Every time there’s a thread on here about some new standard, there’s the usual conspiracy theories about how “the industry” is trying to make all our bikes obsolete so we have to buy a new one.

Has anyone ever had to park their bike up because they can’t get replacement parts for it?

To take one example, CRC are showing 55 different 1.125″ steerer forks, to fit all size wheels from the latest industry conspiracy 27.5″ to the old obsolete 26″.
1″ threaded steerer suspension forks are the only component I can think of that are hard to find new these days.
There’s probably also a few oddities like Pace Bullseye cranks and BBs that were never really standards in the first place.

Other than that, say you’ve got an early ’90s MTB with 1″ rigid forks, 130mm rear hub, 3×7 gears etc., is there really any part you simply can’t get any more?

Might struggle to get a quill stem unless you nick it off a kids bike?

21 different 1″ quill stems at SJS

Uniglide cassettes are no longer produced let alone the even more unique dura ace version.
But just means a change of wheel to keep the bike working.

I think your right it might only be 1″ forks

I think you will always be able to keep most bike working it’s just the choice of quality parts drops as standards change

MidlandTrailquestsGraham – Member
21 different 1″ quill stems at SJS

And none suitable for late 80’s mtb use.

Dual control? Can’t be bothered searching, can you still buy levers and brake calipers?

I know you can still buy ISIS BBs, what about chainsets? Surely they don’t make them anymore?

While you can probably keep pretty much any bike going by just upgrading/changing to a newer “standard”, there must reach a point at which it’s simply not economically viable to continue that way…

Good question

I think disc brakes have rendered anything before then obsolete for mountain biking, even though you can get parts, if that makes sense. Yes, you *can* ride v brake or canti brake bike off-road but it’s just a bit crap really

Lots of 1″ forks and a headset to bring alive your 1″ frame. Well – it worked for me and my Fuqauy.

Disc brakes may have made rim brakes obsolete, but my point is that if you’ve got bike that won’t take disc brakes, you can still buy all the parts needed to keep your rim brakes going if you choose to, you are not forced to buy a new frame and fork.

I wasn’t sure about the handlebar diameter thing.
Does no one make flat bars to fit those stems then?

Edit;
Yes they do. Various combination of 1″ stem with 25.4mm clamp and bars are available.

Suntour XC Pro hubs with grease ports, should you really need that functionality!

I know you can still buy ISIS BBs, what about chainsets? Surely they don’t make them anymore?

Electric mountain bikes often use home brand ISIS cranks to drive through the motor, so expect blingy ISIS crankset to start making a comeback soon.

If grease guard was fitted as standard to all Shimano hubs then I don’t think sealed bearings would ever have caught on…….

As a regular on RetroBike, I can say that the only things which prove difficult to find parts for (not including weird stuff like Bullseye cranks and Pace RC100 parts which were never universal standards) are:

1″ MTB forks – especially suspension, stems are slightly easier to find second hand and headsets pretty easy to get.
straight pull spoke systems – like Pulstar – those hubs don’t sell for much as you can struggle to build them up with few spoke around available.
1.25″ headset stuff – which was before it’s time really.
Suntour Microdrive – again before it’s time and mainly because no other cassettes fit the hubs IIRC.
Elastomer forks – you can get the elastomers new still but theres only one place in the US you can order them online I think, PACE stuff is available in the UK but very limited – possibly not really a standard though.

The only thing out of the above which is really a problem is the 1″ forks, that really can hold back a sale if the frameset you are selling has it, as it can be a bit limiting.

Any Shimano drivetrain part is pretty easy to get hold of, seatposts no problem, bars no problem (although there are less decent 25.4 flat bars around nowadays), rims and tyres no issues, BB’s/hubs no problems most of the time unless you have something really weird.

CRC sell ISIS Shimano cranks, a few lower end cranksets still have it. Many low/mid range bikes (<£1K) have ISIS cranks, including the 2015 bike I am planning on buying.

As 1.25″ Evolution headsets are taken, I’ll go with the different cable nipple from Suntour X-press shifters.

I can’t find a headset to fit my 44mm head tube + 1.5″ forks.

Ok, there is one, it’s a Nukeproof, but I’m not prepared to acknowledge that because, a) that’s the one I already have. And b) it’s the worst headset ever made.

So, my Dh bike sits in the cellar, with a totally shagged (and irreplaceable) headset.

[/url] hébergeur image gratuit[/img]
This was my main bike from 2009 until sept 2013 ,i replaced the wheels twice and the 8spd cassette and chain each year ,forks were serviced at Dalby V brakes were fine the in dry terrible in the wet and i did struggle with arm pump during 3 days in Morzine, the long descents were hard work but i did everything including a few black runs.
All things considered it was very cheap to run the bike but choice of spares was limited ,i have upgraded to FS and kept the above bike as a spare for the days when my more complex bike decides not to work.

CRC sell ISIS Shimano cranks

No they don’t. Shimano has never made an ISIS crank.

ninja edit!

It’s not that you can’t get stuff in the older standards, more that the choice is becoming more limited both in terms of what’s made and what’s in stock. So you might be able to get something but it might nit be why you actually want.

My old Aluminium Orange hits a few of the Obsolete standards. 1.25 inch “Evolution” headset and Suntour Microdrive. The Suntour stuff was compatible with Shimano cassettes etc… just they didn’t keep developing it with good levers (it was tumbshift only) and it died out.

Another standard long gone was 130mm OLN frames. My first MTB – a 18speed Dawes – was 130mm OLN. Now even BSO are 135mm and many bikes are 142mm

Ahwiles, Chris king and hope both do a headset to suit your needs.

Pretty sure Cane Creek do though?

