When is the right time to bin the bike 🤷‍♂️

[fritz katzenjammer]

With me bikes have been taken out of service for one of two reasons:

One… a busted frame… well that’s pretty fatal, especially if they’ve been repaired once already.

Two… I’ve outgrown the silly thing. This hasn’t been a problem for sometime now… like about 45 years, so I don’t expect to encounter it again.

So if the frame is still good then it’s still a good bike. If I have no further use for it it may be sold on, but I’ll not scrap them out while the bones are still good.

 

[All uphill]

With me bikes have been taken out of service for one of two reasons:

One… a busted frame… well that’s pretty fatal, especially if they’ve been repaired once already.

Two… I’ve outgrown the silly thing. This hasn’t been a problem for sometime now… like about 45 years, so I don’t expect to encounter it again.

So if the frame is still good then it’s still a good bike. If I have no further use for it it may be sold on, but I’ll not scrap them out while the bones are still good.

View attachment 713952

That is a thing of beauty

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

It wouldn't surprise me if five years was the planned lifetime. This is part of the reason for electronic gears, and E-bikes; it gives manufacturers opportunities to make model-specific parts that you can't just swap out, so it makes repair less economical. I can fix a bike from the 80's or 90's with no trouble at work using what I have in stock. Once Disc brakes enter the picture I have to deal with different brake block styles. If I get an Ebike I know I can probably forget being able to fix and sell it because the battery will be half dead and cost more than the bike is worth to replace.

What a great reply, I was told by my bike mechanic the budget end of Ebikes are simply bin jobs once they go wrong.
I have a Specialized Tarmac with electronic gears, yes they are great when working, but had awful trouble before the latest update as they lost their memory when removing batteries for charging. I can’t see them lasting to long if I’m honest. I can imagine that sort of repair being very expensive!!!

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

We had a really nice Italian road bike through the shop recently. Its Campagnolo derailleurs weren’t working because of a faulty battery. As the battery was discontinued and the distributor out of stock of them the best we could do was sell the customer a used battery for $80 ( our cost! A new one was $300 before they ran out )

Meanwhile my 1977 Suntour Cyclone derailleurs continue on!

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

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.

Tell you what, for £20 I’ll send you all the parts I’ve replaced and you can build your own at the weekends 😂

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Only to realise the bearings are well shot on my old wheels, (new bearings ordered)

Not a mechanic but I would have thought that if the bearings were that bad there could well be damage internally as well?

Also, perhaps a more regular maintenance pattern might prevent the bearings being "well shot"?

I’m thinking bikes have, like cars (7 yrs) a set life of maybe 5 years 🤷‍♂️

Yet all the evidence from other posters up to now disputes that theory, E-bikes aside,
My own has over 25 years on the clock.

I’ve had my mtb bike for six years and all the work I’ve had to do was this year

A couple of points....
Six years is pretty meaningless without mileage and even then usage plays a huge part.
Second of all, a lot depends on the meaning of "had to".

Some of my buddies have top spec Mtb bikes, they look so modern with the latest electronic gearing etc. that’s where I can miss out if I was to stick to the same bike.

I think this might be key.
Fear of missing out, I think it's called. FOMO.

In the long run addressing that might go a long way to making you feel better.
It's a bit trite, but I was once given the advice to spend money on experiences, not things.

I heartily recommend it.

 

[chriswoody]

Not a mechanic but I would have thought that if the bearings were that bad there could well be damage internally as well?

Also, perhaps a more regular maintenance pattern might prevent the bearings being "well shot"?

I suspect the OP has modern cartridge bearings in their wheels, so they will literally be a case of fit and forget. You could pop the seals and run some new grease in there, but again, getting the seals to seat again is a pain. I ran my bearings on the Kona for about 10,000 km with zero maintenance and that was with some hard use. When they start running rough, you just pop them out and pop new ones in. At about €8 each, they are also reasonably priced. Because they are a sealed cartridge, you also run no risk of damaging the wheel hub when they are running rough. The only downside really is the fact that they are an interference fit in the hub and without decent tools to pop them out and drift new ones in, then you do run the risk of hub damage.

Reading through the thread, I think @All uphill post really summed up my feelings until this post really got me thinking:

It wouldn't surprise me if five years was the planned lifetime. This is part of the reason for electronic gears, and E-bikes; it gives manufacturers opportunities to make model-specific parts that you can't just swap out, so it makes repair less economical. I can fix a bike from the 80's or 90's with no trouble at work using what I have in stock. Once Disc brakes enter the picture I have to deal with different brake block styles. If I get an Ebike I know I can probably forget being able to fix and sell it because the battery will be half dead and cost more than the bike is worth to replace.

