When is the right time to bin the bike 🤷‍♂️

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

2017 I purchased my Specialized Chisel MTB. Cost £1,310
Decided to replace the forks as I damaged a strut.
Reba forks, £350
Head set, £35
Shims £15
Rear cassette £15
Pedals £50
Chainset £110
Bottom bracket £100
Chain £35
Cables £15
Tyres £85
Total spent on parts £725
So I have a slightly up graded bike but nothing that special. Considering I could by a brand new chisel comp for £1,600. Maybe I will think harder next time 🙄

 

[All uphill]

You bought a bike in 2017 for £1310 and have spent £100 a year on maintaining it and repairing it.

Sounds good to me.

What's the alternative?

Buy a bike, neglect it, have a poorly functioning bike, bin it, buy a new one.

 

[johnnyb47]

If you add it all up it can look like a lot of expense but over 6 years you've spent £120 a year.Tyres ,chain and cables are consumable parts and the rest will need replacing at some point or another.If you bought a new bike you would have to spend money on it to keep that one in good fettle.

 

[johnnyb47]

Besides that bike looks really tidy and you've obviously looked after it well.I would enjoy it now that it's all sorted and get your money's worth out of what you've spent.

 

[Drago]

The way I see it you've spent about half the cost of a new bike.

As with cars, buying a new bike is a very expensive means of avoiding a few bills. Buy one because you want one, not because you think spending 1400 snifters is somehow saving you money.

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

You bought a bike in 2017 for £1310 and have spent £100 a year on maintaining it and repairing it.

Sounds good to me.

What's the alternative?

Buy a bike, neglect it, have a poorly functioning bike, bin it, buy a new one.

That a great way to look at it. The bike has been superb up to the summer. I’ve always maintained it very well. Maybe I will get another six years out of it ?

 

[All uphill]

That a great way to look at it. The bike has been superb up to the summer. I’ve always maintained it very well. Maybe I will get another six years out of it ?

My favourite bike is 30 years old next year.

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

The way I see it you've spent about half the cost of a new bike.

As with cars, buying a new bike is a very expensive means of avoiding a few bills. Buy one because you want one, not because you think spending 1400 snifters is somehow saving you money.

Well I’m in to deep to change my mind now. It feels so much better than it’s ever been. At least it’s well passed that brand new bike feel, where your concerned what you lean it against! I’m often lifting it over cattle fences/kissing gates etc. I look after the bike, but it does go through hell on some rides 😁

 

[MichaelW2]

I am debating the cost-effectiveness of repairs.
On my 2008 Dahon Cadenza. The disk brake pad adjusters are damaged, the bottom bracket is siezed into the aluminium eccentric block and the internals of the Alfine 8 hub gears will only change up, not down.
Ho hum. Repair or recycle?

 

[Dogtrousers]

I've probably spent several times the original cost on my bike so far. Two complete new drive trains, sundry wheels, all that's really left of the original is the frame, seat post, and mudguards. (edit, and brakes)

I have no intention of getting a new bike. I intend to carry on replacing bits when needed, and sometimes when not needed.

 

[Andy in Germany]

As others have said, a good quality bike can be kept running for a long time, for a modest annual outlay; I'm still riding a bike every day that I bought in the UK 26 years ago. Of course many parts are replaced; most recently a new cassette and chain (again) which set me back ca. 50€, but that 50€ equates to ca. 10-15€ a year depending how well I keep the chain clean.
Of course as I use my bikes for transport the economics will look different but as others have said, the alternative is to neglect and replace a series of expensive bikes, which seems a bit pointless.

 

[Drago]

I roll my eyes at the fools who say, "I had to spend £700 on the car to get it through its MOT. It's getting too expensive to run, so I'll buy a new one on finance at £300 or £500 a month."

And so it is here. £1500 is an expensive way to save a hundred quid on annual maintenance, which you'll still have to pay anyway if you're actually going to ride the new bike.

 

[mercalia]

the longer you keep a bike putting aside maintenace ( tyres, cassettes) the cost per year for one-off buys goes down. My dawes One -down cost me £550 25 years ago. I bought at the time a spare set of RSX front controls for £129 one of which I used this year ( I bought another set this year NOS for about £100) I also off Ebay bought spare front and rear derailleurs and the front chainset set, NOS probably cost me another another £100 some time in the past. You work it out over 25 years?

 

[chris-suffolk]

Unless you break the frame, everything else is a manageable cost to replace, and a cost that would occur on a new bike with the same frequency. So buying a new bike just 'stall' the regular costs by (say) a year, yet will cost far more than one years regular costs.

I'd ony advocate buying a new bike if you want a (serious) upgrade, or the new bike does something that the old one can't like takes mudguards, larger tyres for gravel / off-road, much stronger frame for that round the world trip you suddenly decided to do etc

 

[All uphill]

I've changed my mind.

You should buy a new bike today, and I'll help you out by taking the old one off your hands for £25.