etherhuffer 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Suntour-Lep...0AAOSwUAVer0~K

noobinsf 

Sought after and NOS, unopened? Seems about right, actually. Will prob sit for a bit and then sell at close to asking.

microcord

I'd be happy to buy it and try it (but I live in an awkward part of the world).

By contrast, I suppose it would be easy for me to buy one of these, somebody's money permitting: . (Somebody's, not mine. I'm hanging on to mine.)

NB the video is not safe for work, for families, or indeed for most people.

Miele Man

I went to our closest bike shop on Sunday June 21, 2020 and bought inner cable ends for ten cents each, some derailleur cable housing metal ferrules for twenty-nine cents each and some brake cable housing metal ferrules. I got some other stuff and was in a bit of a rush and didn't notice the high price of the brake cable housing metal ferrules. They were $1.49 EACH which I consider to be way to much. I phoned the shop and they said nope, that's there price. I called another nearby ship that I'd forgotten about and the brake cable housing metal ferrules they sell are only twenty-five cents each. These are all Canadian prices. At $1.49 each I feel I got royally ripped off.

Just curious. Does any one else think that $1.49 each for a metal ferrule for brake cable housing is way too much?

Cheers

oneclick 

That's one of the ways you can tell a real bike shop from a poser boutique.

That and clean fingernails....

Narhay

I just bought a wholesale bottle of 200 of the hard, good quality ones (not the soft soda can material variety) for $10. So they cost me 5c each. Seems like quite a markup but then again that staff members time may be worth more elsewhere than counting out ferrules so it has the low value hassle tax added.

mstateglfr 

I am not 100% sure what 2 of the 3 things you bought are, but this all just sounds like the picture of Grandpa Simpson shaking his fist at a cloud.
You have the cable, housing, housing end caps, and cable end caps. What are 'inner cable ends'?

I am guessing the cable housing metal ferrules are what I consider to be housing end caps. There are probably lots of words to describe the little guys. Sure, $1.49 is expensive compared to how much they cost in bulk, but its a store and you pay for the convenience of getting them right away. Or spend the time calling around to get the best price and save all of a few dollars in the end. Or better yet, order 100 of em off ebay or amazon for $7 or so.

Serious question- do you think anyone is getting rich by charging you $1.49 per housing end cap? The store pays rent, employee salary, insurance, and has inventory costs. Maybe they dont think it is worth selling for $.25 and to make the transaction even worth their time, they will charge more.
Maybe they should do something like bundle them in packs of 4 for $2...but then I could see you complaining that you only need 3 and had to pay $.50 for an extra.

I cant imagine paying $.25 for anything from a store at this point- its 2020.
Whatever 'inner cable ends' are, you seem to have gotten a deal on those, so look at the housing caps as an offset to the absurdly low price for the inner cable ends.

The last time I bought some bulk housing from a shop was a few years ago. They threw in the housing stops for free because they cost nothing and come to the store included with housing. The housing was a few dollars per foot though, so the caps are kinda built into that. No, I didnt get upset at the cost because I wanted the housing right away and didnt feel like waiting for it to ship or calling around to multiple shops to save a few bucks.

SJX426 

Yes and lets not get into spoke prices!

sheddle

I've never tried the 3-pully mechs but the idea always semed solid - more capacity in a more compact space than using a standard long cage.

Incidentally, I've been trying to get XC Pro parts and prices are through the roof on those. Thankfully I found someone selling the rear mech locally for a $20

scarlson 

Ugh this whole thread. I hate markups and I hate complaining. I don't know where I stand, but I'm certainly going to regret replying!

Inner cable ends are the caps that go on the end of the cable to stop it fraying.

Why not just go on the internet and buy a baggie of nice ferrules? I get supporting your local bike shop and all, but the reception I get in a lot of the local places makes me feel less than supportive. The good one around here closed a few years back. Guy was super nice but had a slight drinking problem and the slumlords wanted to gentrify. Can you blame him for drinking? He'd have given you a used ferrule or two from a grungy drawer in back of his shop. When he closed, he gave me his old wooden library card catalog that he used to store bolts and screws. Think that place is now a TD Bank.

