Bicycle gear

I originally put together the following notes after a conversation I had with St. Bob and Squirrel Bait and am re-posting them here, in case they're useful to someone else.

Online retailers

Here are the online bike stores I use most:

Nashbar:
http://www.nashbar.com/

(Note the "Free Catalog" link toward the bottom of the lefthand navigation bar. You'll get mailings automatically if you order from them, but if you want to get on their mailing list right away, this would be the way to do it.)

Performance Bike:
http://www.performancebike.com/

Both of these are pretty comparable, price-wise, but they carry somewhat different brands. It's usually best to check both and compare prices. I'd say Performance has a larger variety of jerseys and tires, but they have an annoying habit of sitting on orders for a while, when you use standard shipping. I've heard this is to encourage people to upgrade to 2^nd day shipping. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that it's not unusual to wait an additional week for a Performance order over what it takes for Nashbar, who are usually pretty quick about shipping.

Universal Cycles:
https://www.universalcycles.com/index.php

This is a smaller outlet that I stumbled on when I was looking for the best price for my Crankin' Stein jersey. They don't have the selection that Performance or Nashbar have, but you can get some awesome deals, and they'll match the price for the same item from any other legitimate online retailer. They also don't charge sales tax to any state, have really prompt shipping, and depending on what you're ordering may even throw in a free pair of cycling socks. I was pretty darned impressed with the service I got from these folks from Oregon.

Pricepoint:
http://www.pricepoint.com

I've never bought anything from them personally, but they've got some good prices and I've heard others have had good results shopping there.

IN GENERAL:

Buying from these online places is kind of like shopping at Costco, in that just because they have better prices on a lot of items—especially if you catch them on sale or close-out—doesn't mean that they're enough cheaper than your local bike shop to offset the shipping cost and the potential wait time. If the item price less my bike club discount (10%) plus sales tax is pretty close to the online shop's price plus shipping (and, possibly, sales tax), I'll always support the local shop. Prices on a lot of items at the larger shops are often quite competitive, but you may find that the online shops have a lot better prices than the smaller local stores.

Must-have items for your seat bag:

• At least one replacement tube and a small patch kit (in case you've already used the spare tube or—like the sap I am—given it away).
• Some sort of inflation device. Frame pump or CO² inflator with a couple spare cartridges. If you get a CO² inflator, try to get a model that accepts both threaded and unthreaded 16g cartridges. You may save a few dollars buying an inflator that only takes threaded cartridges, but the threaded cartridges are more exensive so you'll end up spending more in the long run. Also, make sure the head fits both Schrader and Presta valves.
  
• Tire levers. I like the inexpensive plastic ones that fit together into a storage sleeve. The sleeve not only keeps the levers together and but also provides something to wrap a length of duct tape around. Duct tape can be used in all kinds of creative ways to keep you moving long enough to get to the next rest stop or back to your car.
• A multi-tool. At the most basic, get one that has half a dozen sizes of allen wrenches and a phillips head screwdriver. The one I have in my has two pieces that stick together with a magnet. One half has allen wrenches; the other has box wrenches with a couple sizes of spoke wrenches built in. It's a $10 Bell model that I picked up at Wally World and works as well as the more expensive ones by Crank Brothers and Park Tools.
• A small assortment of band-aids and wet wipes. You could forget to unclip, fall over, and scrape your elbow. You could skin your knuckles while changing a tire. Whatever. It's nice to clean up the wound and stick a patch on so you don't bleed all over your best jersey. Or, I guess, get an infection.

Good-to-haves

• $10 or $20 in cash... just in case
• Laminated photocopies of your driver's license and insurance card (just in case)
• Cell phone. Program an entry with the name "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) and the phone number(s) you'd want called... well... in case of emergency. This is catching on with emergency personnel who now know to look for ICE in cell phone directories.
  

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