Why don't modern bikes need less maintenance?

[nickyboy]

Cars have become much more reliable and require far less maintenance that they used to in the past. Service intervals are now far higher than they used to be and most drivers do practically no maintenance at all.

But there seems to be no improvement in bike design that has led to a reduction in maintenance. We still have to go through complicated, time consuming routines to keep them on the road.

So how come the car industry has been so successful in reducing maintenance required but the bike industry hasn't?

 

[black'n'yellow]

because cars are not bikes?

 

[nickyboy]

because cars are not bikes?

It seems like the car industry has made huge steps with its products, bike industry hasn't. We're still stuck with faffing around after each long winter ride cleaning, re-lubing

I'm just wondering if bike design from a maintenance perspective has reached a pinnacle and can't be improved upon or has the bike industry not tried as hard as the car industry?

 

[mcshroom]

Some things are much better than they used to be. Tyres with puncture protection last longer, aluminium rims don't need the rust taking off of them periodically, Disk brakes are far more long-lasting than any rim brakes and I would say that sealed hubs and BBs have made bikes far more resilient.

Bikes have also become far more complicated in general, and also lighter. Cars are already heavier and more powerful so adding a bit more to make them tougher isn't as noticeable as it would be on a bike.

 

[simon.r]

You could get an almost maintenance free bike if you wanted to - but it would have hydraulic discs, hub gears and a belt drive. Very practical, but heavier and not as slick as a derailleur equipped, canti braked bike.

A bit like comparing a low maintenance VW Diesel Golf to a Lamborghini to stick with the car analogy?

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Are we sure that modern bikes need more looking after? or are we more fussy about keeping them nice.? I have two nice bikes and I like to keep them nice, years ago I rode bikes I cobbled together from bits and cheap second hand bikes, they only got the minimum amount of work done on them to keep them running, they weren't worth doing any more than that.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

some bikes don't need anywhere near the level of maintenance as others. For instance my off-road touring bike/expedition bike needs very little maintenance compared to either my mountain bike or my road bike. the difference is inital cost, design and the fact it is hub gears (a rohloff hub). Clean the chain once a week or so on a world tour (typically every 300-500 miles or so), change the chain maybe once every 8,000-9,000 miles, front & rear sprocket only got changed when I needed to change the ratios for the hub - something sutable for flat road use is not suitable for off-road steep mountain use - difference between The Netherlands/Germany/Denmark and Norway/Turkey/Tajikistan for instance. Tyres lasted 5,000 miles for my OH, 9,000miles for me. Never looked at the wheel hubs or the bottom bracket, OK I broke 1 spoke on it (my OH broke 6 spokes over 9,000 miles), 2 sets of brake pads, 2nd set are still going strong and don't expect to replace them anytime soon.

Now compare that to my road bike or mountain bike which needs the chain doing each and very time I use the bike because the lane I live on which is coated in mud most of the time, has done 1,250 miles to a chain (road bike). My touring/expedition bike is roughly 9 times the price of my road bike (in fact my expedition bike new costs more than my 2nd hand car did 5 months ago). Which has had less problems - well actually my expedition bike and I've done a much greater distance on it than the car!

You get what you pay for. Stay with derailuer gears and parts fail much more quickly, more maintenance is needed. Change technology to something costing much more initally (or run with a single speed) and have less to do in the long run.

 

[gaz]

Weight. things can be made more durable but then they weigh more. Cycling would then be less appealing as any hill you got to would require a ski lift to get up.

 

[nickyboy]

Weight. things can be made more durable but then they weigh more. Cycling would then be less appealing as any hill you got to would require a ski lift to get up.

But cars have got lighter over the years and are now much more reliable and need less maintenance.
It's not so much the catastrophic failures that I am on about, it is the day to day maintenance that the car industry seems to have succeeded in getting away from. They have done it so what's stopping the bike industry?

 

[black'n'yellow]

It seems like the car industry has made huge steps with its products, bike industry hasn't. We're still stuck with faffing around after each long winter ride cleaning, re-lubing

I'm just wondering if bike design from a maintenance perspective has reached a pinnacle and can't be improved upon or has the bike industry not tried as hard as the car industry?

I still don't understand why you are comparing cars to bikes from a maintenance perspective. A fully-enclosed transmission will cure a lot of your maintenance issues. They have been around for a while now..

 

[Onthedrops]

Because everybody loves to give their bikes lots of TLC after a ride out.
No better feeling than going out on a clean and freshly lubed bike. Especially when you've done it all yourself.

 

[derrick]

If you keep it nice and clean and lubbed up. they require very little maintanance, i know guy's with cars spend longer cleaning them up than i do cleaning bikes, and mine are spotless.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Cars have become much more reliable and require far less maintenance that they used to in the past. Service intervals are now far higher than they used to be and most drivers do practically no maintenance at all.

But there seems to be no improvement in bike design that has led to a reduction in maintenance. We still have to go through complicated, time consuming routines to keep them on the road.

???? What's so complicated and time consuming? Have you tried changing a nearside headlamp bulb on a Ford Focus?

 

[Deleted member 1258]

???? What's so complicated and time consuming? Have you tried changing a nearside headlamp bulb on a Ford Focus?

The Ford connect van is as bad, I had to get one of the lads on the shop floor to do it, I couldn't do it my hand wouldn't contort enough to do it.

 

[Dan B]

But cars have got lighter over the years

Really?