How to Sort Bicycle Parts
A guide for warehouse volunteers — everything you need to know before your first night.
When bikes come in as donations they need to be assessed, stripped, and sorted before parts can be reused or recycled. Here’s how we organize things at the warehouse.
The Golden Rule
When in doubt, ask. There’s always an experienced Véloteer or mechanic on hand during volunteer nights — no question is too basic and no one expects you to know everything on night one.
Part Categories
🚲 Frames & Forks
Sort by material (steel, aluminum, carbon) and condition. Frames that can be refurbished go to the refurb area. Frames that are cracked, bent beyond repair, or heavily rusted go to metal recycling.
⚙️ Drivetrain Components
Chains, derailleurs, cranksets, cassettes, and bottom brackets. Check for wear — a chain checker tool is available at the workbench. Usable components are sorted by speed (7-speed, 8-speed, etc.) and stored in labeled bins.
🛞 Wheels & Tires
Check rims for cracks, dents, and trueness. Salvageable wheels go to the wheel rack sorted by size (26″, 27.5″, 700c, etc.). Tires are checked for cracking and tread wear — good tires are kept, worn tires go to rubber recycling.
🔧 Brakes & Cables
Brake levers, calipers, and cable sets. Cables are almost always replaced during refurbishment — old cables go to metal recycling. Brake calipers in good condition are sorted by type (rim brake, cantilever, etc.).
🪑 Handlebars, Stems & Seatposts
Check for bends and cracks. Sort by diameter and type. Clamp sizes matter — check before binning. Label clearly.
💺 Saddles
Check for tears, water damage, and broken rails. Good saddles are always in demand — sort by style (road, comfort, kids).
🔩 Small Parts & Hardware
Bolts, nuts, skewers, reflectors, and accessories go into the small parts bins. Sort by type — the bins are labeled. When in doubt, ask.
What Gets Recycled
- Metal recycling: Unusable frames, forks, rims, cables, and metal components
- Rubber recycling: Worn tires and inner tubes
- Trash: Genuinely unsalvageable plastic parts only — we minimize this
Volunteer Night Flow
- Sign in and log your hours at the start of the night
- Get a brief orientation from the lead volunteer if it’s your first time
- Pick a task — sorting, cleaning, refurbishing, or building
- Ask questions freely — that’s what the experienced Véloteers are there for
- Log your hours before you leave