I agree about spoke prices, which is why I support somebody else's local bike shop (Yojimbo's) and buy spokes from there. They still feel overpriced, but at least they're triple-butted! For the occasional cyclist or bargain front wheel, I've had good luck getting straight-gauge spokes direct from Taiwan. Takes a few weeks, but if you can plan ahead, there doesn't appear to be much of a downside. They usually give you a few extra, so you can replace spokes in friends' wheels too. I've never had one break, but like I said, I only equip occasional-riders or front wheels with these.

The LePree has its place, but its place is certainly not on my bike. I have one and I really don't like it for the 11-34 9 speed cassettes I use. The chain gap is inconsistent from bottom gear to top, because the slant of the parallelogram doesn't match the slope of the cassette, so it shifts very late in the high gears. It also doesn't play super well with Simplex retrofriction. I think the parallelogram return spring is too strong. The result is tons (tonnes?) of ghost shifting, in both directions. I bet it would work great for what it was designed for, 5-7sp freewheels, with 14 or 13t high gear and some 34 or 38t low.

I bought mine for $30 or something, but it was missing the hanger bolt and cable clamp/bolt assembly, which I machined of aluminum and bronze/titanium, respectively. Maybe now's the time to put it up on ebay.

robertorolfo

Serious or joking?

Miele Man

I was serious when I asked if $1.49 each was a high price for a cable housing metal ferrule. After all the metal ferrules for the SIS cable housing were only $0.29 each.

As it was, along with some other stuff, I bought 12 of those brake cable housing metal ferrules for a total expenditure of $17.88 which I feel is a heck of a lot more than the $3.00 I'd have spent at the other shop if I had only remembered that it was there.

The inner cable caps are the aluminium items you crimp onto the end of a cut cable to prevent it from fraying.

Cheers

Miele Man

IIRC, when first being marketed, the touted advantages of the triple pulley derailleur were, #1 , the derailleur shifted like a 2-pulley normal derailleur when the third pulley was not taking up slack in the chain, and #2 , the derailleur was shorter and less likely to hit something than a long cage derailleur was.

Cheers

gthomson

Answer is yes though not sure what part of Ontario you are in but in the GTA, the bike world can ask anything they want these days since the pandemic. You can order online but if it's coming from china, you aren't getting it for months and since you're advised to only order curbside (at least prior to a few weeks ago) you're not going to shop around. Crazy times indeed around here.

I was doing some work on my old Peugeot since this all started a few months back and had to visit my local shop several times and they have been very good to me but have had to wait in line every time I went. One visit they charged me $1 for a rear axle nut!!!!
I was riding same bike and was getting a rattle sound from the front wheel, so opened up the quick release and the skewer came apart. I was able to walk to a swanky bike shop and asked to talk to someone in service. A guy comes out and first thing he says is "we don't service old bikes like yours". I'm like OK, but I just need a new skewer. No problems, $17.99!!
No choice, here's my money ha ha. I needed to ride home.

SurferRosa

Considering you can get 100 of them on ebay for $1.68 (shipped), I will have to answer, "yes. Yes, it is way too much."

BenPink

It may seem expensive but really pleased ypu are using the local shop and nit the internet. Quicker too!

tkamd73 

Really? Not even close. Rare piece nos, in original packaging, if I needed that to complete a build, would not hesitate at buy it now price.
I spent way more then that on a nos ST Cyclone GT, in original packaging, to complete a Supercourse build. Would have bought this instead, had it been listed earlier, love the 3 pulley set-up.
Tim

clubman 

There are certain sellers on ebay that would ask well over $200 for that derailleur, whatever that signifies.
I put an NIP 3 pulley Cyclone on our sales thread and it took 2 months to sell at $75. That's about right.

Happy Feet

1.49 day... did you buy it on Tuesday?

Srsly, in Canada just be happy they didn't say they don't make those anymore and try to sell you a new bike instead.

Miele Man

A few years ago I broke the seat binder bolt on my road bike so I rode my single-speed (not fixed gear) to the shop to get a new seat binder bolt and indeed they told those were no longer made.

