Garth,
I don't have an AYH catalogue handy (sorry, but my TARDIS time travel machine needs a few new parts) but I do remember a few AYH items that I found invaluable: 1) Canvas panniers, which cost something like $5 per set 2) Rain capes 3) Sleep Sacks which you needed when staying in American and Canadian youth hostels 4) And getting back to bike parts, AYH had the best prices on Pletcher carriers 5) Plus they had genuine Sandow brand bungee cords. (At least they did in New York City and Monteal.) If I recall correctly, the AYH catalogue referred to them as "French straps"
Best regards,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
> Can anyone provide a link to the bike
> parts catalogue that the American Youth Hostels put out in
> the late 60's and early 70's. If I remember correctly the
> catalogue they put out contained very few newsprint pages on
> a smaller booklet style format. The prices were very low but
> there was a nice collection of minimalist bike tools, tires,
> tubes and things like handlebar tape and such. One item I
> remember them selling was a dogbone wrench which had five
> nut sizes on each end. The thing was made of cheap metal but
> it was the first tool you needed to carry for most emergency
> work before the popularity of allen head bolts. That tool
> probably so for less than 50 cents. and you never see them
> anymore. It was an alternative to the Mafac toolkit,
>
>
> Garth Libre in Miami Fl USA