A different type of ouch!

[Tynan]

not really, I'm omthe bike that I bought for £300 20yeara go and it did 150 miles a week for four years with perhaps one proper service, other than that I oiled the chain and replaced the brake pads, then I slung at the end of the garden in th eopen for four years, then I cleared all the leaves and cobwebs off it and after a bit of oil was amazed to fine it rideable

granted it needed a new BB and a new rear hub in the first couple of weeks of riding but it's banged out two plus months of 130 miles a week since then

sure it's probably a waft away from total collapse but I think it's just a lucky one, fact is it's still doing the job and doing it well (ish)

I think some of you lot are lavishing attention because you like doing it

 

[mickle]

I think some of you lot are lavishing attention because you like doing it

I think you've hit the nail on the head there old chap. I fear I am undone.

 

[goo_mason]

My problem though is finding the time to clean it. Sounds crazy I know, but with two young kids when I get home the last thing I want to do (or have time to do) is give the bike a good clean and a bit of a service.

Oh and it is very cold and wet at this time of year so not the best time to be outside working on the bike (go on goo you know you want to say it ).

The bike does work hard. Not a huge amount of miles (50miles a week), but it does get used 5 days a week, 47 weeks a year in all conditions, so I suppose it gets a fair amount of punishment. Maybe I need to get a hub geared bike.......


Oh yes goo I think two of the front chain rings need replacing as well

I clean mine once a week on the landing outside the flat - no place for hoses and stuff, so I just brush the muck off with an old dishes brush and a toothbrush, then use a wet cloth to clean the rest off. Chain needs a wipe down and a re-lube now I've gone back to a wax-based lube (Cross Country Wet Lube was just a muck magnet and made the chain a nightmare to clean), and then just a few spots of wet lube on the joints and perhaps a smearing on the exposed cables. Quick mechanical spot check and the job's a good 'un. So - doesn't need to be outside at all. I've even done it in the flat and just hoovered up the brushed-off muck afterwards (though I had newspaper down when doing the lubing). Of course, being divorced I have no wife to have heart failure at the thought of me doing that indoors

2.5yr-old might like to 'help' if you give him/her a wee brush. At that age, they like to copy and play along with whatever you're doing ! It's only when they get to 7 that the DS Lite is preferrable to the bike scrubbing...

 

[summerdays]

I too am in the need to replace everything feeling ... the chain, and wheels for definate, and the bike shop said the cassette too, and thats without them looking at the bike properly so could yet find more things.

At what point (on a bike that cost about £250 before I added all those other extra bits), does it become better value to buy a new bike?

 

[Aperitif]

Always buy a new one summer - you know it makes sense.
The real reason is that you can practice developing maintenance skills on the 'old' one - search for bits and bobs on ebay as and when, without needing them immediately. And then - you have the winter and summer(days) bikes!
Then you sell the one that you have done up and buy a 'better' one than your original replacement!!!

 

[magnatom]

That doesn't seem like a vast amount to me. If you have some mechanical aptitude you could quite probably learn how to do it all pretty quickly from the internet and some trying stuff out.

I certainly could (I am fairly technically minded) but I only have the one bike and I can't afford for it to be out of commission because of my misplaced tinkering. Maybe when I get my second bike....... (no time soon I fear!)

 

[magnatom]

I clean mine once a week on the landing outside the flat - no place for hoses and stuff, ........

I don't think I could get away with cleaning it in the house. The house is a nice size for us, but with the two kids there are toys and small children everywhere which I don't want to get too mucky (and my bike can get very mucky!).

I do try and get my 2.5 year old involved in fixing things, not the bike yet though. Next time I am working on the bike he can be my multitool holder .

 

[magnatom]

Summerdays,

My bike cost about £280 originally, so I have spent a lot more now repairing it/upgrading it than I did on the bike. If I was to buy a new bike I think I would be spending more now so I still think it is cost effective to repair rather than buy new.

Remember if you buy a better bike the bits will cost more to replace!

Apertif

Tempting but for the reasons above I'll hang off. Anyway if I had two bikes that would mean I would have to buy bits for two!!

 

[Tetedelacourse]

Last service my bike had was in June and it cost me a cassette and chain, had to get the BB done and new blocks, plus he recommended new wheels but I had to put that off due to lack of cash.

Since then, I try to clean mine every weekend but it works out closer to every 2nd weekend. I have kids of a similar age to yours and cleaning the bike is the last thing I want to do when (if) I get a spare 30mins to myself, but once I get started, I quite enjoy it. And with Mickle's chain advice, it takes less than that these days, as I find the chain is the fiddly bit.

One day a few weeks ago on the way into work, I calculated that I am about£90 short of having spent the original price of the bike (£500) on upgrades and repairs! Not something I'll be enlightening Mrs T with! Of course if she twigged then I'd have to offset the money that hasn't gone to Scotrail or Shell against that! Not to mention the "added value" of my health!

Goo Mason - cleaning your bike IN YOUR FLAT?!?! YOU ARE ON ANOTHER PLANET PAL.

 

[summerdays]

One thing that puts me off a new bike at the moment ... is I wouldn't want it to get muddy, wet and covered in salt... so if I do treat myself I think it ought to be in a spring time of year.

 

[goo_mason]

Goo Mason - cleaning your bike IN YOUR FLAT?!?! YOU ARE ON ANOTHER PLANET PAL.

It's only brushing off dried mud; now I don't use wet lube on the chain there are no black, greasy globs that might dirty up the carpet permanently
It's easier if I put newspaper under the bike/workstand as I can just fold it and the dried mud away, but a quick hoovering afterwards is just as good.

When you're in a top-floor flat, you really have limited cleaning options....

(See when you were shouting there though ? You reminded me of my ex )

 

[BentMikey]

I certainly could (I am fairly technically minded) but I only have the one bike and I can't afford for it to be out of commission because of my misplaced tinkering. Maybe when I get my second bike....... (no time soon I fear!)

What kind of Scotsman do you call yourself, huh? You don't meet the thriftyness standards right now, better pull you socks up.

From a thrifty Dutchman.

 

[Maz]

Nowdays I get paid £5 weekly to cycle, covers it nicely. Plus a set of tyres.

Woah, hang on a bit. How did you get that? Is it a company or national scheme?
I'd love to be paid a fiver a week for cycling to work.

 

[magnatom]

What kind of Scotsman do you call yourself, huh? You don't meet the thriftyness standards right now, better pull you socks up.

From a thrifty Dutchman.

I'd be thrifty if I had any money to be thrifty with! Christmas bah humbug!

 

[domtyler]

I generally wait until the missus is out and then put the bike in the shower and shower it off, everything goes down the plughole. Job done.

As an aside, I think it is worth bearing in mind how many things have an ongoing maintenance cost that far outweighs the original purchase price, clothes being a good example. It is easy to never consider this when making a purchase.