The learning curve of bike maintenance :-)

[johnnyb47]

Hi and hope your all well,
It's now coming up to a couple of years in that I've started taking up cycling again. Last year I've really embraced it ,and covered a good few thousand miles on my trusty old Pug seeing some amazing scenery and making some great friends here and whilst out and about on my bike.
My mental health has also taken a huge turn for the better after being stuck in a rut for many months. This upbeat in mood is all thanks to my new lease of passion for cycling, and I could not recommend it strongly enough to anyone who may be in a similar situation to what I was.
Anyway sorry I'll get back to bike maintenance.
As my cycling in the past just consisted of the odd short ride my views on bike maintenance was somewhat limited and ignorant. The thought of spending that little extra for decent tyres / brake blocks or chains was something of a big no no for me. I often thought that the people who spent decent money on quality components and consumables were victims of marketing hype. As a relative newbie to cycling, my views where that its just a bike and all tyres where virtually the same and that cheap new chain will be just as good as a more expensive one.
With this in mind, whenever something needed replacement I would always opt for the cheapest I could lay my hands on. Once fitted I was still convinced I had made the right choice.
The thing is though , I've started to realize its false economy..As my fascination for cycling grew more and more last year and there miles turned from the hundreds to thousands I started to notice how poor quality these cheap replacements actually are.
Cheap wheels with constantly breaking spokes, brake blocks that don't last five minutes and tyres that handle awfully in the wet.
This winter whilst the road bike has been hibernating and the mtb was pressed into service I've systematically gone through the old Peugeot and replaced all the cheap and nasty components that I had fitted over last summer with some better quality items. A couple of months back I made the mistake of buying another Wilko,s chain, and after fitted it I soon realized it was not the bargain I thought it was. The gear changes felt imprecise and I could feel a general harshness throughout the frame set when pushing hard on the peddles. Today I've changed it for a better quality item, and it's transformed the ride quality to a nice and smooth experience.
I suppose the moral of this story is ,if you buy cheap you buy twice..
Cheap components are fine if your just using your bike for a quick trip down to the shop for a paper, but if you plugging in some decent miles it's always worth spending that little extra and getting some decent quality out of your bike.
You will enjoy it more in the long run :-) :-)

 

[hoopdriver]

Yes indeed. There seems to be an optimum point on the quality/cost spectrum - buying stuff that is good enough to last for serious miles, be durable and will perform well on daily rides, but without paying premiums for superlighweight racing gear which manufacturers and the broad modern cycling fashion for racy goodies, wants to shove our way.

 

[DCLane]

Lesson learnt; my winter road bike gets the cheap 8 speed stuff but is hammered to death each winter and then re-built once things have warmed up. In the 6 last winters the Shimano 2300 groupset used has been on 3 bikes [originally on a Raleigh Airlite, then my Ridgeback Platinum and now an Eastway R4.0], done 11,000+ miles, has had a new outer chainring, 2 new front derailleurs, 9 rear ones (don't ask!), a new bottom bracket each Spring and about 30 chains plus cables each year.

The audax/race bikes get quality components.

 

[Slick]

I think that's fair enough. One guy at work reckoned I've ruined a good bike by using it all winter. I tried explaining it's for using, not for admiring (although, it does look good.) and he did back down a bit but still reckoned I was being unnecessarily tough on it. One good service using all original parts means come May, it will be brand new again. It's not rocket science.

 

[I like Skol]

Middle of the range is where it's at. Not cheap but not range topping either. Bikes are definitely for using, my commuter has done over 18k miles. Lots and lots of original parts, some bits changed/upgraded very early on but some bits still going strong. A new rear mech recently, not sure it actually needed it!

 

[chriscross1966]

Also look out for good quality s/h parts... One of my favourites are Campagnolo Ultratorque cranksets from the lower group sets... Before they launched the Powertorque cranks (which are horrible things to service) you could get UT cranks down as far as Mirage... I've fitted two of my Brompton with carbon fibre compacts, a Centaur on the daily rider and a Chorus on the sunny days plaything... Look gorgeous, feel lovely and the daily rider needed a new chain set and BB anyway at 5 years old... Cost about the same as buying a new Brompton one... On the sunny days bike I replaced the chain set and BB from brand new and got my money back on the stock bits...

