Im in the same boat, buying whole bikes for a single or couple of parts, nz is expensive for quality bike stuff, when you pay over $100 for a single rubino Pro Road tyre, I'm all for supporting LBS's but when I just don't have the money i.e lbs have geax roadsters for $70 to $90 each but I managed to get a genuine PAIR off aliexpress for $45 delivered I would be mad not to, yes it took over a month to get here but worth it when you do the maths $45 versus $140 to $180, if I had disposable income I would go to the lbs more often but the reality is I can't, I've also noticed here in NZ that over the years accessories now only take up a small portion of shop space, it seems more important to sell that $5 to $10 grand carbon roadie to the middle age wealthy man/women than straighten a buckled wheel, don't get me wrong there are great bike shops here but it seems to be the way it's going now, I remember when every wall was covered in accessories now its only a small percentage, maybe its just meTires are getting too pricey, I run what ever i can find cheap on CL. Local shops don't stock anything in any size I run either, when they do, they want stupid money for them. It was cheaper to buy 10 pair shipped from Vietnam then to buy two cheap Kenda's from the LBS here.
I just can't bring myself to pay more for a bicycle tire than I do for a 3/4 ton truck tire.
I bought two later model beach cruisers for $40 last fall just for their tires. I never thought I'd be scrounging for good used tires for a bicycle.
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