Commuting - Do you hoard bike parts like a pack rat?

This morning I realized that I am a serious parts collector/hoarder. HardyWeinberg was so kind to give me his tires but I just can't seem to part with most of the goodies that could possibly be pressed into service to keep my bikes runnings someday. The 3rd bay in my garage literally looks like a bike shop with wheels, tires, and all kinds of other parts laying about.

I want to give a spare set of shifters to my dad, but I can't bear the thought of them sitting in his garage unused (not like I am using them right now, but what if???????) They may be unused in my garage as well, but at least they are appreciated and loved :)

I am breaking spokes on my commuting wheels about once per week and will be getting a new set soon but I don't relish the thought of giving those old wheels up either. I mean, what if?????????

I have a huge box full of all kinds of parts under my workbench that I will probably never use, but what if????? I have wheels that barely spin and that have breaking surfaces that are days away from wearing through, but can I throw them out?????NO WAY, what if??????

I love buying $10 parts bikes at garage sales and stripping them of all their delicious parts, only to throw those parts in the box for possibly (although unlikely) future use.

For me, I don't mind lending or even giving someone a part if I am sure it will get used, but I am reluctant to get rid of parts permanently and I almost never throw parts out (even worn chains, cassettes, tires etc).

I guess that is one reason my local boy scout troop is always bringing their bikes to my garage for service and an occaisional free part. A part with so little market value can mean so much to a 14 year old with a broken bike.

Any other hoarders out there?

Yeah, well... when I posted that the rear dérailleur on my bike snapped in half everyone was annoyed the next day when I was still posting rides... "I thought your dérailleur was broken?"

Well, duh... I had a spare off an older bike and put it on... took me less than an hour.

So.. yeah. +1 packrat here. :D

Oh... and for your old wheels... get a set of spokes and rebuild them. ;)

I've rebuilt 3 rear wheels now... never had another problem with them.

Yeah, I do my best. Though I may have to start selling some parts to finance other stuff. I keep worn out brake pads and tires. WTF is wrong with me?

Oh god yeah, that's how I get new bikes. When the parts bin is big and fat, shake it real hard and bike falls out.

Yeah, well... when I posted that the rear dérailleur on my bike snapped in half everyone was annoyed the next day when I was still posting rides... "I thought your dérailleur was broken?"

Well, duh... I had a spare off an older bike and put it on... took me less than an hour.

So.. yeah. +1 packrat here. :D

Oh... and for your old wheels... get a set of spokes and rebuild them. ;)

I've rebuilt 3 rear wheels now... never had another problem with them.

OK, you have made me think....I am interested in doing this. I will send you a pm for more information if you don't mind.

I was going to say 'yes except for when I can foist them off on random interwebs people' but I see you spotted that. I didn't get nearly enough domestic credit for cleaning out the garage like that either, may I say.

I am breaking spokes on my commuting wheels about once per week and will be getting a new set soon but I don't relish the thought of giving those old wheels up either.

Just bought a new(used) set of wheels today for my Xtracycle. Keeping the old and probably mount some better tires for winter than my slicks. I keep every little part in hopes it will come in handy someday. I also build up old cruisers into Ratrods so parts are always needed.

Your wheels can be fixed by rebuilding. I have built wheels for the cruisers but never for a bike with rim or disc brakes. As always a good place to start is Sheldon's wheelbuilding page. http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

Yup... Sheldon's site is awesome. See there for instructions! ^^^^^^^^^^

only the ones my wife don't find. She like a clean house. So I hide them in boxes and put them way up in top of the closet.

Let's see, I have one bike in the kitchen, a trailer in the bedroom, the gf's trike in the entry way, I keep finding bits and bobs in places I don't remember leaving them... I still have no idea how that RD wound up in the fridge.

:lol:
Oh god yeah, that's how I get new bikes. When the parts bin is big and fat, shake it real hard and bike falls out.

Saving parts is fine. Saving junk is stupid. Don't save worn out stuff, save stuff that's actually useful. If you've already got 10 XT derailleurs... saving that generic derailleur with 5% of it's life left is a waste of time.

That's the nice thing about buying used bikes. They usually come with spare parts :). I've got enough parts for another road bike & mountain bike.

Saving parts is fine. Saving junk is stupid. Don't save worn out stuff, save stuff that's actually useful. If you've already got 10 XT derailleurs... saving that generic derailleur with 5% of it's life left is a waste of time.

Maybe.......unless you think a boy scout who couldn't possibly appreciate or need an XT der might need it. Point taken though; this thread started with the admission that it may be over the top.

4 complete bikes
1 frame
2 mtb wheelsets (I don't even own an mtb)
4 sets of bars
4 rear derailleurs
5 front derailleurs
3 cranksets
Big stack chainrings

And that's only the big parts. Boxes and boxes of smaller stuff.

Maybe.......unless you think a boy scout who couldn't possibly appreciate or need an XT der might need it. Point taken though; this thread started with the admission that it may be over the top.

Do you have that many scouts coming by your house? Sure he may not NEED an XT derailleur, but it'll work fine and if you've got a bunch laying around why not? Probably 90% of people with high end stuff actually NEED it anyhow!

Eventually, if you just keep everything you're going to be paying for space to store practically worthless stuff that will still be there when you die. I recently went through my boxes and got rid of the stuff I hadn't touched for a few years. Extra parts are nice. Extra junk is not!

Once there are more than 3-4 parts in a box it constitutes a sufficient breeding population and next thing I know the box is full. They're like tribbles.

I have lots of stuff, most of the bikes I ride are old, out of production models and many of the parts are NLA so any part in any condition is held on to. I also buy/find old bikes and strip them down for parts. I keep a stock of bits and pieces to give out to the local "utility" riders around town. The storage doesn't really cost me anything and if something is broken completely beyond repair it will get stripped and dumped into the recycle bin.

