I just got another bike!

I'm visiting my mother for the weekend. We went for a walk this afternoon and I saw a mountain bike lying at the edge of someone's yard. The sign taped to the seat said "Broken but free, please take". So I picked it up. Brakes work, shifters work. The kickstand is hanging loose and so is the saddle, and the tires are flatter than flat. The cobwebs and everything stuck in them tells me the bike has been sitting around for a while. It's not broken! It just needs some rehab!

So now I have a Raleigh M20, steel frame mountain bike. I traveled here by plane so I don't know when I'll get it home. Maybe it will be great for me, or I'll have a project bike that I'll end up selling (I still want to check out Terry's Susan B.). I just wanted to share :)

Freebie! The best!

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Originally Posted by IBrakeforPastry

I'm visiting my mother for the weekend. We went for a walk this afternoon and I saw a mountain bike lying at the edge of someone's yard. The sign taped to the seat said "Broken but free, please take". So I picked it up. Brakes work, shifters work. The kickstand is hanging loose and so is the saddle, and the tires are flatter than flat. The cobwebs and everything stuck in them tells me the bike has been sitting around for a while. It's not broken! It just needs some rehab!

So now I have a Raleigh M20, steel frame mountain bike. I traveled here by plane so I don't know when I'll get it home. Maybe it will be great for me, or I'll have a project bike that I'll end up selling (I still want to check out Terry's Susan B.). I just wanted to share :)

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Very Cool!! You know project bikes can be some of the most fun. You can shop around online to get it setup just the way you want it. Getting parts off of Ebay can be great for that.

Sounds like a good find...enjoy the project! Even if you decide it's not for you and end up selling it, you'll feel accomplished at the end. I recently fixed up an M40 at the local bike co-op, not sure what the differences are with the M20 (of which I think we might also have one waiting to be rebuilt, or maybe it's an M30). Keep us posted on how it goes!

From a quick Bikepedia search, I think I have the 2001 (or 2002) model. It's the last year it was made without suspension. The later models are aluminum with front suspension. This one also has grip shifters, which I really don't like. So, we'll see. I probably won't get it home for a few months, maybe not until next spring. But it really looks okay.