Big round numbers are always worth mentiong, and 30,000 bicycles donated to the Edinburgh Bike Station is a milestone for us.
Our 30,000th bicycle is an Edinburgh Bicycle co-operative Contour bicycle, from the early nineties and it's already been repaired and reconditioned. It had been well used and well looked after, proof that a well-maintained and good-quality bike lasts a long time.
Over the years, almost every conceivable type, age and condition of bicycle has come our way. The oldest dated back to 1896 and was rescued from a skip. It's been fully restored and has pride of place in our workshop. We have had Japanese bikes brought over by overseas students and with centrifugal gears, Swiss bikes with number plates, racing bikes from the 1930s, red postal bikes, a child's bike from the 1940s that the owner remebers as a child being wheeled through blitzed streets.
Bike number 30,000
Most of the bikes though, are regular bikes for travelling around town and with the growth in cycling in Edinburgh, each one we repair finds a new cyclist.
So far we have reconditioned over 13,000 bikes, just under half - all back out on the road. Those that are beyond repair, we strip for their re-usable parts - there's almost nothing we can't do something with. As much as possible, we re-use the parts to recondition the ones we do repair. At our Fix Your Own Bike sessions, anyone wanting to repair and maintain their own bike has full access to the vast stock of parts.
And the rest is sent for metal recycling - not going to waste.
Bike 25,000 
Our oldest bike - 1896
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