Second hand and recycled bikes
About this page
Looking to donate your unwanted bike to a good cause? After a good second-hand set of wheels? Read on.
Buying
If you are not a "gear fanatic" or even if you are, second-hand bikes are a great way to get into bike riding. Keep your wits about you when buying second-hand bikes as most don't come with a warranty and it's hard to be sure of their history. If possible, take someone with you to inspect the bike who knows bikes well.
Good Places to start to buy second hand bikes
- Start with your local bike shop.
- Check the Trading Post which has a page or two of bike ads each week.
- Second hand dealers such as Cash Converters often stock second hand bikes.
- Join the eBay craze and search for a bike - beware of bikes that you cannot test ride first however.
Donating
Bicycle Recycle - Victoria
Bicycle Recycle take second-hand bikes that are in reasonable condition and sell new and second-hand bikes. 672a South Rd, Moorabbin ph (03) 9555 8692.
Wingate Avenue Community Centre
Located in the Ascot Vale public housing estate in Melbourne, this centre is running programs teaching women to learn to ride. The women involved in these programs have never learned to ride for various reasons and now wish to experience the freedom and health that comes with cycling. As car use is becoming increasingly expensive, these women are keen to take their children to school and do their shopping by bicycle.
Many of these women are unable to afford bicycles as they are on low incomes with families. Donations of second hand bicycles in good working order would greatly assist them to get going. Please contact Kelly at Wingate Avenue Community Centre: kelly@wingateave.com.au, (03) 9376 5244.
Balgo - Western Australia
Balgo is a remote Aboriginal community in the Kimberley, about 3 hrs from Halls Creek.
A local cycling group do various rides including to the local dam to cool off and collect ducks before they ride home.
The young people ride in bare feet, often with poor brakes and no gears on really challenging, ungraded, often sandy roads.
Update - NOV 07
"I am astounded to be able to say that we actually don't need anymore gear at the moment.
The response to my article (Ride On Aug/Sept 07) has been UNBELIEVABLE. Quite a number of groups have donated gear and even a few bikes. ...I am proud to say the Balgo cycling group is now the best equipped cycling group in the Kimberley (possibly the only cycling group as well!)" Nicolette
Bikes for Malawi - Southern Africa
Open Arms Infant Home Malawi, working in conjunction with Malawi Children’s Village, need bikes to enable volunteer coordinators to provide “Outreach” health and education support for villages, where orphans are repatriated to their communities. Aid to villages is often suspended for want of bikes.
Australian-based Bikes for Malawi are organising a shipment of good second hand bikes. Bikes need to be sturdy and complete. Hybrid or Mountain Bikes preferred. Rough roads make Road Bikes unsuitable
Cummins South Pacific are kindly allowing donations to Bikes for Malawi to be dropped off at any of their branches across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.
See Cummins South Pacific click Regional locations
Additional branches not listed above are:
New South Wales – Dubbo, Muswellbrook, Wollongong
Queensland – Cloncurry, Toowoomba
Victoria - Mildura
Contact Peter via Email
Yarra Sports Equipment Library - Victoria
A Victoria Police and Yarra Youth Providers partnership is assisting young people in the City of Yarra. A Sports Equipment Library, in a shipping container, will be located at each of the Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy High Rise Housing Estates. The container will have a range of sporting equipment, including bikes, on a borrow/return system. They need 50 bikes to kick start the program.
Contact Snr Const. Chris McGeachan via Email or call 0414 181 438
Bridgewater/Gagebrook Urban Renewal Program (BURP), Tasmania
The Bridgewater/Gagebrook Urban Renewal Program (BURP) is keen to receive donated bikes. They run a cycling education program where volunteers, along with local kids from disadvantaged families, salvage and repair old bikes which are then used for transport and recreation. The donated bikes would make a welcome addition to their program.
More info can be found at http://www.tco.asn.au/oac/education_providers.cgi?groupID=2131&oacID=56
Hedland Senior High School, Western Australia
Hedland Senior High School, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is interested in receiving donated bikes. Many of the students cannot get to school as they live in Aboriginal camps where there is no public transport. Many do not have access to transport to get to and from school safely.
Students are indigenous boys between 11 and 16 and come from severely disadvantaged backgrounds and many have severe learning difficulties. These boys often share bikes to get to and from school.
More bikes will assist students to get to and from school, promote fitness, give each student a feeling of being 'special' and encourage a positive attitude amongst indigenous students towards education.
