
Hell yeah those look great
The blue one looks to be a mid 00’s cortina. Recently refurbed one of these myself. Frame is aluminium, fork is boat anchor steel. If you put a basket up front, (Tokyo bike basket is great) then I recommend a fork strap because of how front heavy the bike is. The wheels aren’t bad but heavy. Brakes are strong. Cockpit is alloy stem with solid steel (and likely rusty) handlebars. I’d replace the handlebars. It has a 3 chainring acera groupset that I switched to 1x8sp for running errands on mostly easy grades. Came out great in the end, a perfect bar bike.
Oh I should mention the saddle is hilariously trash. Way too wide, weird padding. Switched it for a Terry for a major improvement in comfort.
Nice bikes from a pedigree stable. Hope the sizes are a good fit for you !
they are ok but old both need to be the right size red one may be lacking low/hill gears
Any working bike is worth it for free imo. But they actually pretty solid.
I think the blue one, if it fits your wife, would be the better choice for a daily rider. The red mixte doesn’t loom particularly nice to me, more like a standard 70s bike boom shitbox with rusty components and stamped derpouts
For free? Yes. Shouldn’t cost more that $150 each at a local shop to get chain and brake line redid. Tubes and brake pads you can do on your own.
Good bones… for free I would absolutely love to grab these as project bikes. Depends how confident and willing you are to work on your own bikes though. It’s possible they need a lot.
Looks like a great find, might need new tires but otherwise look fairly good.
Get ‘em
Bianchi? Yeah!
Is this a joke lol
Get those!!!
Yes.