clubman 

Doesn't bother me in the least to use my NOS inventory. I didn't get into this to make money.

jonwvara 

Yes, agreed about the money. But that's not what bothers me. It's just that, since NOSness isn't important to me, every time I install an NOS part I think "well, this is too bad. There are people out there who would be really, really happy to get their hands on the part like this." It's like I'm not making the highest and best use of the part.

But from the responses so far, I'm heartened to learn that most people, like me, don't find NOSness it that important. We're a better adjusted group than I would have thought

ThermionicScott 

I find myself in a similar boat. Not a lot of desirable NOS parts on hand, but I find myself saving the shinier new stuff for some undetermined "later" while putting lower-grade or previously-used stuff on the bikes I'm riding.

Seems to happen in my other hobbies, too. Maybe being into vacuum tube audio and air-cooled Volkswagens has turned me into the type to hold onto the good stuff "just in case."

tkamd73 

In my situation “the later” or “just in case “ is probably me croaking, and my wife tossing it all, to clear out the basement. At least if the parts are on a bike, she will try and sell that on Craigslist.
Tim

jonwvara 

I just read Kurt Vonnegut's collection of essays A Man Without a Country, which I had somehow missed, even though it was published in 2005. It was his last book, and his take on the state of the world and humanity makes a great read. Anyway, at one point he starts a sentence with "If I should ever die, God forbid..."

I think he was joking. In an earlier book, he claimed that he was going to sue Liggett & Myers for selling a defective product. He was going to write them an angry letter pointing out that although the company claimed their products would kill him, he had been smoking Pall Malls for 50 years, and still hadn't died yet.

EDIT: Oops, had the tobacco company wrong--it was actually Brown & Williamson.

52telecaster

Great book.

merziac

Hence the wonderful pile of NOSness.

clubman 

Full disclosure, it's not that I don't absolutely squeal (inside) when I score a great deal on a bike or parts. The desire to have and to hold 'quality' objects can be fierce. I'm not that well adjusted...

jonwvara 

Yes, understood. That's why I didn't say we're well adjusted--just better adjusted than I thought.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that most of our bikes are better adjusted than we ourselves are.

bikingshearer 

The best thing about NOS is that you can be pretty darn sure it will work. (Okay, maybe not 40 year old tires, but you get my point.) On the other hand, with used stuff, there is always a risk. Not a big one if you're careful about what and from whom you buy, but it's still there.

Having said that, I've bought my share of used frames and parts and all of the frames and the vast majority of the parts have worked out just fine.

Mad Honk 

I must have at least ten boxes of Campy high flange hubs from the 1980's and at this point they are only worth about what I paid for them. They have value for collectors but there are very few of those out there. As NOS they will work quite nicely and do have some value to some but not everyone. When it comes to NOS I am reminded about the; Please open the NOS box thread that went over one hundred replies long arguing about the value of NOS-ness. For me NOS just means a new part that shouldn't need work on it to make it functional. At some point the NOS will be just more obsolete parts on the shelf. Smiles, MH

verktyg 

Jon, went through my stash last night. I have some NOS 45T & 48T Model 93 chainrings plus some NOS 46T & 47T Model 105bis rings.... Close but no cigar...



verktyg

jonwvara 

Thanks for looking! I will have to harden my heart and use my NOS 46, and mismatch be damned....

nlerner

Just tell yourself that NOS means not original stock and use away.

Kabuki12

I bid on a NOS Campagnolo SR front derailleur , with the black arm, in the box with a very low bid just because the derailleur was in the wrong box. Someone had put it in a seventies Rear derailleur box, even though the FD was still wrapped up. I think that scared some people off and I got it for $23 . When I got the derailleur , there were some shop stickers and a couple of extra screws included. I still have not used the FD but if I had a need for it I would not hesitate. Heck, some folks sell empty boxes! Maybe I finally came out ahead. Over on the CR list there was a discussion about how some of these beautifully machined and cast trinkets don’t draw big prices . I just enjoy being able to acquire this stuff without spending big bucks. When I had my T1 356A Porsche , NOS meant second mortgage!

Chombi1 

NOS can sometimes bite you if you are not careful.
I remember buying set of NOS laminated Italian Silva toe straps some years ago for what I thought was a decent price.
I figured I was getting a good, cheaper alternative to Binda straps.
The straps looked perfect/beautiful in its original box and had the cool additional leather pads under the buckles.
installed them on one of my bikes and they quickly deaminated into a useless mess in the middle of just one ride. Turns out that the glue used to laminated the strap nylon and leather layers together was so dried up that it couldn't hold the strap together anymore.
50 some bucks instantly down the drain...... I thought of returning the straps to the shop I bought it to get my money back, but then I thought to myself that there's really no way they can guarantee items being sold as NOS, so I just sucked it in..... Lesson learned.....
I had been more careful after that when buying NOS items anywhere......especially if they are of the "perishable" type of NOS item.....