Bicycles, life cycle and beyond economic repair.

[Rusty Nails]

I volunteer at a community bike workshop where we get donations that are really past their use-by date and would cost a fortune at a commercial bike shop to repair. We can do it because, as volunteers, there is no labour charge and we have a large stock of useable parts salvaged from scrapped bikes. All bikes sell and there are loads of people riding on bikes that were going to be scrapped.

We get a lot of bikes from people who have taken their bikes to Halfords or their LBS and were shocked at the repair cost.

 

[Big John]

/\/\/\ I do the same voluntary work 👍 Likewise, we turn what most folks would scrap into half decent, safe, rideable bikes. The job is made easier because were surrounded by spare, used parts.

 

[All uphill]

@Rusty Nails @Big John

Good on you both!

Community projects are brilliant at doing things that enrich our lives.

 

[Blue Hills]

It seems to me that there's a few on here who do maintenance as a hobby. Not my thing. It's about keeping it ready for using. You don't need to degrease to schedule but to need.

i've met people who wash and polish their car every week and sometimes more. A bit of muck and they're getting it off. Weekends spending a significant part of the day on the car cleaning process only to end up with a dirty car after one day driving on the industrial estate at work, but it's clean again the next day. Pointless IMHO just as it is to clean your bike after every ride. Personally I find our bikes are not wearing more quickly than typical life cycles of the drive trains. They're getting average or longer than average life out of components. Hardly lacking in maintenance if they're doing that.

I haven't cleaned/washed any of my many bikes in donkey's years. I think it important to keep the drivetrain and all cables in good functional nick though with regular cleaning lubing. Also keep rims and blocks in good nick if you use rim brakes. This is just functional maintenance. No great bother. Bits last longer - better to ride. Just like cleaning your (leather) shoes really. Of course you could just wear them until they become increasingly uncomfortable, make walking a misery, crack and fall apart. Before their time.