NOS bits dilemma

[BlackCat]

Been digging through my collection of bits and I seem to have amassed (hoarded?) quite a lot of NOS parts. Some of the stuff is still in original packaging.

Feels like sacrilege to start ripping into this stuff now, 20 years plus after it left the factory - or worse, sticking it on anything less than an NOS frame..

Now, as it happens, I have a couple of NOS frames too - but then we're talking fully NOS bikes... and it feels like sacrilege to do anything as unrefined as actually ride them..

Point of fact, I have a couple of NOS bikes in the stable already, and I've gotten round this dilemma by... bubble wrapping them and dumping them into storage.

I know. I need help.

Does anyone else have this dilemma.. or do I need to just dump all the parts into the FOR SALE section and use the proceeds for therapy?

 

[k-rod]

Re:

Ha ha - that might be a start, really.

Or, rather than lock away the bikes in bubble-wrap to try to keep them perfect and pristine, just pick one that's for some reason or another really really really special ... and hang that one up on your (choose room of liking) wall, but then actually ride the rest of them around once in a while. Doesn't mean you need to smash them around through rocks and mud and such, but at least jump on that seat and peddle them around the country-side on sunny days once in a while (that's indubitably the best therapy you can find, b/t/way).

Remember, all things (material) must eventually pass.

 

[Retro Spud]

Re:

If your never going to use them ....your merely the curator of them.

That said I do get pleasure out of just looking at some of the NOS parts I've got, and then I put them away again :facepalm:

 

[jimi911]

Re:

I've got a a good number of NOS bits on bikes that I don't mind using - hubs and headsets mostly because I just don't want to worry about them. I also have a brand new Adroit that I took out much to the shock of some on lookers, but it's a dream bike, and I'm not selling it.

And there's that NOS Manitou FS that will never be ridden, sat on, or put in direct sunlight - though not because the the parts

I usually sell the NOS stuff and clean and polish nice used parts for builds. Often times the sale of the new stuff pays for the whole dang bike with near mint parts.

 

[02gf74]

Yes its a dilemma. Keep one example ad back up spare and sell if it fetches a good price.

Cant help as my collection is too modern to have these type of worries for now at least.

 

[kingbling]

I get what you are saying its hard to put brake marks on those NOS rims or grease on that NOS rear mech but whats the point in having it if you aren't gonna use it. What use is a component stuck in a box or in a draw that never see's its potential it may of well have never been made, better to pass it on knowing that you've helped someone else realised their ultimate build. I often look at the frames hanging up in my shed and know I need to move them on and let someone else enjoy them.
I have collected a full NOS groupset for a road build it will never see a wet road and as such may not get used that often but at least I get to use it and I can say that I built the bike using NOS. :xmas-big-grin:

 

[marc two tone]

Re:

There must be a proper psychological term for this.

Over the years i've contemplated the condition and, there are three distinct pigeon holes.

1. 'one day it'll be worth a bomb so i'll hold on to it'.

2. 'Will i get the chance to own this, in this state, again?'.

3. 'Once it's used then it's never gonna be the same'.

All the above are plausible but non-sense when you consider the intended use of these products!

I wonder if.... one man bands, old school pioneers, huge manufacturers, importers, worldwide distributors, local bike shop owners and staff and all the A to Z of recognised brands that we are familiar with ever thought or said out loud...

I hope nobody actually uses this stuff!

Quite laughable in those terms but, at the end of the day, only a few bits and bobs can be hung on walls or displayed in glass cabinets. That is what museums are for where van dyke or faberge get in the act, not bikes or their components.

Each to their own though.

 

[02gf74]

Theres a bmw k100 with 0 miles on ebay for £8k.

 

[Rodrigues]

Point of fact, I have a couple of NOS bikes in the stable already, and I've gotten round this dilemma by... bubble wrapping them and dumping them into storage.

I know. I need help.

This is the worst bit dude :-D

I sort of understand people who don't ride rare / NOS bikes (not really, I'm being diplomatic) if they have them within regular view just to admire, stroke etc. But to wrap them away? I hope it isn't storage you are paying for beyond your own house. That's the worst.

Sell it all. Immediately. Keep what you will honestly ride, or at worst have as wall art.

It's just physical stuff at the end of the day. What is the point if you don't feel the wind through your hair as you burn down some awesome single track?

 

[BlackCat]

Re:

All good points.

I'm into vintage watches - and the sort of numbers that genuine NOS stuff can fetch is outrageous. If only my 6 or 7 sets of NOS M737 STIs will one day be appreciated like a Paul Newman Daytona.. :roll:

Realistically this stuff is never going to be worth a fortune. We're a niche within a niche - and my stash of parts, which is mainly upper mid-range, isn't going to pull in big bucks, like, ever. For me, there are nostalgic reasons for hanging onto a lot of this stuff (although maybe I can thin the STI herd!) - takes me back to my favourite LBS in my teenage years, riding trails with my little crew back in Belfast...

Bugger it. I'm going to build those two frames up in the new year. Maybe even do a thread for once - should be interesting because they are both the same frameset - just several generations apart. That'll eat up a reasonable chunk of the parts. Doubt either will ever turn a wheel in anger, but hey.

Thanks for sharing.