A different type of ouch!

[goo_mason]

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.

Now THERE'S an idea !!

I did once put the back wheel in the shower and then spray degreaser all over the cassette to clean it, before washing it off by turning the shower on - but never thought to put the whole bike in.... mind you, I have a shower cabinet and I don't think the bike'd fit. Could put it in the bath though

 

[summerdays]

Well just back from LBS, and he says chain, cassette and wheels, but discussed the options and he reckons that I might be able to get through the winter without doing it. He told me I could pop in every month and they will tell me if its got to the Do it Now point. But it will cost me £130 ish excluding labour....

 

[paul_tea]

I am slightly wary of large chain bike shops overstating what needs doing on bikes coming in for service. When I had the (crash damaged) frame replaced on my Cannondale commute bike at the beginning of the year I apparently needed a brand new cassette, chain and chainrings despite them all being less than 3 months old as I'd just upgraded most of it to 10 speed. I got a good 9+ months more from them. Apparently my downhill mountain bike needed all the suspension pivots replacing when I got the headset fitted. More than a year on it's still 100% fine.

Perhaps I'm cynical but I believe they take one look at your less than spotless drivechain and automatically say "new chain" which implies "new cassette, chainrings... oh and maybe some new cables too."

The best part of doing your own maintenance is being able to judge accurately for yourself when things need replacing.

 

[fossyant]

Hmm get yourselves on a course as it will save you cash long term.

On restarting commuting the MTB has had in the last 6 months:- (including items for commuting)

Mudguards
Semi-slick tyres
New close ratio road casette
New KMC x8 chain
New BB - play in the old one
Seviced both hubs
Replaced cones and bearings in rear wheel with 'old spares' - bearings from an old Dura Ace hub, and a cone from a Shimano 600 hub.

Things like looking after hubs can save you getting new wheels, and keeping the drive system oiled and cleaned can prolong life.

All that labour would have cost me a fortune, but I'm sad enough to like maintaining my bikes and fettling them.

 

[magnatom]

Oh pooh! Just had a call from the LBS the bike was almost ready, but as they were putting it back together they noticed the back wheel had a problem.

I had noticed that the braking on the back wheel was intermittent (i.e. hard, soft, hard soft......oo-er). I looked at the tyre and couldn't see buckle so I assumed it was just a dodgy brake pad. Oh no. The rim is buckled in such a way that if the tyre was fully inflated it would have folded the rim

Probably worth getting fixed I reckon.

I think this may have happened a week or so ago when the bike fell over in the bike stand. The rim must have got damaged.

Oh well the cost has just gone up to £185 The bike originally cost me £280!

I must practice my line to my wife:

It's still cheaper than owning a car........

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

Ouch! Thats quite a bill

I guess that you will be spending a bit more time on sheldonbrown.com and parktool.com when you get your steed back, between those two I have enough info to keep all my bikes running sweetly. I have never removed a BB, or a cassette, but those things don't tend to go wrong anyway.

I send Gen in for a service once a year, which was £65 last year, because nothing needed replacing - I keep on top of brake pads, cables etc. This year however the service has come a week or so early, and with a lot of extra expense I'm looking at a good £145

 

[magnatom]

Ouch! Thats quite a bill

I guess that you will be spending a bit more time on sheldonbrown.com and parktool.com when you get your steed back, between those two I have enough info to keep all my bikes running sweetly. I have never removed a BB, or a cassette, but those things don't tend to go wrong anyway.

I send Gen in for a service once a year, which was £65 last year, because nothing needed replacing - I keep on top of brake pads, cables etc. This year however the service has come a week or so early, and with a lot of extra expense I'm looking at a good £145

I have already been looking at the park chain length measuring thingy. I think that would be £7 well spent.

I do a little nit of tinkering but obviously not enough. Oh well, it'll go on the card and get paid at the end of January.......maybe!

 

[Tynan]

just for you lot's amusements, the cheapo panniers I bought a while back have elastic type straps on the back with a hook that I think are suppose to be brought around the struts of the rack and be linked around the front of the pannier

anyhow, within a month they've frayed and then parted, I'd seen a piece of the elastic strap in the block but only on the top three gears that I hardly ever used so I left it there

the last week or so the it's been causing lower and lower gears to jump so I had to finally make a roadside fix

the elastic strap had slowly spread right across the top five gears, managed to get a hold of it and start winding it out, on the end of it is the hook, jammed partly between the block and the axle and partly between the spokes

yuk yuk

all running as sweet as as an original ten year old chainset should do 20,000 odd miles dwn the road

 

[HJ]

Oh pooh! Just had a call from the LBS the bike was almost ready, but as they were putting it back together they noticed the back wheel had a problem.

I had noticed that the braking on the back wheel was intermittent (i.e. hard, soft, hard soft......oo-er). I looked at the tyre and couldn't see buckle so I assumed it was just a dodgy brake pad. Oh no. The rim is buckled in such a way that if the tyre was fully inflated it would have folded the rim

Probably worth getting fixed I reckon.

I think this may have happened a week or so ago when the bike fell over in the bike stand. The rim must have got damaged.

Oh well the cost has just gone up to £185 The bike originally cost me £280!

I must practice my line to my wife:

It's still cheaper than owning a car........

That the trouble with buying cheep bikes, they don't last as long and end up costing more in the long run. That said the Dawes Shadow I bought second hand for £65 when I was a student, lasted me almost 10 years and rarely had it serviced...

 

[palinurus]

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.

Company scheme. It was something to do with some green travel plan they had to submit when some additional functions were moved onto the site. Plus they ran out of parking spaces. So if you walk, cycle or get the bus you get £1 a day. Same people cycling as ever, but now we get money.

 

[HJ]

Company scheme. It was something to do with some green travel plan they had to submit when some additional functions were moved onto the site. Plus they ran out of parking spaces. So if you walk, cycle or get the bus you get £1 a day. Same people cycling as ever, but now we get money.

Lucky bustard...

 

[snorri]

It's still cheaper than owning a car........

I sometimes wonder. The total annual mileage on my three bikes is about half that of my car mileage. In the last three years, apart from MoT testing, there has been negligible expenditure on the car, but the bikes are forever needing cleaning or bits replaced or adjusted. The amount of cycle maintenance required seems out of all proportion to the technical complexity of the machine.

 

[gambatte]

I sometimes wonder. The total annual mileage on my three bikes is about half that of my car mileage. In the last three years, apart from MoT testing, there has been negligible expenditure on the car, but the bikes are forever needing cleaning or bits replaced or adjusted. The amount of cycle maintenance required seems out of all proportion to the technical complexity of the machine.

I could buy a new bike every 1/4 and still be 'on top'

 

[snorri]

I could buy a new bike every 1/4 and still be 'on top'

You are right of course when all factors are considered.
It's just the drip drip of constant cleaning/maintenance/replacement of small parts on the bikes that bugs me at times.

 

[magnatom]

I sometimes wonder. The total annual mileage on my three bikes is about half that of my car mileage. In the last three years, apart from MoT testing, there has been negligible expenditure on the car, but the bikes are forever needing cleaning or bits replaced or adjusted. The amount of cycle maintenance required seems out of all proportion to the technical complexity of the machine.

Ah but if you take into account depreciation and fuel, then I think riding a bike comes out considerably cheaper.