"I didn't buy a bike to oil it!"

[Profpointy]

I think we confuse using bikes for transport with using them as toys.

I use a car as a functional means of getting around and I wouldn't consider buying one that needed anything more than an annual service and very occasional home maintenance such as tyres checking and fluids being topped up.

A bike bought solely for transport in the UK ought to have similar maintenance requirements as a car. A hub gear, a full chaincase, mudguards, drum brakes and good puncture resistant tyres would more or less do it. An annual service, occasionally pumping the tyres up and maybe a turn of a barrel adjuster once every few months to compensate for brake pad wear would keep it in reasonable condition. .

The reason that so many people who have no interest in bikes beyond using them as transport are sold bikes with 'complicated' gear systems that include front and rear mechs, exposed chains, rim brakes and no mudguards is beyond me. Fashion? Retailers not pushing 'sensible' bikes?

This link isn't mine, but makes sense to me: http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2009/01/anatomy-of-reliable-everyday-bicycle.html

Well I kind-of agree with the sentiment, but your Dutch bike / Raleigh police bike your suggesting is bloody heavy and hard work if going more than a few miles. A reasonable derailleur equipped bike doesn't need much more than tyre pumping and chain oiling and occasional twiddling of the adjusters. Granted some folks get carried away, and fair enough if they are after the concourse d'ellegance prize, but an hour cleaning aftwr every ride (posted on here somewhere - in fairness peobably longer ride than the commut) is excessive and unecessary .

Bicycle clips keep the oil off your suit if you can't face the borat style lycra - 100% agree on the mudguards though !

 

[fossyant]

I think we confuse using bikes for transport with using them as toys.

Most folk don't realise that many bikes are made cheap. They will pay many thousands for a car, but a bike, £100 is too much. There are components that are relatively maintenance free, but an exposed chain isn't - folk forget that. Fully enclosed everything increases weight massively and many people can't lift a 531c tourer, that isn't exactly heavy (I have a colleague that cant lift hers up on it's back wheel unloaded).

Bikes aren't maintenance free at all.

 

[fossyant]

Even my Fixed commuter get's lots of maintenance (well did - it's been gathering dust since I broke my spine).

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I see and chat to a chap on my commute who rides a Trek belt drive. Over 3 years down the line, still on the same belt and running as good as when he first bought it.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I'm curious: how do belt drives handle frame-flex?

 

[simon.r]

...but your Dutch bike / Raleigh police bike your suggesting is bloody heavy and hard work if going more than a few miles.

It is, but I'd bet that the vast majority of people who use bikes as transport / commuters only do a few miles on any trip, so with a reasonable gearing set up the weight isn't a significant issue.

You're getting into enthusiast territory if using a bike for anything over a few miles on one trip - territory that probably comes with a desire to look after your bike. I guess an analogy would be a car enthusiast buying an odd-ball kit car for weekend use and accepting that part of the deal is regular maintenance, against Mr average motorist who wants to spend minimal time maintaining his family hatchback car.

 

[Smokin Joe]

It is, but I'd bet that the vast majority of people who use bikes as transport / commuters only do a few miles on any trip, so with a reasonable gearing set up the weight isn't a significant issue.

You're getting into enthusiast territory if using a bike for anything over a few miles on one trip - territory that probably comes with a desire to look after your bike. I guess an analogy would be a car enthusiast buying an odd-ball kit car for weekend use and accepting that part of the deal is regular maintenance, against Mr average motorist who wants to spend minimal time maintaining his family hatchback car.

I hardly think squirting a drop of oil on the chain and topping the tyres up once a week counts as geek style maintenance. You've got to be a bit of a brainless fool to realise that an exposed chain won't rust if you let it dry out, it's hardly rocket science.

 

[400bhp]

You're getting into enthusiast territory if using a bike for anything over a few miles on one trip .

That's the current UK mindset.

 

[mjr]

Well I kind-of agree with the sentiment, but your Dutch bike / Raleigh police bike your suggesting is bloody heavy and hard work if going more than a few miles.

Not necessarily. My Dutch bike is within a few hundred grams of the hybrid it effectively replaced if you exclude the mudguards (the hybrid has chromoplastic, the Dutchie steel). It has a full chaincase (the hybrid has only one of those useless chain disks) and a rack rated to take twice the weight of the hybrid's. I've ridden centuries on it and the only time it's hard work is seriously uphill because it's a three-speed with the gear range set roughly equivalent to the hybrid's big ring.

I had a go at doing bike repairs some years ago to see if it could be made to pay. I quickly realised several things:

1 - Bike repairs don't pay and you can't charge a realistic rate to make them pay.
2 - Working on bikes all day made my back and arms ache.
3 - Fixing up a filthy, damaged, neglected bike is the worst job for a good mechanic.
4 - Once you've slaved over a bike to get it running sweetly most owners don't give a damn anyway.

And sadly the flip-side is:
4 - many owners can't tell whether a bike's running sweetly.
3 - so they can't differentiate a good mechanic from a poor one.
2 - so they won't pay a good mechanic any better than a poor one.
1 - so it's hard for a good mechanic to get enough repairs at a higher rate to make it pay, while corner-cutting mechanics prosper and the owners who can tell whether a bike's running sweetly have given up and learnt to fix their bikes themselves.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I'm curious: how do belt drives handle frame-flex?

Good question. Thats the reason why Gates will want to certify the frame.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

That's the current UK mindset.

... and Australian. Cycling is done by daredevils, who bravely but foolishly use the same roads as those who (apparently) pay for them, i.e. the long-suffering motorists. Circus trapeze artists and film stuntpeople just can't measure up to us. Oh yes, and (here, at least), cycling is so incredibly dangerous that we all have to be forced to wear silly hats.

 

[simon.r]

That's the current UK mindset.

A fair point.

 

[nickyboy]

I'm just back from a few days in Amsterdam, the first time I've been since taking up cycling a few years ago. The bikes used there, and their condition was fascinating

Functional work-horses. Left outside in the rain all night. Fully enclosed chains (although lots of them were incredibly rusty). Heavy, puncture-resistant tyres. Either single speed or simple 3-speed hub gears.

It was obvious that the vast majority of these bikes (and there are 1.4 bikes per person in Amsterdam) received practically no maintenance whatsoever. But they were being ridden every day. I'd bet they were never cleaned, rarely if ever lubricated. But that was the standard way to bike around the city. I think I saw one derailleured bike while I was there.

So you can have a practically maintenance-free bike if you want. It's just that, for some reason, British people think you have to have a bike with loads of gears, exposed chains, derailleurs etc. You don't. Sure Amsterdam is flat but a lot of urban cycling is UK is pretty flat too. Certainly flat enough to make do with single-speed or, at most, a simple 3-speed hub gear

 

[MichaelW2]

I worked with a lad once .... kept getting it all over his shellsuit trouser legs and his Nike trainers (both mainly white)

In my experience, young men who dress like they're in a Persil advert are just looking for someone to dirty their pristine whites, as an excuse to start a fight.

 

[Brandane]

I learnt how to look after a bike when I was about 7 years old as I'm sure a lot of the people on here did as well.

Mmmm, No - I think I was nearer 57 ...

You should be getting the hang of it now, after about 15 years experience then!

(Runs and hides from our friendly local admin gestapo; fully expecting to be banned when I emerge ).

 

[boydj]

Whaaaatttttt !!! Campag C Record Carbon Looks - never greased them in 20 years - sweet. Newer stuff, XT SPD's never need touching !!

It's the Frogs - good touring pedals, but delicate things. At least they have a grease port, so it's a 2-minute job.