Whats so bad about the NP one, does it take standard bearings that you could replace with better ones or is it more fundamental than that?
Tried someone like Works Components or BETD or another machine shop to make you a new one to take standard bearings?

As others have said 1 inch suspension forks of any decent quality are pretty much the only thing I can think of that are almost impossible to come by new, and not exactly overflowing with choice second hand.

But if you’re really into keeping your bike going then most 1 inch frames were steel, very few (MTB) Alu 1 inch frames around so getting an 1 1/8th headtube fitted is only a matter of a trip to your friendly local frame builder (at which point disc mounts are also an option).

Some older Full sus frames are getting tricky to find bushings for, anything using bearings is not so bad, but plenty out there using weird bushings, if you have an intact one left or can measure the frame properly you can often still get something that will work from industrial suppliers but its a faff and a half.

Decent 1″ suss forks or any 1 1/4 forks?

Rapid Rise stuff?

Some of the strange seat post sizes used by Marin, Fat Chance, etc bitd?

Decent 1″ suss forks or any 1 1/4 forks?

as above, 1 inch yes to a degree, but 1 1/4 is only a couple of £10 inserts away from being 1 1/8 and so isn’t a problem.

Rapid Rise stuff?

True, but this doesn’t render a bike unusable, you just have to get used to shifting the perverted way with a normal mech.

Some of the strange seat post sizes used by Marin, Fat Chance, etc bitd?

All still available somewhere, might only have choice of one or two manufacturers but still around.

No they don’t. Shimano has never made an ISIS crank.

Sorry I meant Octalink…… similar but less crap I suppose..

Some of the strange seat post sizes used by Marin, Fat Chance, etc bitd?
All still available somewhere, might only have choice of one or two manufacturers but still around.

The BBB 400mm seatpost can be found in pretty much any size at less than £20, works brilliantly and can be made to look like a Syncros one very easily (which is what I did on my Rocky Mountain which was a 30.4mm size). Or you can use a USE seatpost with a shim.

The roller cam brake on my merlin would be pretty hard to replace. There are some cheap chunky versions available or even a u-brake would function but the original WTB version that came with the bike was a thing of beauty and would be missed.

The same bike also has push fit BB bearings which although are an unusual size for bikes but readily available from bearing suppliers. But the BB spindle is only available from Phil Wood cycles in California which makes it a bit rare too.

It also take s a one inch fork which isn’t too much of a problem, the real difficulty is that it needs a fairly short fork as the geometry is all pre suspension era when forks were a touch shorter than they are now.

Cannondale 5 bolt discs, with odd 165mm rotor. 😐

If you are going down the route of obsolete X rendering a bike absolutely useless then I don’t think you’ll find it as there’s always a bodge.

An Allsop Softride specific frame? Wouldn’t have thought you could get the bar any more?

I think hope still make 5 bolt 165 discs. Not sure if it’s the same pattern as cannondale but I use them on my road bike.

Cannondale 5 bolt discs

Do you mean the 4 bolt Coda ones?

My GF still has a couple of those on her F900, not looking forward to the day she bends one irreparably*, although a hub swap will keep the bike going.

* I do have a cunning backup plan of some old BETD/Goldteck 6 bolt spiders to carry Hope 5 bolt discs, of which I have many, the 4 and 6 bolt BCD is the same, so 2 of the holes already match up, 2 extra holes drilled in the spider and it mounts to Coda 4 bolt hubs so there’s always options!

If you are going down the route of obsolete X rendering a bike absolutely useless then I don’t think you’ll find it as there’s always a bodge.

^ this

Most parts are available, if just a little tricky or limited in choice, and those that aren’t can often be worked around or replacements made if you can be bothered.

I just can’t find a 60″ front wheel for my penny farthing anymore!!!

smatkins1 – Member
I just can’t find a 60″ front wheel for my penny farthing

here y’go

://www.unicycle.uk.com/penny-farthing.html

Ahwiles, Chris king and hope both do a headset to suit your needs.

Bear in mind that I’m talking about the upper-bearing, I have straight-steerer forks,

Links to these headsets please…

(44mm head tube : 1.5″ steerer)

What’s wrong with the NP headset? – it’s utterly, utterly shit.

You didn’t say what was so wrong with the NP one – shit doesn’t cover it.

Is it the bearings, or the sealing, or the preload ring, what exactly is crap about it?

If it’s bearings have you looked to see if any others will fit?

You’re right the Cane Creek one I was thinking of is only lower cup, although you could use one in the top as well upside down and get a new upper race/preload collar machined, or even use the bottom race on the top with a small stepped sleeve to take up the difference.

Also, see above comments about Works/BETD or local machine shop, it’s not an impossible task to get a couple of Alu cups machined to hold bearings of your choice (even from another headset).

Or swap fork, but I guess you don’t want to do that, guess it depends how much you actually want to use your DH bike.

Surely 26″ is not obsolete,so to speak just a different size?. Like 28″,27″ 650A etc, different strokes for….. 🙂

This. Hence the OP is fundamentally missing the point. I have a very nice 25.4 stem and I’m already finding that my choice of nice lightweight flat bars is extremely limited when I next break the set I have.

imnotverygood – Member

smatkins1 – Member
I just can’t find a 60″ front wheel for my penny farthing

here y’go

://www.unicycle.uk.com/penny-farthing.html

I doff my cap to you!

It’s not that you can’t get stuff in the older standards, more that the choice is becoming more limited both in terms of what’s made and what’s in stock. So you might be able to get something but it might nit be why you actually want.

This and same thing with bars as aracer.
It will just get harder and harder to get quality bits
Not many good quality 25.4 stems available either

Can anyone source a 1.5″ front mech for a manitou frame? Struggled with that a few years ago.