Need a cheap bicycle in Tokyo? Then head for your local bicycle pound!
Bicycles left around stations in no-parking areas are regularly picked up by local councils and taken to bike pounds. With all bicycles registered in Japan (supposedly!), the owners are contacted and asked to pay a small fine and pick up their bikes. If they don't, the council can sell them.
I'm here at the Suginami ward bike pound, and have found two great bikes for wifey and I. They're a real bargain at ¥8000 and ¥15,000.
The mountain bike needs cleaning up, so they're going to do that, replace all the brake cables etc, then call me so I can pick it up.
Until now I've not really needed a bicycle as i've always used the train, but I start my new job at the end of the month, and the office is just a couple of miles from home. No more salaryman sandwiches for me in the mornings!
I'll post links to relevant websites about this bike pound in the comments when I get home.
Do they have a similar bike recycle program where you live?
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