Traumatic entry to the n+1 club

[KnackeredBike]

Today my front mech got to the point where even I realised it was worn out.

Took it to Halfords, as usual there was lots else wrong with it too and it would cost £124 to repair.

New equivalent bikes were £260 so I thought I had to take the pragmatic option and go for a new bike.

As I was paying I looked at KB. Unloved. Forlorn. Replaced. Even though I loved it very much.

So I am having KB repaired as well because having a backup bike is suddenly essential.

I was going to cannibalise KB for the good parts and switch them around and then I realised... what sort of monster cannibalises KB? So I paid £90 to copy all the tyres etc over.

At some stage I will have to explain this to Mrs KB who will disagree with large parts of it. But... kicking and screaming... I am now in the n+1 club.

 

[Globalti]

Your front mech is worn out? How old is the bike? It doesn't look that old and front mechs take years to wear out. Did the shop try changing the cable? Bikes used a lot in wet weather and on salty roads get manky rusted cable outers so a complete change of cables make a huge difference to gear change performance. It isn't until you do it that you realise how you have grown accustomed to the gradual reduction in performance.

 

[Tanis8472]

Chain needs cleaning

 

[si_c]

Your front mech is worn out? How old is the bike? It doesn't look that old and front mechs take years to wear out. Did the shop try changing the cable? Bikes used a lot in wet weather and on salty roads get manky rusted cable outers so a complete change of cables make a huge difference to gear change performance. It isn't until you do it that you realise how you have grown accustomed to the gradual reduction in performance.

This.

There isn't an awful lot to go wrong with a front derailleur, I've broken two, one on my MTB, when I slid off and it got bashed on some rocks, the second when I dumped my road bike on some diesel on a roundabout and it got twisted out of position. It then got fscked when I tried changing gear and the chain dropped bending the cage somewhat.

In both instances the cage was visibly twisted and needed replacing, from the side on picture it looks fine to me, maybe a little out of position and in need of a clean though, posting a top down photo would have helped. For the most part you will find what looks to be a knackered old bike can be cleaned up and fettled to work almost like new with a little bit of time and knowledge, and possibly some new cables.

 

[I like Skol]

I think he means chainring, that's what I assumed. It would rarely cost £124 to replace a low end front mech but to replace a cheap chainset, chain and cassette along with some labour charges would be about right I guess?

 

[biggs682]

@KnackeredBike only 1 spare bike come on over to the world of 4 or 5 spare one's

 

[rb58]

@biggs682.... Only 4 or 5 spare ones ?

 

[biggs682]

@biggs682.... Only 4 or 5 spare ones ?

that's not including the 2 tandems and a couple of others

 

[I like Skol]

[QUOTE 4981248, member: 45"]Halfords? You've been had.[/QUOTE]
Don't be so hasty! If you look at the picture and ignore the misunderstanding between front mech/front cogs then the teeth at 3-o-clock and 6-o-clock look particularly worn and pointy, just at the portion where the most power is being applied to the pedals. It's a non serviceable chainset and the chain is obviously wrecked if that is the chainring condition. Throw in a cassette and other sundry servicing to cables, brakes or tyres and a bill for £125 is not as shocking as it might seem. You could easily get £50 (£25/£15/£10) just for basic chainset/cassette/chain and that's before we look at the bottom bracket condition and any other servicing requirements as mentioned above. In this instance the OP was given, what on face value, appears to be a reasonable repair cost and then decided to replace the bike instead.
What I would suggest to @KnackeredBike is that once the new bike was a done deal then keep the old bike and try to carry out the repairs/replacements yourself. That way you will have a good bike to use and a bike you don't have too much value in to learn and practice some valuable maintenance skills on.

 

[I like Skol]

New equivalent bikes were £260 so I thought I had to take the pragmatic option and go for a new bike.

[QUOTE 4981293, member: 45"]I was more concerned about buying a new bike from Halfords. Carrera road bikes at that price point aren't, from my experience, great bikes. The frames are just about ok, and the components cheap. The crankset on the current Zelos is a £35 jobbie.[/QUOTE]
The OP seems quite happy at that price point and to be honest, what else are you going to get at that price? I just thought you were jumping on the 'Let's bash Halfords' bandwagon which in this case seems a bit unfair.

 

[Globalti]

So in summary the bike shop mechanic has told the OP that the bike is BER or Beyond Economic Repair.

If ever there was a demonstration of the value of buying a better quality bike, this is it; with a better chainset the rings could be changed, new chain and possibly new cassette fitted and he would be on his way again.

 

[I like Skol]

So in summary the bike shop mechanic has told the OP that the bike is BER or Beyond Economic Repair.

Why do you say that? It certainly wasn't in the OP.
The repair cost was not unreasonable, the OP decided to spend over double the repair cost to get a shiny new bike. Nowhere did it suggest that this was recommended by the shop repairer/salesman. Nowt' wrong with cheaper bikes so stop being so snobby about it. They still need repairing and maintaining the same as any other bike and can be entirely fit for purpose depending on the users requirements and expectations.

 

[si_c]

Why do you say that? It certainly wasn't in the OP.
The repair cost was not unreasonable, the OP decided to spend over double the repair cost to get a shiny new bike. Nowhere did it suggest that this was recommended by the shop repairer/salesman. Nowt' wrong with cheaper bikes so stop being so snobby about it. They still need repairing and maintaining the same as any other bike and can be entirely fit for purpose depending on the users requirements and expectations.

And in certain circumstances can be easier to keep running. I'm guessing that finding a derailleur hangar for my commuter bike would be far harder to locate than a generic hangar required for a cheaper bike, say if it failed 50miles into a ride, with only one bike shop in the nearest town. For example.

 

[I like Skol]

And in certain circumstances can be easier to keep running. I'm guessing that finding a derailleur hangar for my commuter bike would be far harder to locate than a generic hangar required for a cheaper bike, say if it failed 50miles into a ride, with only one bike shop in the nearest town. For example.

Why can't I like this post about 20-30 times? Once is just nowhere near enough!

 

[KnackeredBike]

Thank you all for your input. You are right that I needed the front cog(?) replaced because it was slipping when you set off.

The bike had quite a few things that I knew nearly needed doing so I think the price is fair. I've found the technicians at my local store pretty good, plus where I have taken things back (trued wheel that came out of true after a few weeks and faulty freewheel) they have fixed them immediately without quibble.

As for the bike, mine has done 22 miles almost every day + leisure rides on top, with very little TLC and has only ever failed to get me to work once. I'm not sure it would have been 10x as enjoyable on a £2,000 bike. It's worked out at about £2 a week all in for something I've had amazing fun on. I think it's pretty good for the money.