Bicycle Mechanics - Bearing balls=$$$

My supply of bearing balls is finally running low. I called a local supplier Saturday morning to see what a new supply of grade 25 balls would cost. I was thinking of about 100 each of three different sizes.

Geez! They want 12 cents per ball! The 5/32's are 15 cents each!!

Now I'm no mathematician, but this is nearly $40 just for a paltry supply.

It's been a long time since I've bought bearing balls, so I ask, is this outrageous? Am I a cheap-ass? ---- Both?

Any suggestions?

Try these guys, Bike Tools Etc. Here's a link to their bearing balls page http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=83880272358&nr=11&b=&c=Repair%20Parts&sc=Bearings-Ball&tc=&q=&s= Stainless balls are on the next page.

As you can see, the price range for grade 25 is 2.9 cents to 6.9 cents in bags of 100.

Bags of 100 grade 25 at loosescrews.com are quite reasonable also. I just bought some a couple of months ago.

I would sell a bag(75) of grade 25 5/32 balls for $4.00, a little over five cents each. If you wanted a handful and I count them out they would be about 10 cents a piece

I actualy had a shop try to sell me 30 rusty, cracked and pitted bearings when I went in looking for new ones on saturday, then actualy had the nerve to be offended when I told him what he could do with em.

Another LBS I cant wait to see go under...

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Davet- I requested the "hard copy" catalogue from Bike Tools Etc. I will send an order after it arrives, as I'm in no big hurry. My everyday bikes are already serviced. I'm working on a old Raleigh (another thread) when I realized I was running short. That is a great website.

Rainman- Somehow I was under the impression that Loosescrews.com was out of business. I'm going to prowl around that website too.

Rev. Chuck- Maybe I could have droped by the LBS and picked up enough for my project, but I've had some shop employees shrug me off when asking for these type items. Maybe I'm getting paranoid.

stumpjumper- Yeah we have lots of those kind of shops around here too. My favorite shop in Wadsworth is out of business, building is to be demolished, (squeaky floors and all). However I have another in Barberton that is almost the same.

Thanks again all.

Our shop has been in business for 25 years, so we have a lot of NOS. Many os the time I have spent looking for 15 minutes looking for, say, a 3speed pulley that will sell for less than a buck. It is not allways about making money, but helping and keeping customers.

Yeah we have lots of those kind of shops around here too. My favorite shop in Wadsworth is out of business, building is to be demolished, (squeaky floors and all). However I have another in Barberton that is almost the same.

Unfortunately, this is the same shop / local chain of shops that have been through -three- closings/name changes/"new ownership" episodes. I keep having my hopes that they will eventually go away dashed. :( Still owned, I beleive, by the same family though (the Whittmans.) They also operating phatmatts.com out of the back room.

Whatever you do, avoid the place like the plague.

Try ebay for balls someone has listings in the bike parts catagory

I think my LBS charges me like 10 cents each for 1/4" bearings. Fine by me. $2 for a buncha bearings to repack a BB is a good deal in my book.

I actualy had a shop try to sell me 30 rusty, cracked and pitted bearings when I went in looking for new ones on saturday, then actualy had the nerve to be offended when I told him what he could do with em.

Another LBS I cant wait to see go under...

Like you have one for sizing and it's smoother. :roflmao: :mad: not funny.

Our shop has been in business for 25 years, so we have a lot of NOS. Many os the time I have spent looking for 15 minutes looking for, say, a 3speed pulley that will sell for less than a buck. It is not allways about making money, but helping and keeping customers.

Ditto that. I often spend unproductive minutes finding some odd part from my boneyard and then give it away or charge some token price. I do this so people don't leave my shop feeling like they were wasting my time. They aren't. By helping them out with the odd fix, I often get them back for bigger purchases in the future.

I have been kinda lurking on some of the beat up the LBS posts. I run my shop partly based on how I was treated in various shops back in the 70's and early 80's when I was a customer. Nothing would chase me away faster than a bike shop who only acted like they wanted to empty my pocket. I don't operate that way. If I treat the consumers right, the pocket emptying happens of it's own accord.

To address the BB question, I charge $1.00 to $1.75 / set of loose balls. Depends on size. I always throw in a few extra because I know everyone always loses one or two.