mdilthey

My favorite bike touring stop is a Hardware Store. There's a lot of stuff in there that is innately useful to cyclists, and some of my favorite pieces of gear came off those shelves instead of my local bike shop, for rock-bottom Everyman prices instead of Velo markups.

Go treasure hunting for stuff like this!

irwin7638

On top of all that, take a walk through their toy department. I did and, peeking out from the shelf full of colored rubber grips, daisy adorned fenders and streamers I saw an odd, dust covered box. I grabbed it and bought a brand new, honey colored, Brooks b-17 with proofide and spanner for $89.

Marc

bradtx

mdilthey, I have an old style hardware store in my town that has an extensive selection of fasteners. Everyone should be as lucky.

Brad

GeoKrpan

A nearby independent 99 cent store carries bicycle supplies. Tubes, tires, patch kits, brakes pads, blinkie lights, and batteries.

jhawk

Currently, I am green with envy. My hardware store hasn't the foggiest about bikes. I once paid (stupidly) 15 DOLLARS for some tube grease.

nun

I agree.......I stop by for 4mm SHCS and lots of bike related hardware. Just the other day I bought a carabiner there to use with my paracord to make
my "bear bag" set up easier.

fietsbob

Mine is a Marine supply shop, its a "drinking town with a fishing problem" .. and tourisim.

stainless steel is a necessity in salt water..

in Eugene it was an Industrial Fastener store ..

SparkyGA

Funny how that blog mentions clear safety glasses. Those are my favourite style of glasses to bring on tour (that and I get them from work free). You need clear glasses if your intending to ride during the evening when all the insects are out....

mtn.cyclist

And a related thought...buying performance sportswear from place like target can save lots of $$. The fleece you buy there is 99% as good as Pearl Izumi at a fraction of the price.

Cyclebum

Hardware stores are indeed a cyclist's friend. Several years ago I was inspired by a bud to fashion a set of aerobars for myself while on tour in Oklahoma. Plans were conjured while riding, and executed with material found in a local hardware, pvc pipe mostly. Worked pretty darn well.

unterhausen

I can see perfectly well enough to function without glasses, but if I need to read a map, I need some magnification. You can get bifocal safety glasses now for a little more than the regular ones, that's what I ride with.

mdilthey

I think there's a prevailing culture of low-proce, function-over form stuff at Hardware Stores. I'm not surprised that the $5 glasses there are the top performers for winter riding for me. What's the difference between those and $150 cycling glasses? A logo?

Sunglasses in general is one of the most consumer-driven markets ever, controlled by a monopoly that drives up prices far over manufacturing cost. Check out this for more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica

robert schlatte

Don't forget p clamps. My first touring bike did have eyelets for racks so hardware stores were my friend.

BLYTZPK

NAPA...Valvoline Synthetic Gear chain lube

McMaster Carr

3M...adhesives/epoxies also at Carr

Summit Racing

Seattle Fabrics

Campmor.com.... none cheaper

BLYTZPK

Campmor sells dayglo polyester T's but necessary to check the stock once a month as supplies are intermittant

ak08820

I hate all the bike specific products for being so small in size and so expensive compared to their normal cousin, e.g. lubricants, cleaning products, etc. As a result, I have never used any bike specific product. I recently suggested a bicycle tourist on a budget riding overseas who ordered a bunch of parts for her bike, to not spend $12 on the 6 oz. chain lube and use motor oil available at any gas station, but she followed the advice of her local expert and host and went ahead.

TeleJohn

I use a PVC endcap as a light mount on the fork of my LHT.