SEARCH METHOD #2 - THE DUMP

I found the bicycle, that started it all for me, a mid level Sekine SHC-270, at the local Landfill Site, better known as the Dump.  Landfill sites are wonderful places to hunt for vintage bicycles.  I have seen thousands discarded, and brought hundreds home with me.  However, be forewarned…

Removing items from the Dump is probably against the law in your area.  It certainly is illegal where I live, however; the local Landfill Site manager is a very nice person, who recognizes the tremendous opportunity to recycle stuff, by allowing the Pickers access to the Dump offerings.

Pickers, another word for scavengers, are people like me, who look for still useable stuff at the Dump, collect that stuff and then offer it to others for reuse.  This is recycling, at the base level, and should, in my humble opinion, be encouraged, rather than deemed to be illegal.  I should also add, that my volunteer work as a member of Bicycles 4 Humanity, is my ticket to pick at the dump.

If you are fortunate enough to be allowed to Pick at a local Landfill Site, go for it.  If not, at least now you know where thousands of vintage bicycles end up each year.  And I do mean thousands, depending of course on the size of the landfill site and the community it serves.  Thunder Bay, the city I live in has a population of roughly 120,000 people.  From that inhabitant base, our Dump sees in the neighbourhood of 2000 old bicycles each year.  I, personally, have taken 103 bicycles, from the Dump, in a single week.

This beautiful 1975 Sekine SHT-270 was the first really nice bicycle, that I found at the Dump, though it did not look exactly as you see it today.  The point is, this second from top of the line bicycle had been discarded, Campagnolo Nouvo Record transmission and all.  If it had not been for me, the Sekine would have been D9 (bulldozer) fodder, before its first day at the Dump had come to an end.

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