bblair

I am trying to restore my old Paramount and have run into problems. Freewheels, brakes, you name it. If I want new, it's "temporarily out of stock." Handlebars, seatpost, I can find a limited number of used. Even saddles seem to be on back order.

Good think that I have 3 other bikes to ride.

cudak888 

If it's Chinese, it's not getting through customs. Been sitting nearly three months on a pair of AliExpress orders.

-Kurt

bblair

Yea, nothing is made here. Which is not necessarily bad, until you need a set of bike brakes or a new chain saw.

Actually, it goes both ways: my son lives in China and got caught here visiting. He's stuck too.

SurferRosa

Maybe it's a good thing I can't find a mid-level project bike to purchase on craigs.

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BFisher

Haven't run into this. Everything I've needed during this epidemic has been available, and most shipments have been on time or only slightly delayed.

Chains, brake pads, brake levers, bar tape, cables and housing, hardware, tires, etc. - found everything I needed. I'm rebuilding a mixte for my wife and got everything she wanted on order last night and today.

I have a few domestic vendors I buy from, and never order anything directly from the far east, never shopped on Ali Express. Universal Cycles is one place that has always come through for me.

Jmpierce

Yes! I just today received a screwdriver set I ordered in early March.

delbiker1 

I have had to search for some items, or get a comparable replacement. However, things I have really needed I have received, most of them on time. I have ordered a few things from China that took a bit longer than the normal longer wait, but have others things that arrived in the time span that was estimated. I have also ordered a few things from Taiwan and they have delivered ahead of time. Some of the wait for orders that were placed are due the USPS being inundated with a large increase in their shipping volume, being short on staff, and the way mail is being processed and handled due to the Covid crisis.

3speedslow

31.8 cable clips are out of stock, Dang!

plonz 

Just got low-end cables, bar tape, hoods and chain stay protector on eBay. All items were cheapest from China sellers but I intentionally paid a bit more for identical items from US sellers. All arrived within a week.

Have come across US sellers claiming items are in stock and then admit they are waiting for their stock to arrive from China... after I’ve paid and inquired about where my stuff’s at.

branko_76 

So, you are restoring an old Paramount but using modern freewheels, brakes, & you name it?

Drillium Dude 

If you stay with vintage parts you can find them all day on Ebay - just sayin'

New? Might have to put the project on the back burner for a couple more months...

Sounds like a good excuse to keep it as close to original spec as possible, unless of course you're dead set on modernizing.

Good luck!

DD

deux jambes

New items I’ve purchased within the past couple of months:

Sunrace 7 speed freewheel
PYC hollow rivet chain
Aluminum headset spacer
Specialized inner tubes
Velox cotton rim tape
Seat post binder bolt
Stainless cable and “vintage” housing
quick release skewer springs
Kool Stop pads
Soma gum hoods (Rustines were out)
Headlight
Water bottle
Various tools

A few NOS goodies or repop items as well. And of course some used parts.

The Rustine hoods turned out to be my only roadblock, but I’m happy with the alternative choice. And my headlight was the last one in stock at the tail end of a Memorial Day sale. Got lucky with it I suppose. It came from the UK, otherwise just about everything else was purchased stateside, mostly on eBay. And nothing was China dependent I suppose, or in too high of demand... except for dang Rustine hoods!

ramzilla

I'm still waiting for my cheap $2.50 Chinese handlebar tape that I ordered from ebay about 3 months ago to show up. We've exchanged emails a few times & they promise me it will arrive any day now.

eeuuugh

Word at both my LBS and the World Bike Mechanic forum on facebook is, 26x1.95-2.125" schrader valve inner tubes are out of stock from J&B and QBP as well. By far the most common size for flat fixes. It's going to be chaos.

cudak888 

Same here. Ordered handlebars from Taiwan early on. They arrived just after three weeks.

I do have one China order that's already stateside - it's an eBay (not AliExpress) order, and it was shipped via BuyLogic. The other two Chinese shipments I alluded to were sent China Post, but their point of hangup has been the USPS Shenzhen EMS facility.

