tpadul 

So kinda scary situation on my way home from work yesterday afternoon..going down the back county road here in Northwest Indiana and the wind is wicked blowing around all day. As I’m driving down the road this tree in the photo literally got blown over by the wind and crashed down across the road right in front of my Jeep. Had to slam on my brakes and just a few more seconds this tree would have fallen right onto my car.

so I had to turn around and go down another back road that I don’t use very often and as I was driving down the other road these two filthy dirty bikes were at the end of someone’s driveway along with their trash. A quick look told me to just grab them as I could use them for more practice.

They are matching men’s/ladies 1986/1987? Schwinn Mesa Runners. The men’s frame has the G1086 stamped so I know it was made by Giant in October 1986 so most likely for their 1987 models but the women’s frame doesn’t have the info stamped on the rear drop outs like the men’s frame but I’ll take a closer look this weekend.

brought them home and took a bucket of hot soapy water and the garden hose to them. The men’s frame is in really good shape and very little to no rust anywhere but the ladies frame has some rust spots.

A quick observation is they both need new tires/tubes, wheels are not bent, spokes are rusted, both need new chains, cables/housing.

I’ll toss them in the basement and work on cleaning them up over the winter and sell them in the Spring.

I won’t make anything on them but am doing this for more practice on teaching myself.

Ive decided that once I do sell them I’ll just donate the money to a German Shepherd Rescue in Indianapolis.


Before I washed it off

Before I washed it off

After

After

Before clean up

After clean up

Men’s frame made in October 1986

Interesting pulley V brakes? This is the women’s frame

Dylansbob 

I am familiar with the area. Near Rennsel-tucky?

tpadul 

I'm in Chesterton, IN just a few minutes away from Lake Michigan and less than 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. The GSD rescue I will be donating to is down in Indianapolis.

We have two German Shepherds and we are dog people so I've decided that while I'm teaching myself how to take apart and fix up and repair bikes anything I make on selling them will be all donated to the GSD rescue in INDY as we love what the woman that runs the rescue does for the rescue dogs. I have the money to spend on the consumables to make the bikes in working condition and I'm really trying to teach myself how to do the restoration,

Prowler 

Now there's an idea: your favorite C&V bike with your GSD.

Much better than that cat thing.....

bwilli88 

Not V brakes but Cantilever. Nice rescue.

PugRider

Good for you, I hope you take a few pics of the process. Nice score, two decent bikes there, paint looks presentable, in the photos at least. Get some Evaporust or Barkeeper's Friend and go to town.

OldsCOOL

Glad you didn’t have a worse scenario with that tree. Have fun cleaning up the free bikes. It’s fun and relaxing. If that men’s bike isn’t too big, thrash it on the trails. I have 2 80’s mtb’s that get good ride time.

peppiace

Neat story. Thanks for sharing. Keep supporting the rescue. Dogs are better than bikes but having both makes life worth living. I would be doing the same thing you are doing. I found an old next bike in the trash and used it to practice since the price was right and my daughter is enjoying it.

bikemike73 

Divine intervention !!!!

You were meant to rescue those bikes !!!!

The before and after pics are great. I had no idea that they were blue color !!!!!!!

It does not get much better than getting FREE bikes to work on

Get experience doing so........... .and donating the money to a very worth while cause !!!!

Congrats

tpadul 

Thanks!! That is exactly what I told my wife!! It was divine intervention!! I told her my Guardian Angel wanted me to find those bikes to save them , I actually saw the county crew this afternoon picking up the pieces of the tree they had cut and tossed to the side of the road from the day before and I stopped and chatted with them and told them that tree literally missed my Jeep by a few seconds, the one guy told me sadly his nephew is now paralyzed from the waist down when a tree fell on his truck as he was driving down one of the back county roads a little while back, So yeah, very scary but there was a purpose for everything... I had to rescue those bikes!! I love fact they were free, I know I'll sink a couple hundred into them combined and I know I could just give that right to the GSD rescue but I'm in the process now of teaching myself bicycle maintenance and repair so I need cheap or free bikes as projects and this could not have worked out better for me.

madpogue 

Wow, I thought the bikes were gray until I scrolled down enough to see the later photos.

Excellent find, and yes, it goes beyond the economics. You kept two bikes out of a landfill, and they may well provide affordable transportation to two people who need it. Win, win, win situation.

Rear brake pulley like that is not uncommon on step-through MTBs and hybrids. Just another lubrication point, but they're pretty reliable; my wife has one on her daily driver / grocery getter.

Look for a 4-digit number on the head badge of each bike. First three digits are the ordinal/julian day within the year (1-366) and the last digit is the year within the decade,

viperocco

Nice find!

tkamd73 

Yeah, initially looking at the pics, I thought it was 4 bikes, great find, have fun!
Tim

dbalu 

Nice find! The bikes look great after the cleanup!

seedsbelize 

Somewhat on topic. A number of years ago my sister was driving down the outer belt when a chunk of the bridge above landed on her drivers side fron fender.

tpadul 

whoa!!!! That is scary!!! A few more seconds and that could have gone through her windshield!!!