Three of my MTBs are on plus sized tyres (two 27.5+ and a 29+), and I've noticed a definite lack of availability of proper plus tyres - e.g. 3.0" rather than 2.6,/2.8".
So I've found myself stockpiling tyres against future obsolescence, as I forsee a day relatively soon when 3.0 tyres are no longer made, or at least cheap enough to buy without remortgaging the house....I'm looking at Surly here with their £90 Dirt Wizards!
What have you stockpiled against potential future shortages?
I've got a Fabric saddle stashed in the garage, as stock of those seems to be dwindling. I always check out a 27.5 fork when I come across one, too.
Nine speed chains, cassettes, shifter’s, derailleurs, triple chainrings - far too many!
Eleven speed chains, cassettes, rear mechs.
26’’ tyres, normal and fat (4.8)
I did grab a load of ten speed stuff in the crc/wiggle shut down. I don't worry too much about obsolescence though. There alway seems to be something out there.
I would caution against going too crazy with tyres. They definitely age and lose grip/softness with time
9 speed Rapid rise derailleurs
9 speed gear changers.
A few chains/cassettes but these are still pretty cheap/available.
Two or three saddles which work for me and are long out of production.
A couple of pairs A520 pedals.
handbuilt 26" and 700c wheels
I bought 2 sets of xtr 10 speed double rings due to the proprietary integrated spider.
Cheap like the budgie due to the fad for 1*
I would caution against going too crazy with tyres. They definitely age and lose grip/softness with time
Yeah, I've not gone crazy.
Got a couple of years worth, especially since I seem to have recently gained the habit of putting holes in the sidewalls of nearly new tyres 😬 not done it for years, and then killed 3 tyres in under 10 months. Bloody annoying (and expensive).
I also realised I've got 6 x Sram PC850 chains from when CRC were knocking them out at under £5. Perfect cheap single-speed chain.
Spares for my nukeproof horizon 27.5 wheels. I bought 2 pairs when crc went, and spares for them. Thankfully I've not had to use any of them, yet!
4.4" Jumbo Jims. I have a new one on the fatbike and three more as "spare".
Tervail Rutlands in 650x47. I managed to find a new pair before they seemed to vanish.
Almost everything I run is Shimano 11 speed - XT on the various MTBs and Ultegra/105/GRX on the curly barred stuff. That gives me some commonality, though brake pads are annoyingly specific.
3.0" tyres are definitely an issue. I do ave a pair of 2.8" XR4s ready to fit onto my B+ wheels soon though.
It helps to keep stuff tidy too. That way I can see what I'm low on.
Spare chain rings for an old Deore LX chainset - the bike is a commuter so the big ring wears out in 18 months, so always have a spare. Also got Spare rings for a SRAM 2x10 chainset on my FS bike, and cassettes.
Best 'vintage' road bike has a spare Dura Ace 7400 headset and a load of spare Uniglide sprockets (pre-dates HG cassette). You can get HG sprockets to fit if you reduce the width of the larger 'spline' on each sprocket (out with the Dremel). I also have a few 'spare' Shimano 1" headset cartridge bearings for the other 'vintage' road bike.
Cassettes, chain rings (Middleburn) and chains for my old mtb (now commuter). I recently donated a bunch of unused 26” tyres to Recyke Y’bike in Chester-le-Street.
29 *2.2 non flimsy tubeless tyres (for my lacking in clearance Camber Evo).
26*2.1-2.3 tubeless tyres flimsy or not (for my 456).
Those two are irksome as the bikes basically work but I feel like I'm in danger of binning working bikes due to tyre availability at some point.
The LBS was surprisingly light on 700*25 tyres at the weekend but loads of 700*26. What the heck is that about?! Thankfully they fit.
Beyond that I reckon cassettes from Sunrace, chains and HG hubs will keep my 10 speed off road and 11 speed on road stuff trickling along without a panic.
It'll be killing a brifter on the road/gravel bikes that really hurts but I'm not holding spares of those!
I have been wondering if I need to bulk buy rim brake pads for my carbon wheelset. Only can use certain ones and I can’t imagine they will be available much longer
I have been wondering if I need to bulk buy rim brake pads for my carbon wheelset. Only can use certain ones and I can’t imagine they will be available much longer
There must be quite a few sets of nice carbon wheels still out there but I'd be going with the stock pile.
Alloy I suspect is going to be easier for a while yet.
I love bikes but sometimes I despair at the waste that's being fed largely by obsolescence and the need for an ever expanding top line.
Tyres are probably the most annoying one. Definitely a struggle to get good 26" tyres now, I'll be disappointed when I need to retire a bike for want of tyres.
The next most annoying thing is probably straight steerer forks.
I've still got loads of spare 9 speed bits and pieces, but fundamentally, running out of those doesn't seem too big a deal, new drivetrains will still work on older bikes.
anyone want some 26 inch tyres PM me.
I did several 26" tyres before I moved because I just knew I would need them. I should have gone for a spare wheelset as well.
I considered various bulk buy or replacement parts issues when I had my old Cove MTB but so many of the parts were interconnected. ISIS BB and cranks so there was little point buying spare cranks because if I did ever break them it'd be easier to just accept a more modern 2x and Hollowtech BB.
Flappy paddle shifters so if I broke one of them, it'd likely mean a complete brake and gear replacement. I decided that there was no point buying spares for an unlikely "what-if" scenario only to have them lying around for years progressively losing value.
For the same reason, I take most of my mechanical stuff to the LBS now because a recent clear out of my toolbox revealed a number of completely obsolete spare parts and tools for parts (like the ISIS BB) that I haven't had in years.
