Pre covid I normally purchased bike parts on an “as needed basis”. Now with all the stock supply issues I’m curious as to how much everyone has changed their bike part buying habits? How many consumable parts such as tires etc do you stock up on now?

For me, I’ve been trying to make sure that I have at least one spare set of tires, chain, cassette and brake pads at all times but even that has been difficult to do.

I bought a saddle , seat post and some tires for a new build…. But no panic buying here.

I wasn’t – but now I’m like, ahhh panic!

I reckon you only need stuff in that’s likely to break, wear and tear items should be predictable enough to order. So for me it would be tires, mech and hanger, bottom bracket, spokes, valves, bearings. But I have none of these in so will start having a look

No more than usual but I’ve typically always kept a good stock of consumables. In fact, I’m probably buying less than usual.

I’m certainly not panic buying as that just causes other to panic buy.

Yep – I definitely have more spares in stock – two complete spare drivetrains, one for each bike – I usually have quite a few tyres kicking around, but do have one or two more now

Four bikes here, so a bit impractical. Always got spare tyres anyway. Specific spares are a chain ring for the commuter MTB, as it’s running a rare Shimano LX M570 crankset with 5 arms – rings are a bit tricky to get due to age. My main FS is a SRAM 2 x 10 and it’s the rings on that that are hard to get for a reasonable price, but I start looking as it starts to wear.

Road bikes don’t wear parts anything like as quick, and the standards tend to stay the ‘same’ for longer. Road bikes are vintage Shimano 600/Ultegra and Dura Ace – both 8 speed so parts plentyful.

I have one spare chain of each type we need for all the bikes in the house.

I have spare brake pads for 80% of the bikes.

Probably got a few old 11 speed cassettes that could be pressed into service if needed, got a set of wheels that need fixing but otherwise ok.

I only ‘stockpile’ consumables so in stock currently I have chains, brake pads and rotors, cables, bar tape and set of tires. I tend to operate a one in one out policy

I never stockpile due to shortages but if there’s aver a real bath then I’ve been known to buy a couple of extra items. I’ve mostly got a lot of tyres right now.

Forgot to mention spare pads – that goes without saying, and a spare 10 speed chain.

Shimano LX M570

Will look in the shed, I have an LX vintage crank rings in the shed that might be what your looking for.

I always try to keep in stock one spare of anything that could catastrophically break and potentially ruin a weekend’s riding i.e. chain, cassette, chainring, rear mech, shifter, and bottom bracket.

Also, a decent stock of consumables (gear cabling, brake pads, quick links, oils and greases etc).

Things like frame bearings, headset bearings, wheel bearings etc don’t seem to catastrophically break for me, touch wood, so I just tend to buy them as and when things get notchy and gritty.

I’ve also got a general parts bin (low end / stock stems, bars, grips, saddles etc) for emergencies, but again, these never seem to go wrong for me.

Got a spare chain and cassette but that’s just because decent 10sp is getting hard to find.
Always have lots of spare brake pads, buy I in bulk as it’s cheaper,I need three kinds across seven bikes so not too bad

I stockpile stuff, then forget what I have.
I bought a new 11 spd chain in the year, only to find two brand new ones in ‘the tub’.

2 chains, cassette and mech hanger. Hopefully that will keep me going. Thinking I should have a spare tire now..

I’m curious as to how much everyone has changed their bike part buying habits?

Not at all. I usually do my buying late at night after relaxing over a few drinks. Then I decide I need something. I should probably go out to the shed to check if I already have one in stock, but I figure that having a spare is good anyway. I always order two, just to make absolutely certain I have a spare for the next time.

How many consumable parts such as tires etc do you stock up on now?

I’m not really sure. My shed is full of boxes of spares. I should probably do a stocktake, but that would mean restacking the mountain of 26″ tyres I bought just in case they stop making them. Can’t be arsed, easier to just buy stuff when I need it.

No stockpiling, but I’d really like a 27.2 Thomson seatpost which appears to be impossible.

If anyone happens to have one, give me a shout.

Haven’t changed at all as I was always dreadful for buying stuff when PSAs came up. Thankfully they’re less frequent these days so I’m getting to run the stock stash down a bit.

I’ve been preparing for a parts shortage for 20 years it seems.

I’ve stuff left over from a 2×10 build i never got around to doing. New rotor rex cranks,xo 10spd mechs and shifters, hope BB,stem and e4 brakes plus the 10spd xt cassette and chain.

Dont need it all at the moment but this drought seems to be going on indefinitely, so best hung on to I reckon

I’ve just rebuilt the drivetrain on the Enduro and I think for the first time ever I couldn’t buy all the bits I needed from one store, had to go to Italy for the cassette and a few parts aren’t OEM (BB and jockey wheels) it’ll probs be a while till I try doing that again as it was a palaver.