 

[raleighnut]

Another 'mid-range' fan here, 105 for road bikes and Deore for the MTB/Hybrid although my 653 TT bike got Campagnolo Centaur but only because the frame had a Campagnolo Seatpost and Headset when I got it,

 

[bpsmith]

It’s not always about just being lighter as you go up the range. For example, the Ultegra cassette on my older bike is in better condition than the 105 cassette on my newer bike, despite having done triple the mileage.

It’s down to the finish of the parts. The 105 version has visible corrosion on the edges in s number of places and has been used in far more favourable conditions than the Ultegra has.

This has little effect on riding, I must admit, but suggests that the higher end parts would actually last better over harsher conditions.

 

[Blue Hills]

Lesson learnt; my winter road bike gets the cheap 8 speed stuff but is hammered to death each winter and then re-built once things have warmed up. In the 6 last winters the Shimano 2300 groupset used has been on 3 bikes [originally on a Raleigh Airlite, then my Ridgeback Platinum and now an Eastway R4.0], done 11,000+ miles, has had a new outer chainring, 2 new front derailleurs, 9 rear ones (don't ask!), a new bottom bracket each Spring and about 30 chains plus cables each year.

The audax/race bikes get quality components.

Sorry, don't understand about the 2 new front mecbs, can't help but ask about the rear, and why so many bottom brackets? Sounds odd unless you are some phenomenal steam hammer cycling leviathan.

 

[mjr]

Unfashionable is where it's at. 1/8" three-fin sprockets for £3 and pretty damn good KMC B1s chains for something like £6. Quick links 2 for £3. Chain that doesn't dangle so near the dirt so that's less maintenance too.

 

[Drago]

Sounds odd unless you are some phenomenal steam hammer cycling leviathan.

He's guilty as charged...

 

[Newman8]

I think that's fair enough. One guy at work reckoned I've ruined a good bike by using it all winter. I tried explaining it's for using, not for admiring (although, it does look good.) and he did back down a bit but still reckoned I was being unnecessarily tough on it. One good service using all original parts means come May, it will be brand new again. It's not rocket science.

I still ride outside in winter, but I've come to think over recent years, that much of my maintenance costs are a direct result of cycling in poor winter weather on filthy roads.

These costs include in last 12 months, but are not necessarily limited to: new hub bearings; complete new rear wheel build; 2 new chains; new bottom bracket; 2 new tyres; and new pedals.

Now I know that all that stuff wears out eventually in dry sunny weather too, but I feel it's more so on harsh roads, and with that in mind, and for the first winter ever, I've spent most of the last two months on the indoor trainer.

I've got some pretty hard training in, and the bike is still really clean. I think it's needed less than an hour of cleaning and maintenance in total.

 

[Drago]

I used to commute all year, fair weather and foul. All my bikes, but particularly so my bad weather machine, were cleaned weekly, and waxed, oiled, sprayed with ACF as appropriate. Annually my commuters got a full strip and rebuild, with wheel, BB and headset bearings cleaned, inspected and lubed. I've never had to replace a bearing, chainset and cogs last as long as any other bike, and cosmetically they still clean up to look like new.

 

[Slick]

I still ride outside in winter, but I've come to think over recent years, that much of my maintenance costs are a direct result of cycling in poor winter weather on filthy roads.

These costs include in last 12 months, but are not necessarily limited to: new hub bearings; complete new rear wheel build; 2 new chains; new bottom bracket; 2 new tyres; and new pedals.

Now I know that all that stuff wears out eventually in dry sunny weather too, but I feel it's more so on harsh roads, and with that in mind, and for the first winter ever, I've spent most of the last two months on the indoor trainer.

I've got some pretty hard training in, and the bike is still really clean. I think it's needed less than an hour of cleaning and maintenance in total.

You may be right, and to be very honest I've done very little cycling over the past 2 months and I'm really starting to rethink my position, but I've just not got the required mindset to ride a turbo, in fact, I can think of nothing worse. For me, it's outside or nothing and then just service. It comes at some cost, but then so does everything else.

 

[DCLane]

Sorry, don't understand about the 2 new front mecbs, can't help but ask about the rear, and why so many bottom brackets? Sounds odd unless you are some phenomenal steam hammer cycling leviathan.

Basically I ride in all weathers and this bike is only used for winter commuting and general winter riding. That'll include slides, skirmishes with city traffic and much more. 200 winter miles a week in rain/snow/gritted roads means the bottom bracket is usually needing replacement after a few months, rear mechs get clogged up, etc. In 6 years of this rear mechs go about every 2 years and I'll hammer the bike through any weather and gap in traffic.