New here and started a bicycle mechanics correspondence course. Looking for an online supplier for repair parts. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Those that have vintage parts would be great as well.

Unless you have a business license, insurance and location, I can't recall any wholesaler who will sell you anything. Best you can do is peruse all the different online retailers and look for the biggest bargains for getting parts, no other real options.

you should know about UBI Home - United Bicycle Institute (bikeschool.com)

however their parts store seems to be off line

also Cambria bicycle outfitters, universal bike cycles, Branford bikes, and Hill cycles

most of the big wholesalers will not sell quality 1 to the average home workshop

others will I'm sure chime in with their favorite suppliers. I get a lot of stuff off ebay.

Also download some of the shimano repair document PDFs, they are helpful.

not to mention youtube videos

/markp

What on earth is a "bicycle mechanics correspondence course"?

I understand the whole stay-at-home thing, but this is just downright ridonculous.

I wonder how much a "bicycle mechanics correspondence course" costs.

I'm even more curious about how they can be better than already free Park Tools videos, and how they will test their students to give them a diploma

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unaccr...gher_education

Back in the day you could take a correspondence course for many careers that you would think required lots of hands on experience. ICS (the International Correspondence Schools) of Scranton, PA was one of the predominant ones. I have their course on steam locomotive operation.

There are no distributors of vintage parts. They are vintage because they aren't in production and not in stock anywhere. Unlike cars, bikes rely on the fact that current parts are mostly compatible with older bikes.

Student of "bicycle mechanics correspondence course" will eventually learn that...

...parts can't be all found at once from one magic stop and shop. Oh right, there's always the amazons, which is ok if it's only BSOs to repair. I was also rather impressed by the amound of Bell products one can find at a Walmart Supercenter. They have all sorts of crap like inner tubes, tyres, saddles, grips, bells, horns, racks and bags, wow.

...parts needed immediately are $$$ (but worth it if it supports a LBS). Oh right, there's always the "let's bypass the middleman" by failing to purchase from wholesalers that the LBS buys from. Good luck with that one if it ain't being shipped to a real staffed storefront.

...parts vintage has me stumped. They must be thinking how it's as easy as a visit to an Autozone, "hey I need a water pump for a 1990 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser" and guess what? They have it in stock with a core exchange too! Oh right, there's always the eboy auction sites, which is ok if it's a MUST at all costs. When I am fixing "vintage" curb finds, it's whatever I've hoarded in my parts bin, or can come from another donor curb find. True, brakes or levers or pedals usually won't match, but at least the bike has some.

For vintage parts, you'll likely need to go to your local bike co-op (if any) or eBay/Craigslist. Otherwise, I find most of what I need from Bike Tools Etc.

I just built up 3 older retro steel bikes,i found most new parts that are available fitted,except for my 126 mm rear spaced hub which i salvaged from an old bike,some places and online stores do some remakes of older parts but they are very few,I just used all new components that were available everywhere,custom built my own wheels,changed out that old bottom bracket for a nice new sealed one,when i was short of a little part i went dumpster diving,thats a very good parts shop,if the part does not show up in google anywhere than you most likely cant get that part,if you want to build up an older bike with all original components than that road is going to take a very long time,most new components will still fit just about any older bike,thats the road i went down a total re-build on 3 bikes with all modern light alloy components,even doing it this way is quiet time consuming,and its only worth it really if you do all the work yourself,some people sell new old stock parts on the net but you dont get A1 gear,its a hit and miss and not really worth chasing them up,jump in and start building,have fun doing it cheers.

Try this for vintage parts Loose Screws Bicycle Parts – Vintage Bicycle — NOS Shimano and Suntour

Not exactly distributors but sources.
​​​​​​https://bikerecyclery.com/who-is-bike-recyclery/

​​​​​​https://www.yellowjersey.org/

Sorry if it's already been asked----Where's home?.


An important consideration since international shipping is costly if sellers allow it.

Location says Michigan

Well, there's a lot more than that. I just got some Mavic derailleur parts from Mercian Cycles. But none of these outfits have a regular, reliable stock of anything. You are just as likely to find the vintage part you need on Craigslist as any one known 'vintage' shop.

This reminds me of those gullable homeowners that pay to join these "factory direct" wholesale clubs to have fight club access to buy kitchen cabinets on the cheap, cutting out the licensed contractors and their myriad of secret suppliers. I've always wondered who installs these?

If your fee payment reaches their bank, I imagine you pass the test.

When I rebuilt my one vintage bike, I got almost everything through eBay. Some parts were used. Some were NOS (new, old stock). Replacement parts for newer (sub-20yo) bikes can also be found on eBay pretty regularly, and well as new/current stuff. Knowing exactly what you’re looking for - and looking at - is kind of helpful, however. Someone new to bikes might not be aware of the small differences that are a big deal.

I also use Amazon, Cambria, Jenson USA, Universal, and probably some others I’m not thinking of. For new tires, I have regularly found the best deals through Lordgun. Despite being an Italian company, their shipping is surprisingly quick. Tires I ordered Friday were delivered today.

A lot of “replacement” parts that are compatible with older bikes are being produced by offshore third parties. It is not too unlike parts for older cars. You might not be able to get an OEM water pump, but you’ll get one that works.

The biggest issue with vintage is the value is in the vintage components. Unless you are looking at specific highly sought after bikes, stripping lightly used parts off a frame and selling them individually will be more profitable. This also translates to buying them will be more expensive.

John

The same people who install these? You know, DIY homeowners, their buddies, guys doing side jobs.

​​​​​​https://www.homedepot.com/b/Kitchen-...s/N-5yc1vZas87

I would add that I have found a lot of the leaflets that Campagnolo packaged with their parts, can be downloaded from the Campagnolo site, and saved on our hard disks. These are the manuals which tell you required clearances, torques, threadings, and how the sequences of index shifting works (among a lot of other critical information, like installation procedures). When you read them don't worry about the French, Italian, and German instructions, the English ones are also there.

I get frustrated when I see someone dissing and even damaging their new Campy parts when they become frustrated using instructions which are written for Shimano products, trying to set them up using incorrect instructions.