I always aim to have spares like cables and pads and stuff.

I’m working on a retrograde system.

I replace anything that breaks* with the perfectly serviceable “out of date” stuff I took off.

As I am still running late 90s 8speed stuff which just won’t die or singlespeed, I’m not too concerned.

*Which it doesn’t.

I haven’t sold my RD-M760 mech. Not because I’m worried I might need it but because I’m lazy. I’d sooner go chainless than run that abomination again.

I bought four tyres before I moved to Sweden, but I do still run 26″ on the stumpy, so it made sense to. And they were on special.

As above. My ‘stockpile’ is a result of upgraditis and being too lazy to move stuff on.

Rather a lot of 26” 9sp 1+1/8 straight rapid rise stuff, as I’ve decided to keep my old orange 5 till I’m in an urn (*and the mrs still rides her old myka) and luckily, as I went electric quite a few years ago I have a fair bit of 11sp consumables built up before it went all silly.

brake pads and a spare 12 speed eagle GX cassette is the sum total of my ‘parts bin’.

I always keep my eye out, but generally are too tight to actually buy spares, as touch wood…. i dont go through that many parts (thankfully)

I’ve been preparing for a parts shortage for 20 years it seems.

+1

If anything I’ve probably run down the spares a bit over Covid.

Yeah. Always have a decent stockpile of stuff. Chains, tubes, gear cables, brake pads, often cheaper in bulk and since they get used… Will also grab tyres when I see stuff I like on offer.
Majority of our bikes are 10 speed, which simplifies things a bit.

As above i frequenly have a decent buffer of stuff as and when I swop or upgrade bits (i.e i’ve an NX 12spd deraillier in the garage, as i upgraded to AXS.
Many handle bars, many SPD pedals..
The only thing i actively recently got due to shortages was 2 GX 12spd chains… Our E bike and my stumpy are both SRAM 12spd, so seemed sensible to have spare chains.

Oddly, i really MUST get more brake pads in stock as i literally have no spares!!

DrP

Pretty much no spares here.

I go in a wee loop of thinking I should get a 12 speed chain, then mibbe a cassette, then I remember the price of them, and don’t bother. I’ll ride them til utter death, and then worry about it.

I tend to keep quite a bit in but I realised over lockdown that I had a load of stuff that might come in handy one day but I’ll probably never use. I had a big clear out on eBay and now have a more measured collection of spares. I do need some 10 speed chains in if anyone has seen a deal.

I have over done it on a few things. I recently bought some bargain brake disks opened the spares draw to put in them away and found it to already be full.

I have always kept a decent stock of consumables and spares.

I’ve got a spare xo1 mech and chain that I bought before going to Morocco a few years ago. They go with me on any long trips. Other than that and the pile of old junk I refuse to dispose of, I’ve the usual pads, shifter cables and fluids. I’ve also got at least two of each spoke type that the bikes might need.

@nickjb I get my chains from Decathlon. Usually 12-15 for their ‘BTwin’ stuff, which is made by – and branded – KMC.

Any deals on decent level (SLX or KMC X11) 11-speed chains?

And 11-speed-compatible quick links?

I try to keep no stock of anything. In practice I have a spare set of brake pads (and my old frame and reverb, both of which I’m trying to sell). Worried about where my next 12 speed Shimano chain will come from, might try to find one…

I’ve got a bit more stock than normal because I also commute on my MTBs and the electric one eats drivetrains annoyingly fast. So I’ve got a spare cassette and chain for the hardtail, a few cassettes and chains for the Levo and a spare rear mech, and quite a lot of tyres. I usually get my LBS to do most stuff because they’re good and I’m short of time.

In my defence my hardtail is about to turn from 27.5 to 29 and the Levo needs new tyres so the tyre mountain will soon be smaller! Am going to get some singlespeed stuff for the hardtail so that has an alternative in case I wreck a 12 speed mech and can’t buy a sensibly priced one.

Always kept a spare chain or two anyway and brake pads, as these can suddenly go. Nothing else new though. Probably pick up a gx eagle cassette if they ever come back in though, just because I don’t know when next resupply will come in. Main bikes both on eagle 12spd with guide brakes, so spares cover both.

Stuff like bb and chainrings pretty much always available from superstar or Uber bike, so no real worry there.

Various part worn tyres, but ebike and full sus both 27.5 so always an easy swap over. Certainly no new spares.

Spare cassette and chain for gravel bike, but these are part worn, taken off mtb when I changed to 12spd.

Lucky to have a decent range of bikes, so any unexpected breakages just mean a different bike choice.

@saccades

I urrently have a new spare big ring, but do swwm to chew through them espeially as it’s the commuter/shoot weather bike – if it’s just tracks, canal etc, then I take the old bike out.

It’s the 94 PCD 5 arm, the outer ring is a blue grey colour with the word ‘MEGA’