I have a couple of 29x3" Maxxis Minions in stock for my Stooge. I'm unlikely to need them to be honest
I always keep a spare 11sp Sunrace XD 11-46t cassette in stock, which I suppose is an older standard.
Spares drawers are generally quite well stocked with mechs, BBs, tyres, pedals, bars, disc rotors and even stems after the Chiggle fire sale (and other sales).
Just because you can't readily buy them from UK suppliers doesn't mean the parts are obsolete. Just that the UK market for them is so small noone bothers importing any longer. Check some of the continental suppliers and you might be suprised to see all the bits you want still readily available (albeit maybe with a Brexit tax)
Yes, and I then almost inevitably sell the bike before I've used the stockpile up. Leaving me with a stock of parts that neither I or anyone else seems to want.
Yes, and I then almost inevitably sell the bike before I've used the stockpile up. Leaving me with a stock of parts that neither I or anyone else seems to want.
This. I think every time I've done this it would have been cheaper to pay top price for the parts I actually needed, when I needed them.
The LBS was surprisingly light on 700*25 tyres at the weekend but loads of 700*26. What the heck is that about?! Thankfully they fit.
Specialized by any chance?
Lying b*******, they're about the same size as their old 23mm tyres, barely come up to 24mm on wide-ish rims! I bought them specifically because I wanted something about the same size as my old Schwalbe Pro-One which were 25mm going on 27.somethig which was big enough to require the wheel truing vertically with the tyre on to clear the brakes! It's on my now retro summer bike too so it'll be years of uncomfortable riding before they're worn enough to justify changing 😂
This. I think every time I've done this it would have been cheaper to pay top price for the parts I actually needed, when I needed them.
Wish I had another set of UST tyres for my Crossmax SL wheels.
But the ceramic is starting to flake off the braking surface, so I need another set of SL's as well.
Wish I had another set of UST tyres for my Crossmax SL wheels.
Wasn't UST exactly the same as any other tubeless tyre, just with a butyl layer in the carcass so in theory didn't need sealant?
Stockpiling:
10 speed non-Linkglide HG cassettes in both wide and 'normal' ranges I have two 1x10 MTBS and two 2x10 Road/Gravel bikes, between the rollout of CUES and 12 speed across the higher groups the Decent cassettes with that "old" standard 10 speed spacing is becoming rarer...
I'm Also occasionally grabbing bottom end SRAM 11 speed chains, because they're cheap, mesh nicely with N/W rings and are universally compatible with 9/10/11 speed drivetrains...
Decent Used GRX and Deore Mechs are on my watchlist list too, along with NOS 10 speed jockey wheels, you can keep an old Shimano mech going for decades if you just keep on top of the jockey wheels...
Used WTB Power/Pure/Speed-V saddles in 142mm width, they just suit my arse, I buy them knackered and re-cover them with cheap faux leather vinyl, you just need a bit of spray contact adhesive and a staple gun...
Wheel parts are another thing think about also; Novatec and other cheap Far Eastern hubs in 12x100/142 (for road/gravel) and Boost, they might not be fashionable or have star ratchets, but they work when you need them to and you can get spares. I've also scored a few Cheap alloy TR 700c rims lately in 32h and 28h, for when I inevitably have to rebuild or replace wheelsets, everyone wants carbon rims, I know I can build a reasonable full wheelset for less than the price of a single Light bicycle rim
Forward planning:
My CX bike is setup 1x9 (Tiagra) currently (with BB5 brakes just for simplicity sake). TBH I'm tempted to move that bike to 1x10 just for consistency with the others, and because I can probably get a couple more teeth on the largest sprocket, would require a new (probably GRX rear mech and 4700 shifter).
I guess I'm actually looking at divesting myself of 9 speed kit now.
I'm tempted to maybe adopt 1x11 Deore on the MTBs (the mechs are already compatible So I would just need new shifters and cassettes) it sort of makes sense now rather than in a couple of years when those start becoming less widely available and everything is going to 12(+?) speed.
Wish I had another set of UST tyres for my Crossmax SL wheels.
But the ceramic is starting to flake off the braking surface, so I need another set of SL's as well.
You may have left it a touch late to pick up new-old-stock rim-braked Crossmax wheels? 😉
Correct. In fact adding sealant would make it delaminate.Wish I had another set of UST tyres for my Crossmax SL wheels.
Wasn't UST exactly the same as any other tubeless tyre, just with a butyl layer in the carcass so in theory didn't need sealant?
I currently have 1 UST Crossmark & 1 TR Crossmark 2.
1 of them leaks a lot less.
at least cheap enough to buy without remortgaging the house
There's someone selling a pair of new Maxxis 29+ Chronicals for £110 on ebay! Open to offers 😛 (it's not me)
There's someone selling a pair of new Maxxis 29+ Chronicals for £110 on ebay! Open to offers 😛 (it's not me)
Banana Industries have them for £40 a pop currently, so that eBay seller is a bit of a chancer!
Anyhoo, I've got one already (the nicer 120tpi version), but they're only good as a summer rear tyre IMO. Got a DHF 3.0, 2 x XR4 3.0 and a Rekon+ 2.8 too, so I'm good for 29+ spares 😁
I've managed to bag a few 27.5 x 3.0 bargains on eBay this week too. So hopefully I'm all good for the next few years.
I think between my 9sp & 10sp stuff I've got enough to last until I need an e-bike in maybe 20yrs time..
I think between my 9sp & 10sp stuff I've got enough to last until I need an e-bike in maybe 20yrs time.
I reckon the cheap 10sp Cassettes I picked up during the CR wind down will be very handy for when I relent/can afford an E-bike. I bet they consume expensive 12sp cassettes for fun.