Thursday, February 23, 2012

The question of NOS...

So, I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about what to do with my new bounty of NOS parts. At this point, I am no closer to figuring it out than I was when I originally found them. I mean, what do you do with this stuff??? 



One option is to build a bike with them and ride it. But it seems sort of silly to use brand new, boxed parts when so many good condition, fully functional alternatives are available. A bike built with NOS parts would be shedding dollar bills with every stroke of the crank, why bother? On the other hand you can just keep it, and then what? Display it? Save (hoard it) for future projects, for that one special museum bike that you hope to find someday???



Once upon a time it was easy to find these things. I remember back in the early 2000s when I could drive up and down the east coast, visiting local bike shops with shelves upon shelves of old XC-PRO they couldn't give away. Now, it's a little bit harder. They're still out there, you can find bits and pieces sitting on eBay or some online forums, but it's sporadic. At some point in time, we'll reach a place where there are only a few people that have some stashed away and that will be that. No mas!


For me, I'm right back to where I started. I have this stuff, more than I need, but I am unsure what to do with it. It's only new once, you can't build a bike, ride it and then take it apart and put the parts back into their boxes and call them new. So, their value is only retained while they stay in their boxes, unused. But, somehow that seems to defeat the purpose.



So, with a few exception of parts I know I won't ever use, the rest will cataloged and safely stored away until I can figure out what to do with all of them.

3 comments:

  1. I'd be super interested in doing a custom frame with some of the choice older parts....xc pro shifters....m900 cranks and derailleurs...don't really know what else, but some of that stuff is still the best parts ever made in my opinion. I guess the idea I've been brewing on is a functionally modern off-road touring bike with some retro flare. Any interest in parting with some of that to see this happen? Thanks for checking out the rideamoustache blog. Its a cool thing you've got going here.

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  2. I may be able to help depending on what you're looking for. I happen to have a bunch of XC-PRO shifters in various conditions so that specific thing I most do. Other things it just depends on what I have once the dust settles. I bought this big lot of parts and am not really sure what all I'm going to end up with. Drop me an email and let's see if I can help you out! Thanks for reading.

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  3. This is the right stuff Martin;-)
    -Andy

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