What have you bought for the bike today ?

[SkipdiverJohn]

I appreciate that, and I don't object to paying a modest premium for the convenience of getting what I need on demand over the counter. I'm not, however, willing to pay DOUBLE the online price

 

[Smokin Joe]

I appreciate that, and I don't object to paying a modest premium for the convenience of getting what I need on demand over the counter. I'm not, however, willing to pay DOUBLE the online price

That's fair enough, all my stuff is bought online.

But neither of us then has any right to moan when our LBS puts the shutters up. I've lived near Fishguard for seventeen years and three bike shops have come and gone in that time.

 

[Boon 51]

I could of payed a £5.00 for the convenience and still have a moan about it but £6.20 ....no

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

That's fair enough, all my stuff is bought online.

But neither of us then has any right to moan when our LBS puts the shutters up..

TBH, I can't remember the last time I went into a LBS for something. It must be more than ten years at the very minimum.
Very different world when I was a youngster, you tended to get maintenance spares like cotter pins and ball bearings from the bike shop. I don't recall the prices being excessive though, and stock availability was excellent. No matter what you needed, the man behind the counter would have it, and he would also know where to find it without needing to look it up on a computer.

 

[Smokin Joe]

The prices wouldn't have seemed excessive back then because their were no online discounters to compare them with. But if you type £1 into the bank of England's inflation calculator for 1970 it comes out at £14.51 in 2017, so the pocket money prices we now think we paid for stuff back then wasn't as cheap as we remember it.

 

[Boon 51]

Just a thought.. If my bike shop pays £5.00 for a tube and sells it for £7.20 thats £2.20 profit. If they buy a few tubes from wiggle they are £2.80 each and sold them for a £5.00 that would still make them £2.20 profit and better for us at a £5.00.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Bike Riders Aids 1967/68 lists 2, 27" inner tubes - 8/6 and 8/11. £1 then = around £16.50 now, so those tubes then were around the equivalent of £7, £7.50? I'm sure everyday tubes were somewhat cheaper, as these were lightweight 27". Interesting that there are no clincher tyres listed, just tubs - which is what most of us were using in those days, and we simply carried a folded spare under the saddle.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Back then though you always patched your inner tubes. Never used to carry a spare tube back in the day.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

'Senior Management' (wife bought me a pair of the little Crivit(??) silicone banded lights, from the local Lidl on Friday
I liked the look of them, so bought another pair yesterday

They replaced the old ones on my helmet, as the buttons were starting to go sticky, as the silicone used ages


Quite bright, with 3 modes (constant, flash, & 'pulse')

£1.49 a pair, what's not to like?

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Crivit branded cycling stuff from Lidl is excellent value. I've got their USB lights, tool pack, track pump, footwear, and small rucksack. They all do the job perfectly well and nothing cost silly money.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Crivit branded cycling stuff from Lidl is excellent value. I've got their USB lights, tool pack, track pump, footwear, and small rucksack. They all do the job perfectly well and nothing cost silly money.

I bought one of their work-stands in the autumn
Not sure/can't remember, if a Crivit, or not

Does the job though!


@SkipdiverJohn
USB lights?
Front, & a decent output?

(my Magicshine is having problems with its battery pack, & not wanting to recharge fully)

 

[DCLane]

From the same seller as my Olmo Rigel I've picked up a Ridley Damocles frameset needing work. It came with a pair of SPD pedals, new 105 rear mech, 105 52/36 crankset, Mavic Aksium wheels with GP4000S tyres and 11 speed cassette, some 11 speed 105 shifters (working?), bars, stems, a spare Boardman fork plus other bits.

On the downside it needs a new rear mech hanger, the paint's bloomed a lot and the seatpost topper is missing the lower bit and a bolt. Seller's photo, not my mess:

It needs the headset (properly) doing, rear mech dealing with or replacing, new bottom bracket, brake bolt drilling out of the fork and other jobs.

I've already removed all the cables and parts, thrown away broken brakes and rear mech, in preparation for getting it re-painted or done.

 

[Elybazza61]

From the same seller as my Olmo Rigel I've picked up a Ridley Damocles frameset needing work. It came with a pair of SPD pedals, new 105 rear mech, 105 52/36 crankset, Mavic Aksium wheels with GP4000S tyres and 11 speed cassette, some 11 speed 105 shifters (working?), bars, stems, a spare Boardman fork plus other bits.

On the downside it needs a new rear mech hanger, the paint's bloomed a lot and the seatpost topper is missing the lower bit and a bolt. Seller's photo, not my mess:

View attachment 444162

It needs the headset (properly) doing, rear mech dealing with or replacing, new bottom bracket, brake bolt drilling out of the fork and other jobs.

I've already removed all the cables and parts, thrown away broken brakes and rear mech, in preparation for getting it re-painted or done.

If you have trouble finding a mech hanger give me a shout and I'll have a word with the Ridley UK rep or direct to Ridley if possible.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Another donor bike. A year ago I "accidentally" acquired a nice but very well-used Reynolds 500 21-speed Dawes MTB in a typically extravagant £8 purchase. Although complete, it had a knackered saddle, worn crankset, seized BB, and the mudguards had vibrated themselves to pieces. I'd then stripped it, binned the junk bits, sorted the BB and set it aside. Today I splashed out a Lady Godiva on a 21 speed 26" rigid 90's vintage Giant in girly colours and a girly size frame. Absolutely useless to a bloke my size to ride on, I must have looked like a circus clown giving it a test down my road to try out the gears - but it came with period looking alloy mudguards, decent condition mechanicals, unworn tyres, and a good saddle. I've since spent a couple of hours this afternoon rendering it down into it's component parts. Tomorrow, all being well, I'm going to see if I can get the old Dawes built up into a functioning machine using sound parts from the Giant. If I'm successful, for a total outlay of £13 I'll end up with quite a nice 1990-ish Dawes MTB in a colour scheme that virtually matches my late-80's Dawes road bike.

 

[Elybazza61]

Not for the bike but some items from the Rapha sale for me and the better half