buying maintenance supplies in bulk

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vexed87
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buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by vexed87 »

How do you qualify when it is worth buying items in bulk? Particularly break even dates way off in the future? Is my opportunity cost too high in this scareniao?

For example, stainless steel inner gear/brake cables for my road bike will set me back £2.99 each when purchased individually, yet a box of 100 can be had for £80 delivered. That's £0.80 each, duh!

I tend to replace the cables 2 or absolute max 3 times a year depending on mileage and weather, so replacing a pair of cables whilst buying them individually will cost £5.98 every time I change a pair vs £1.60 when bought in bulk. I would need to Swap out both cables 14 times before I break even and start to make a saving, in an absolute best case scenario the breakeven date is 4.3 years.

Obviously this means I will be sat on a lot of cables, so there;s storage cost, but then I can factor in convenience and peace of mind knowing I've got plenty of cables for a rainy day :lol: probably enough for lifetime assuming that the bicycle component standards never change...

At this moment in time, there's no one I could go halves on a box with, I asked all my close cycling buddies and non interested. I could ask around at work, but I think I'll have a hard time as most people will think I have gone crazy, as they take their bikes to 'professionals' for their bi-annual service and are not quite as tight as me saving on cables :lol:

I guess if I have storage space, and these don't rust (stainless steel) not much could go wrong really, just having a hard time swallowing a purchase of inner gear and brake cables at £75/box :oops:

Thoughts?

BRUTE
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by BRUTE »

might depend on how much stability there is in vexed87's life. brute doesn't like commitment, so buying in bulk is often impractical, as brute will leave the geographical area, or at least the home, soon. if vexed87 is pretty sure he'll live in that place forever, why not buy the bulk.

jacob
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by jacob »

Ha! I have the exact same problem. Bought 100 MTB brake cables in a box. Came in handy when I was fixing bikes. These days not so much as I no longer fix bikes. I spray some WD40 in the box from time to time.

In general, I find storage costs to be a bigger issue than bad ROIs. I'm not talking direct costs (taking up space) as much as subtle indirect costs such as the risk that I might subconsciously make inferior choices because I factor my existing bulk storage into those choices, e.g. hassle to move, etc.

Conversely, if something is consumed regularly, such as my bike parts used to be, it was far more effective to always buy an extra for future needs because it saved a lot of time when I actually needed it.

I tried setting up a flat rate swap system in a forum thread but after the initial burst, activity declined steeply.

In general, the problem with this particular economy is not the amount of money or amount of stuff because most people have a lot of both. The value is in making the connections between someone who has some stuff and needs other stuff or is willing to substitute money for either side. I recommend hanging onto such connections if you find such them. E.g. instead of shopping, the first place I look is in our bulk storage, the next place is in the bulk storage of one of my neighbours, ... no need to go to the "bulk storage of the shop" before exhausting the other and more local bulk storage facilities first.

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Chris
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by Chris »

Jacob nailed it. Having extra stuff around will mess with your head and affect decision making. You'll have a pile of stuff that will constrain future adaptability. I find if I don't have stuff, I seek creative solutions. But if there's a pile o' sunk cost sitting around, I just consume that rather than thinking.

For the bike cables, is it possible to sell half the box online? Alternatively, could you buy 20 of them at a discount from a local bike shop?

BRUTE
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by BRUTE »

jacob wrote:Ha! I have the exact same problem. Bought 100 MTB brake cables in a box.
has this been jacob's strategy the whole time?
- collect 100 brake cables
- detect oversupply
- write book and start online community, ostensibly about ERE
- wait until following includes a human who requires brake cables
- profit!

that's a long con if brute has ever seen one..

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I've seen bike cables for sale on Craigslist in my area. Cheaper than at a shop but more than if you buy in a huge quantity. Some other bike consumables too. You could try this but there is the time cost of interacting to make each sale and only profiting $1 each time.

I think someone could make a good business out of this idea but with a more expensive item. Maybe tires and tubes?

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Ego
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by Ego »

I try whenever possible to use ebay as my parts bin and allow others to carry the inventory costs. For things like bike parts I can get close to bulk pricing if I buy from Asia but the turnaround time is usually about three weeks so I have to anticipate needs somewhat.