Leaving aside E bikes for the moment, it made me ponder about modern bikes and the plethora of new standards that are on them, from hub splines and boost spacing to chain line standards. Just how much of this will endure 10 or 20 years down the line? Will you still be able to easily pick up quality spares for bikes running some of the more obscure standards?

As much as my heart wants to keep running my current bikes for the next 20 years will it possible? For me, I hope so, because some of the choices I've made on frames and components has been with half an eye on longevity. Like the fact both bikes have 74mm BSA threaded bottom brackets, or the Kona is running Hope brakes, a company that supports it's products for many years.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I’m thinking bikes have, like cars (7 yrs) a set life of maybe 5 years 🤷‍♂️

Definitely.

My drive to Lyon in the summer in a 14yo car with a 30yo bike on top was a fever dream.

 

[bonzobanana]

What a great reply, I was told by my bike mechanic the budget end of Ebikes are simply bin jobs once they go wrong.
I have a Specialized Tarmac with electronic gears, yes they are great when working, but had awful trouble before the latest update as they lost their memory when removing batteries for charging. I can’t see them lasting to long if I’m honest. I can imagine that sort of repair being very expensive!!!

I'd say the opposite is true of ebikes. The cheap ebikes use generic much more easily replaced parts and hub motors and electrics can be simply removed and returned to a normal bike or fit new electrical parts. There is very little proprietary on them. In contrast expensive ebikes have frames with dedicated mid-drive motor mountings, proprietary batteries that are very expensive and digitally handshake with the controller and mid-drive motors are extremely expensive to repair and often uneconomic to repair with parts unavailable to end consumers. Also mid-drive motors put up to 10x the wear rate through the drivetrain compared to hub motors which reduce drivetrain wear compared to normal bicycles. I could pretty much have a go repairing any low cost ebike but there is nothing I could do with an expensive proprietary mid-drive ebike. Despite their high cost they are the most disposable of ebikes. This of course is not the information you will get from an independent bike shop who may specialise in such high cost ebikes.

 

[Jody]

Wear happens and especially on MTB's. As Fossy said, other than the forks/pedals it's all just wear and tear. Take those out and you've spent £325 in 6 years which is not a lot.

My approaching 12 year old Anthem is like triggers broom also with everything replaced at least once other than the frame and rear shock. It's been ridden hard so is to be expected.

 

[Dogtrousers]

There's a kind of continuum of parts. Some things are obviously expendable and need to be replaced regularly. Then we move on to bigger things that get closer and closer to the soul of the bike, with the frame last. Something like this. I've probably got a few things the wrong way round and forgotten a few things. And it's not got specialist MTB things like shocks in it.

Brake pads/blocks
Sealant - if running tubeless
Chain
Cables. Possibly also brake hoses - I'm not familiar with hydro brakes.
Tyres
Bar tape
Inner tubes - when the level of patching gets intolerable
Bearings (wheel, BB and headset at various times)
Cassette
Saddle - gets changed a lot until you finally hit on one you like then don't change. Ditto stems, to a lesser extent.
Wheel rims (if running rim brakes). Could also be entire wheels, which can lead to freehub replacement.
Chainrings/chainset
Jockey wheels
Shifters/brake levers. Fancy brifters can be a bit precious and die quicker than they should really.
Pedals (they just go on and on)
Front and rear mechs. Also go on and on, unless you decide you need more capacity or just change to match new shifters.
Mudguards - if you leave them on they last and last. If you swap them in and out for winter, then higher up the list.
Handlebars - replaced only for fit or due to crash damage
Frame

 

[simongt]

to me, a bike is just a frame... everything else is bolted to it and can be replaced as many times as necessary

Agree. As long as the frame; which is the heart of any bike, is sound, everything else can be changed.
The GT Outpost I bought in 1998 kept going with various changes of drivetrain, tyres, brake pads, rims etc. until 2021 when the rust gremlins had attacked the chainstays behind the bottom bracket.
The Outpost then went to a cycle recycle outfit and I replaced it with a 1992 Super Galaxy.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Agree. As long as the frame; which is the heart of any bike, is sound, everything else can be changed.
The GT Outpost I bought in 1998 kept going with various changes of drivetrain, tyres, brake pads, rims etc. until 2021 when the rust gremlins had attacked the chainstays behind the bottom bracket.
The Outpost then went to a cycle recycle outfit and I replaced it with a 1992 Super Galaxy.

And when you have good components and the frame breaks you just get a new frame. It's the Trigger's Broom of personal transport...

 

[simongt]

you just get a new frame.

And with my Galaxy having a full 531 frame, result - !