PugRider

Absolutely, I think it's 100 percent all of those things. The co-op director has basically been going down a list of emailed/texted requests for bikes and delivering them. He said by far the most requested are smaller mountain bikes (for kids/teens) and larger mountain bikes (for adults, they just don't want anything to do with skinny tires or drop bars). The Craigslist/Fbook flippers in my area are having a feeding frenzy, charging wild amounts for low-end and box store bikes and the like, and you get the sense people may actually be paying those prices! I went for a ride with my wife the other day and we parked at the local rail trail, people were hunting for parking spots and up on the grass in spots, it was crazy. And we just parked there and went on a road ride, we didn't dare go onto the trail!

cudak888 

...and on eBay and Amazon too. Case in point, I needed a brake lever that would pull two cables at once. Went through three levers that didn't work, in the following order:

1. eBay - Turned out to be a crap lever design that equalized lever pull between the two levers. Sunlite.
2. Live Fast Motors (a motorized bike dealer) - Same lever as #1 sent, which was not what was in the pictures. Sunlite.
3. eBay again - Different design (the one Live Fast had had advertised), matched photos, but turned out to be for V-brakes when listing claimed sidepull/canti compatibility. Lever casting obviously was designed so it could be manufactured either way, but these were the V variant.

I could have experimented with Amazon too, but I already knew from looking at the photos of the options there that I'd be ordering one of these two levers.

I don't see where AliExpress is any different than these options.

Unless it is a special ordered part, which is par for the C&V course. Those photos in the J&B catalog are worse than looking at photos online.

-Kurt

robertorolfo

Yes, here in the city there are a lot of road style bikes being used as single-speeds, but that's nothing new as they have always been favored by hipsters (that invariably drive the prices up).

When I was visiting my parents in the suburbs, I saw almost exclusively mountain bikes, each sized appropriately for whichever member fo the family was riding it...

Well, to begin with, I don't even consider Amazon anymore for parts, from big brands or otherwise, as the prices aren't really that competitive and the product descriptions/photos are often incorrect. The description issue can also apply to other sites, but I don't find it to be as much of an issue.

But yes, if you are looking for particular parts or items, you often have no choice but to source from the far east. But at least with Ebay you can (in my opinion) be more likely to find a seller that actually has items in stock in country. And I'm also talking about more common items where there is a choice, and where reputable brands and sellers exist, and in those instances making an effort to avoid the likes of AliExpress.

randyjawa 

Here, in Thunder Bay, a Canadian city of 120,000, has started to run out of bikes. One of the three shops reports no bikes left, unless a buyer is prepared to spend lots and lots (meaning thousands). Anyway, to that add the grocery shelves are not as full as they used to be...

I am the bullet dodger and do the shopping, once a week. Since returning to Thunder Bay, at the end of April, I notice each week that there is less of this and that and none of some things. Funny thing is, when this pandemic was first recognized as potentially serious, Canadians bought out all the toilet paper. Go figure?-(

bblair

My wife and I fix up old bikes and donate them. I have one now that is ok except for dry, cracked tires. Anybody know where I find cheap 26 x 2.0 tires? 554-559 size. LBS, online and ebay all out.

cudak888 

I may have a pair of solids 26x1.50's here, but they'd probably cost a bit to ship, even folded.

-Kurt

BFisher

How cheap?
I found these just now.
Panaracer Urban Tour

John E

I have a stash of vintage parts, including freewheels, as I suppose many of you do. What do you need in particular?

dweenk

Not just bike parts. A friend of mine knows a boat dealer who buys used boats. He can't find seals and O-Rings he needs to refurbish or repair engines. They mostly come from India and China now. Best case is very long shipping dates, and worse case is not available.

bblair

We were able to find lightly used tires at a local coop for $10 each. Not sure their story, but should be plenty good enough for their intended purpose.

mechanicmatt

Needed 20" tires for my kiddo's rambler, something with smooth tread on the middle and some sort of knobbish pattern on the edges so he can have an easier time on the longish road rides for a little guy. It took me 2 hours searching online to find something in stock, that was after an hour calling around local stores. Finally found something that I liked, and made the order. 2 days later got an email saying they were out of stock of that tire, so I called them and the very helpful clerk that was working with me must have looked at four different tires and found out that they were all out of stock. Eventually we found these odysseys which are nice with his help but definitely not my first choice. Still makes the kids bike look a little bit like a rat rod though.

gugie 

@aggiegrads is both my company's local "bike czar" as well as a high level volunteer at Portland's Community Cycle Center co-op. He tells me that kid sized tubes (16-24" ) are becoming rare as hens teeth, inexpensive 26" tires are gone, and other odds and end parts that in normal days no one gives a second thought to are drying up as well. His teenage son has been keeping very busy doing local repairs as local shops are quoting 4 week turnaround time.

Don't chuck those old tubes, start patching, folks!

aggiegrads

Shimano six and seven speed shifters seem to be out of stock most places, as well as inexpensive (<$30USD) floor pumps. Tubes are hit and miss, although J&B is starting to have new stock trickle back in from China.

Inexpensive bottle cages are hard, but not impossible to find.

cudak888 

FYI, all of these arrived, including a fourth order placed later on.

-Kurt