Contact Marie Daykin, Hedland Senior High School
Tel: 08 9172 1244
Email
BAC - Melbourne, Victoria
Born Again Cycles (BAC) is a not-for-profit initiative of South Port UnitingCare aimed at recycling otherwise unwanted bikes back into the Inner Southern metropolitan community. We are on the lookout for donations of bikes, and volunteers with time to help restore bikes and pass on their knowledge, whilst learning more about bike maintenance and repair from a qualified maintenance tutor. We also seek to supply bikes to people to whom a bike might be useful, who also might like to become involved in the program. If you have time or resources to donate, or know of someone whom a low-cost bike might benefit,
Contact Mark 0437 354 318 Email, Anne 9690 1188 Email
Bike+Aid: Tsunami relief - Sri Lanka
Andrew Balfour, supported by the Sri Lanka Disaster Fund, is facilitating the collection of donated bicycles and $90 pledges for new ones. Andrew will be personally travelling to Sri Lanka at his own cost to administer the handover of the bikes to those identified as the most needy.
Andrew says that anyone updating their VicRoads Great Victorian Bike Ride® free bike is welcome to donate their old one to the cause
Contact: www.bikeaid.com.au 03 9593 9245 or 0407 367 555.
SITA charity - Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands Triathlon and SI Cycling Association are trying to provide the youth of the country with a focus via cycling and triathlons.
They are seeking donations of all types of bikes (either road or MTB, new or used) to get men and women involved in cycling and traithlons, and using bikes as a means of transport.
Contact: Ross Andrewartha, President, Solomon Islands Triathlon Association: Email
The re:Cycle Project and Human Powered Cycles - Victoria
Human Powered Cycles and the bikes for asylum seekers project - Victoria
Human Powered Cycles is at 38 Harrison Street Brunswick East VIC.
We operate a workshop focused commercial bike shop and also coordinate the bikes for asylum seekers project.
Donations of unwanted bikes and bike parts are refurbished both for commercial sales and for asylum seekers and other disadvantaged persons at no charge.
Leave donations at any time to the rear of the property. No appointment is required.
We also host regular bicycle maintenance training sessions. Details on our web site.
Contact Bill at bill@humanpowered.com.au or through the workshop on 03
9029 6504.
Brunswick Bicycle Users Group (BrunsBUG) - Victoria
BrunsBUG built and maintains the bicycle recycle workshop at CERES in Melbourne, Victoria. They recycle abandoned/donated bicycles and either repair them to sell cheaply, or recycle the parts.
Become a member (you can join up at the workshop: $10/5 per year or family rate available) and have unlimited access to bike tools and advice. Parts can be bought or exchanged for equal value. Basic bikes start at $20 and range up to $100.
Open Fridays and Saturdays, 11am to 5pm. Contact Thorin Quinn: ph 0421 727 998.
St Bede's College, Victoria
The school is very keen to expand its existing Bike Ed and Cycle On programs in the Physical Education curriculum.
To support this program they are endeavouring to acquire a class set of entry-level bikes for Semester 2, 2006 and beyond. If you would like to donate, or sell, a new or used GVBR bike to the school.
Contact John Ferguson 0405 835 550 Email
St Bede's College, 2 Mentone Parade, Mentone VIC 3194
Springvale Secondary College - Victoria
Disadvantaged immigrant families make up a significant proportion of the school population. Any unwanted bikes are very gratefully received.
Contact Ron Olsen, Springvale Secondary College, ph (03) 9546 8755, 17 Sandown Road Springvale VIC 3171.
IMPACT - Victoria
IMPACT assist adults with disabilities to access the community and to improve their lives. Keen to accept any bikes in good condition or any unneeded VicRoads Great Victorian Bike Ride® free bikes. IMPACT hope to improve their clients' health and well-being by getting them riding bicycles.
Contact Carol: 59 Warrigal Rd, Oakleigh, VIC 3166; ph (03) 9568-6144.
Bikes for Life project - Victoria
This alternative school in Echuca, Victoria runs Re-Cycling. Secondary students who have difficulty fitting in to a traditional school setting are recycling donated bicycles. They would appreciate donations of bikes with potential, useful parts, manuals and tools. They are also looking for people who have bike and people skills who would like to lend a hand.
Contact Rick Ronnan 0418 821 507 or c/o PO Box 302 Echuca VIC 3564.
The Australian Education Industry Centre (formerly known as 'The Paddock') - Victoria
Steve Bechaz coordinates this government-funded Work for the Dole project. He teaches participants to fix old bikes, which are then donated to people without, such as small schools and migrant families. Individuals and organisations are invited to donate old bikes.
Providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities, recycle bikes (amongst other recyclables).
Steve Bechaz Australian Education Industry Centre 9782 3094
36 Wells Rd
Kananook VIC; Email
The Bikery - Victoria
The Bikery is a community-run project coordinated by the Monash Clayton Bicycle Users Group (McBUG), with support from the Monash Student Association (MSA) and Monash University, Victoria.
Volunteers recondition donated and rescued bikes to sell as cheaply as possible to Monash staff and students as a sustainable form of transport, while diverting waste from the scrap-heap.
The project needs bike donations, volunteers to do bike pick-ups and repairs and contacts for ethically-minded bike product suppliers.
For more information:
Phone (MSA Transport Office): (03) 9905 4134