Heck, if the forum is interested, here's the tracking on all three:

AliExpress / China Post order #1 : Universal Parcel Tracking - Global Package Tracking
AliExpress / China Post order #2 : Universal Parcel Tracking - Global Package Tracking
eBay / Buylogic: Universal Parcel Tracking - Global Package Tracking

-Kurt

smontanaro 

My neighbor finally brought her bike over for me (a low-end Gary Fisher MTB with 8sp SIS) to check out. It needs a new derailleur. I gave her pointers to a half dozen specific derailleurs which would work. Only one was in stock. That seems to be what's happening. We have a little bike boom going on. Over on internetBOB someone reported that apparently inner tubes (mostly made in China) have gone pfft! as well. I suspect supply chain interruptions account for much of the problem. More generally, I think the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the weak underbelly of our just-in-time global supply chain.

camjr

I went to my favorite, long standing LBS the other day simply to get a new bottle cage simply because I wanted chrome or silver over my current black one. Sold out of all bottle cages, bikes, and most accessories. Where they normally have one mechanic working on bikes, they had 4, and they said that it's been that way for a couple of months with everyone getting their bikes out of storage and getting them tuned up. I then opted to just run by a big box store to see what they had. Same story on bikes and parts.

I guess I'll wait a week or so and I'm sure the urge to change cages will pass...

cudak888 

This is the back door of my favorite LBS. Three weeks ago, the entire stock of every last bicycle on the floor was sold out. By last week, the floorspace in the showroom had become the new staging area for repairs. And it's full.

Twitter

Sorry, no inside pics. Not going in.

-Kurt

Glennfordx4

Didn't realize how bad it was until I worked at the bike shop last week, New Bikes & parts are slim pickens, Lower tier stuff all sold out, but repairs are flooding in. I sold 10 used bikes since last Friday, I am getting top dollar for really cheap bikes. I didn't used to work on cheap Huffy Cruisers but now I will tear down, clean, lube and adjust everything so they are better then when they were new, $90 to $125 for a used bike that cost that much new. Customers don't blink an eye cause they know they can't buy new and are willing to spend the $ just to have a bike.

Glenn

smontanaro 

After snoozing and losing on a Cyclery North custom a few weeks ago I decided I should really keep my eye on the local Play it Again Sports store. Usually they have 20 or so adult bikes (and BSOs) lined up outside the front door and a similar number of kiddie bikes. Yesterday the kiddie bikes were all there, but there were only three adult bikes. Nothing more really inside either. Folks who own shops and post on Classic Rendezvous and internetBOB say they are completely sold out of bikes with price tags of less than a few thousand bucks. OTOH, next shipments aren't expected until late summer or early fall, so while they had a bang up May, June through August will be thin (aside from hopefully repair work).

bblair

Valid question there.

I need long reach brakes, as it looks like this was originally 27" wheels, and 700c are slightly smaller. The only sidepulls that I can find with proper reach are Tektro, which I don't really want, but I have to stop. Some of the ebay stores are not in the U.S., so even vintage is tough shipping-wise.

Freewheels: anything old might be worn, so I am looking into the possibility of new, or NOS. Same with chains. Brake calipers don't wear out, nor do handlebars.

Any advice as to sources is appreciated.

BFisher

If you are set on vintage long reach sidepulls there are plenty of "Schwinn Approved" calipers on eBay right now.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...w=weinmann+720

Some Universal 68's too. Not sure if they'd reach.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Uni...EAAOSwfHZeqwMV

I run similar Dia-Compe sidepulls with modern brake shoes on one of my bikes, and while the braking isn't the greatest, it is acceptable.

bblair

Thanks for looking. I vaguely remember having Universal sidepulls on my Paramount at one time, but I think I upgraded to Dura Ace. That was the cheap alternative to Campy at the time.

branko_76 

Ebay, and be persistant.

What is the actual reach?

SurferRosa

Someone posted a link to the French Rustines website that sells the hard to find Campy gum hoods. Just to see what it would cost, I added 'em to my mock shopping cart, and it came to $27. Not too terrible.

They sell some cool retro stuff like gloves and caps, too.