As far as the metal brake cable housing ferrules price goes I wouldn't have been so miffed if they had been twice the price of the other local bike shop at $0.50 each but 600% more is a bit much. I'll definitely be checking out the other local shop next time I need anything. The $1.49 each shop made a good markup on those 12 ferrules but they lost a long-time customer in the process. It's not just the extravagant cost of the ferrules but the extra tax I had to pay on them too.

Cheers

seedsbelize 

I've gone back to using straight guage

seedsbelize 

Could this be canklecat 's shortest post ever?

mech986 

Regarding anything you think you overpaid for - you might have been in a hurry, you may have not paid attention, you may have not asked explicitly about the price (and maybe they were marked, maybe not). In most of my cases where I may have paid too much, its me being mad at me, not the shop or contractor unless you believe they were trying to actively deceive you on price.

Today I had a plumber come out because my son, in trying to help me turn a wall water line valve to the fridge ice maker, snapped off the handle and shaft while still in the open position - that didn't stop the leaking that was happening in the freezer, so the call went out. I had a hard time getting behind the fridge to inspect the line and the type of valve that was originally fitted in my now 26 y/o home. I went to Home Depot to get a longer water line (previously only 6 ft. braided line) and purchased a new 12 ft braided PEX line for $17, decent price. I happened to look at the various flavors of 1/4" water valves available and there were probably 20 or more, some with fittings, others with solder/braze on, others right angle, vertical, inline, etc.

I knew at that point that timing, convenience, lack of my own knowledge and time to learn was going to push me into overpaying (a relatively young fellow) for his knowledge and expertise, let alone the work and labor. So when I got back home, the plumber had already opened up a larger hold around the valve to expose the piping and valve fitting - it was solder brazed onto bare copper water pipe that was coming down from above (actually from a repipe about 15 years ago but that's another story). I don't have a propane torch nor the proper solder and experience (although I can solder electronics with the best of them). He gives me an estimate, I agree, then He heads out to a plumbing supply house to get the needed valves, and 45 minutes later, the job is done, 90 minutes from start to finish including travel time. Saved me a lot of hassle, time, and vocabulary. I do need to patch the wall though. All told, the cost was about what I would pay for a very nice Italian frame. I knew the cost going in and decided I just wasn't going to address it personally.

Now the leaking fridge, that I can troubleshoot and fix. $36 for a new OEM Whirlpool twin water inlet valves, and $127 for a new OEM Icemaker ordered online partly because locally out of stock and much more expensive. I could have saved a bit more ordering a "exact replacement" or "aftermarket equivalent" but sometimes you get what you pay for, so hoping the reliability of the OEM parts will be as good as the originals (21 years of service). My labor will be free as will the hassle of moving the fridge again to access the valves. For this, I decline to pay an appliance repairman because I learned I can do it myself through forums, YouTube and Parts suppliers repair videos, a lot like working on your own bike vs. having the LBS do the work. However, this last April while I was laid up with a back injury and Covid isolation, I decided to have my very good LBS (with lots of vintage experience and tools) completely overhaul my bike which had seen 2500 miles over 18 months and 1 full Eroica ride. I know, not nearly as used as many of you, but needed it and I couldn't sit or stand much to work on it. Paid a decent price and got back a pristine and well tuned up bike which I'm itching to get back on soon.

When you can, you save. When you are balancing time and expertise vs inconvenience, sometime one pays. Its all a choice. But I find many times I'm more mad at myself than the shop or store IF they had the prices marked or I didn't ask or pay attention when ordering and paying. I don't try to transfer that anger to the shop because that's what they charge and its up to me to decide what I'll pay and why. And sometimes that decision isn't even rational.

Anyway, I've also learned that if I get mad at myself, i give myself about 10 minutes to an hour to stew, and then I forgive myself. Why? Because to hold a grudge against yourself because of a poor decision ultimately is a bit of self-loathing and self-destruction IMO. I'd rather choose to forgive, and move on. Yes, the costs are real, but so are the experiences and learning lessons. And unless one is really having to watch their finances, its really not that much in the grand scheme of life, IMO. I respect those who are very careful with their finances, but I've won and lost more in my long term investments than anything I've ever spent on my bikes. Now when we're talking about restoring cars or houses, that's a whole 'nother story.

arex

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SunTour-LeP...MAAOSwu7JevwSL

Andy_K