Aaron:)

Maybe.......unless you think a boy scout who couldn't possibly appreciate or need an XT der might need it. Point taken though; this thread started with the admission that it may be over the top.

Yeah... not sure why this guy wants us to justify ourselves. We're all flawed people anyways.


Oh, and Allan, those Rhollofs just lace to the spokes all by themselves, do they? :D

I was heavily into cycling in the mid-1980s, then got out for nearly 20 years. I kept all of my old stuff, which is now nearly "vintage" and worth more than I paid. :) Having spares is really nice, too.

I've used to have a very bad hoarding problem. Bike parts, magazines, computers and electronics, tools, clothes, etc.
If there was a space to put it in, there was a Rubbermaid bin with a label just waiting to be filled. I had a little bit of everything, and everything had its place. I did this for 8 years. I even moved it all from one apartment to another, twice. None of my friends questioned the usefulness of it all. They just helped me move it because I was going to give them beer and BBQ.
Then I lost my job and moved across the country. Packing everything you own into a 6 x 12 x 5 foot trailer makes you question the reason why you keep things. I threw away most of my hoarded materials. I've since trimmed things down even more, and I'm slowly chipping away at the last of my excessive stuff.

I used to hoarde because I was very poor. Two jobs and still couldn't keep up on the bills kind of poor. Having mild Asperger's and obsessive compulsive tendencies don't help with it, either. I kept everything because I knew I had backups, just in case. I couldn't afford to replace anything if I needed to buy it new, but I was really good at fixing all sorts of broken stuff.
I don't need to hoarde any more, and it's a tough thing to get over if you've done it out of necessity in the past. The mental block is there when you go to drop off a box of stuff at the book donation or the Goodwill... What if the one I've got now breaks? Maybe I'll just keep one. And then it all starts again.
I'm allowed to keep my one box of essential parts, and I go through it and make sure that I don't need to swap out anything that's in there for something new that I've found. No more, though.

Do you hoard bike parts like a pack rat?

Crikey, - do I what! Mind you that fact that I consider that no bicycles have been made since 1989 does help a lot with keeping the hoarding in check :D

Horder here. Heck got two sets of old Campy Record FD and RD out in the tool box.

I have a stockpile of extra dérailleurs, shifters, pedals, kickstands, and miscellaneous parts taken off or exchanged from bikes I've flipped or stripped. I usually have a stock of new or slightly used tires and an extra wheel or two. I tend to use parts to prepare a bike for flipping or I'll sell them off for a few extra bucks to some buyers.

I have a bunch of parts that are usable (and I end up using parts out of the bin quite often) but I also have a bunch of stuff that I have been meaning to sort out of the parts bin for recycling because I knew it was junk when I put it in there.

But it takes time to bring it down to the bike co-op where they'll take it to a metal recycler, and I'm lazy.

I tend to hoard things that I think are going to go away (like good quality freewheels, square-taper bottom brackets, 1" threaded headsets) or things that I just love so much I have to have a spare (like a Brooks saddle or favorite shorts, shoes, gloves). I've gotten burned a few times when I thought something was going to be around forever and then the company goes bankrupt or discontinues the product. Remember Alfredo Binda straps (had a few pairs of these I gave away thinking I could just buy some more), Suntour XC-Pro/Greaseguard ($20 for pedals on closeout - wish I had bought more), Avocet Cross-K tires (love that inverted tread), etc. My biggest weakness is buying up every pair of Shimano XT thumbshifters I can find. Or better yet Suntour XC-Pro thumbies!

Now whenever I find something that works for me I tend to buy two or three of them just in case. Expensive up front but cheap in the long run especially if they are on clearance.

I do a little stock piling of bike parts. It is a really nice feeling when you break something and you know you can go home and fix it and be back on the bike in no time.

I wish I knew more people with piles of bike parts. I have been looking for a cannondale P-bone/ Pepperoni fork for awhile and can't seem to find one.

Hoarding up bike parts is how I justified buying a new frame for bike commuting last winter. I got a nice check for Christmas from my in-laws that covered the cost of the frame, and I had about half the parts I needed to build up a new bike. The problem was that once I got started I couldn't resist the urge to buy new parts here and there rather than use many of the used ones I already had -- such as the stem, rear derailleur, saddle and most recently a wheelset. I put so many miles on my commuter bike that I want to ride something nice.

However, I resisted the urge to keep a Campy Chorus group that I recently replaced with Shimano Ultegra/Dura-Ace on one of my bikes. One of my main reasons for swapping the groups was that all my other bikes had Ultegra/DA parts and it was a pain having one Campy bike that wasn't compatible. So I sold the Chorus group so I wouldn't be tempted to build up another bike with it. I made enough money from selling those parts to buy a new Ultegra wheelset for my commuter as well as a bunch of winter gear.

I not only have spare parts stashed in every nook and cranny of my shed, but I also have complete bikes to salvage from as well. The backup/parts bike came into play yet again last week when I discovered that I had a broken rear axle, I just swapped out the rear wheels in a matter of minutes. When the new axles arrives, I'll fix the primary bike's rear axle, and reinstall the secondary bike's rear wheel, plus I'll have yet another spare part,(bought an extra axle) to hoard away. Again, the parts/backup bike was beneficial a couple of months ago when the tube in my front tire decided to blow out 5 minutes before I had to leave for work, just made a quick swap of front tires, and still made it to work with time to spare, try doing that with the family car. ;)

:lol:
Once there are more than 3-4 parts in a box it constitutes a sufficient breeding population and next thing I know the box is full. They're like tribbles.