The brake cables I bought for my bike recently are now selling on ebay for 76 cents each delivered from Malaysia. I'm not sure if they ship to the UK.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cycling-Bike-Bi ... 1515330657

vexed87
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by vexed87 »

@jacob, glad its not just me that has these interesting problems! There's nothing more annoying than waiting for parts to be delivered, or having to make special trips out to pick up that one component. I think on this occasion the convenience of having supplies on hand may well be worth the long break even period. Good shout on the occasion squirt of WD40 too.

@brute, I'm not staying put long, but its highly unlikely that I will be downsizing storage significantly or travelling the world, cables can't take that much space, surely :)

@Chris, great idea, if I could sell off half the box (perhaps in bulk?), even just shifting them on at cost price would make the purchase more palatable.

@GdP, the problem with selling them individually is I don't have a post office near so I would have to make special trips to post them. Not worth the effort, but if I could sell them in larger quantities... throwing tyres and tubes in to the mix and I may as well quit my salaried job and open up a retail enterprise ;)

@ego, those don't ship to the UK sadly, also they are likely the galvanised sort that don't last long in wet and windy England, galvanised tend to be cheaper than stainless steel too which probably explains the price difference.

enigmaT120
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by enigmaT120 »

vexed87 wrote: I tend to replace the cables 2 or absolute max 3 times a year depending on mileage and weather, so replacing a pair of cables whilst buying them individually will cost £5.98 every time I change a pair vs £1.60 when bought in bulk. I would need to Swap out both cables 14 times before I break even and start to make a saving, in an absolute best case scenario the breakeven date is 4.3 years.
How do you know when you need to swap them out? I have almost 7,000 miles on my Fargo with the original cables.

I'd probably buy them in bulk if I did change them that often, but I have 32 acres and I'm not moving. And if rust is a problem I would spend more for stainless steel. Maybe that's what mine are, they aren't rusty and it rains a lot here.

vexed87
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by vexed87 »

They definitely need replacing once they are frayed at the clamp or at the end, although anti fray tabs help with the latter. Fraying usually happens after adjusting the brakes/gears and tightening the clamp too much, or in a slightly different position and could result in catastrophic failure while braking as cables can snap when weakened, fraying also happens over a long period from general wear as tension causes the coiled wire to loosen at weak points.

Otherwise when the lubricant wears off, the inner cable can rub and become frayed inside the gear/brake lever mechanisms, or inside the cable housing and they start to stick. I once had a cable fray inside my STI lever and it was a massive pain to service and get out. Don't let your cables get to that stage :lol:

They can also become visibly dirty or rusted near the cable ferrules further hampering braking/shifting performance. Road salt in winter is the main culprit, although road spray and general gunk cause sticking problems too. I would expect cables to last 7,000 miles in ideal circumstances, although you will probably run into issues soon.

If you are super thrifty and careful, you can extend the life of your cables by occasionally cleaning and re-lubing them, but it's hardly worth the effort, unless you're stuck with no spare cables, particularly as reclamping is often the cause of fraying at the ends!

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Sclass
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by Sclass »

Old cables make good small game snares.

enigmaT120
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by enigmaT120 »

You can lube at the ends of the housings without unclamping the cable. Shift the bike into it's largest rear sprocket, then without turning the pedals shift back to the most relaxed cable position. That gives me enough slack to pull the housing ends out of the retainers built into the frame (sorry, don't know the name) and apply a little oil. I rarely bother though.

How many miles a year do you ride, Vexed? I've only exceeded 2,000 miles one year, I think.

vexed87
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Re: buying maintenance supplies in bulk

Post by vexed87 »

enigmaT120 wrote:How many miles a year do you ride, Vexed? I've only exceeded 2,000 miles one year, I think.
I do just shy of 4,000 miles commuting, plus extra for errands/social stuff, I haven't logged the social stuff so could be as an extra 500 or so a year. I used to be in a cycle club too and did 30-80 miles on the weekend some weeks too, but I packed that in as I got tired of... being tired! :D

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