Should I replace my Orbea Mundaka?

[BannanaMan]

For a long time now my Commuter has been an Orbea Mundaka and this has a Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub.

More than ten years ago I had the hub replaced and it might be wise to assume it needs replacing again soon. I had a couple of spokes replaced last summer and six months later I need another couple, I hope that it is not the same ones, replaced. The rims are showing age on both wheels.

If I replace the wheels I expect that I will have to turn over the cost of a cheap second hand bike, and I will be left with a familiar bike that I enjoy riding and can hope to enjoy for more time to come.
Alternatively I can take the cost of the wheels and add to that in hope of buying a used gravel bike at the cheaper end of reliable.

Also in the mix is where to buy ready built new wheels it is not like choosing bare wheels off Wiggle and screwing on your favourite cassette from Rutland.

 

[Kingfisher101]

I'd just get a new bike personally. I've had this with mine, this year I've needed new brakes, then drivetrain- all of it, chain, cassette and ring, then jockey wheels, now new shifters. If I had known I needed all this to shell out, I'd have sold it and bought something new. I'm sick of paying out for it. If I were you I'd just get rid of it.

 

[All uphill]

The opposite view.

What hidden issues will a cheap secondhand bike have?

All machines need regular maintenance. A new rim and spokes built up into a wheel will cost what? £100? If it only lasts another year then it is still cheap transport.

You will have a bike you know and like and you will not have joined the consumer merry-go-round.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

 

[Kingfisher101]

I wouldn't get a cheap second-hand bike unless it had hardly been used. I'd get a new one with the warranty.

 

[biggs682]

Sounds like general wear and tear maintenance to me for a well used bike

 

[Gillstay]

There are pleasures from riding a bike you have looked after and modified though. I am about to sell a bike I have had for 20 yrs and its sad to take all the mods off it and realise just how much fun its been and how well its done its task.
The buyers market here at the moment might mean that you can get a good set of little used wheels with a nexus hub quite cheap.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

If you like the bike, then as others have said the work is just general wear and tear, so I'd spend my money on getting things replaced.

 

[wafter]

If you like it and there's nothing more fundamentally wrong with it, I'd repair it. However, I'm tight and like to do things myself, so would strip, clean and rebuild the hub if viable - I hear they can last a very long time with a clean and re-lube.

You could rebuild the wheels with the existing hubs rather than replacing them completely.. although I appreciate if you're replacing the spokes too that doesn't leave a lot, depending on what happens with the Nexus.

With regards to possible replacements, cheap and newer might be inferior, while gravel bikes seem to be one sector of the market that's not had a post-Covid hammering.. so I'd not be expecting too much in the way of bargains.

 

[Jameshow]

If a commuter I would suggest that a financial calculation is the best way forward cost of components Vs cost if new bike.

I would buy one in spring so that the worst of winter is out if the way and you have 9months to enjoy it before the worst if winter again.

I would also buy good used saving on depreciation and selling it before it got in need of major repairs to some pup of a weekend warrior like me!🤣🤣

 

[Kingfisher101]

If you like it and there's nothing more fundamentally wrong with it, I'd repair it. However, I'm tight and like to do things myself, so would strip, clean and rebuild the hub if viable - I hear they can last a very long time with a clean and re-lube.

You could rebuild the wheels with the existing hubs rather than replacing them completely.. although I appreciate if you're replacing the spokes too that doesn't leave a lot, depending on what happens with the Nexus.

With regards to possible replacements, cheap and newer might be inferior, while gravel bikes seem to be one sector of the market that's not had a post-Covid hammering.. so I'd not be expecting too much in the way of bargains.

That's if he/she is able to build the wheels up themselves, a lot of people wont be up for this for whatever reason. If you get a bike shop to do it, it will probably start around £250ish for both wheels. Labour in bike shops is really expensive now.

 

[wafter]

That's if he/she is able to build the wheels up themselves, a lot of people wont be up for this for whatever reason. If you get a bike shop to do it, it will probably start around £250ish for both wheels. Labour in bike shops is really expensive now.

Absolutely; however if you're bothered it can be done successfully using the inverted bike as a stand and Youtube for the procedure / lacing pattern. Admittedly if time's tight / you earn more than peanuts it's not nec. time/cost effective; but then that's not always what it's about

 

[BannanaMan]

Thank you for the replies, reflecting on them I think I have clarified in my mind what is happening.

If the bike repaired itself I would continue to enjoy riding it. I think that the frame is sound, if that was not the case from my understanding it is time to replace. In the long view it is cheaper to ride this than to run the car every day even if I pay for an artisan to build me some nice wheels.

This thread has clarified that I want to replace the wheels, but not how I want to go about it.
It also has made me realise that I have two other rides that need some workshop time and it is this that I am putting off.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I had a couple of spokes replaced last summer and six months later I need another couple, I hope that it is not the same ones, replaced. The rims are showing age on both wheels.

Did these spokes fail (break)? If so more will follow, so delay not. Sounds like your rims have done good service.
I'd ask my excellent LBS to tell me how much for lacing the Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub with a new rim using new spokes.
If reasonable you could agree a time to drop a stripped wheel in and pick up in good time to use for next commute: about an hour's work. I'm with @All uphill here (£100 for the rear), rather than @Kingfisher101 's hopelessness (and £250! (albeit both))
A new/used front wheel of a standard fine for commuting should be easy to find, inexpensively. Ask in the 'Wanted' sub-forum.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Agree with @Ajax Bay that getting someone to put a new rim and spokes on the existing geared hub is certainly worth pricing. (Although you do say you suspect the hub may need replacing again ... so maybe a full hub service too). I don't know how much that would cost but it would be my first thought and I'd go from there once I had those numbers.

 

[Boopop]

If we're looking at this from a purely cost minimising point of view, the only time a well used bicycle should be replaced is if the the frame itself has failed, or is no longer giving you all the features and functions you're requiring of it.

11 years old, full of scratches and chips, the only stock parts are the stem, seatpost and frame (excluding forks). Sure, a new bike would be exciting and have more features, but it wouldn't have the same sentimental value and when the parts wear out it would be more expensive for me to repair.

Don't get me wrong, I've bought several bikes since this one, but this is still the one that gets me to work and I take usually when visiting relatives, especially in the winter