Why don't modern bikes need less maintenance?

[Crankarm]

I think the biggest issue is the derailleur gearing. I live in a rural area and the roads are usually wet and muddy and I find I can't be bothered riding my derailleur equipped bikes anymore as I can't be bothered cleaning them. I haven't rode any of my geared road bikes since last August.

I built an old skip rescue gaspipe touring frame with a 3 speed hub and have covered about 1,500 miles on it over the winter and love it. When the chain looks dirty, I pull it off (traditional cir-clip type joining link, takea few seconds) and soak in diesel, dry and soak in warm engine oil and I do that about every 3 months and rarely do anything else with it, just like the cycle manuals of the 1920s recommended. No sign of any chain stretch so far.

Indeed but chain stretch is a totally different issue. Chain stretch will depend on riding styles and whether hilly or flat
terrain, heavy or no load on bike.

 

[style over speed]

My 1951 Rudge:

Rudge Roadster by braveheart1979, on Flickr

Unfortunately nobody sells bikes like this in this country nowadays as people are too obsessed with weight and fashion. A bike shop would struggle to sell a bike like my Rudge today due to the obsession with weight and fashion even though it is the most suitable type of bike for the majority of cyclists. It is heavy, but once you get a bike like this moving, it maintains momentum and isn't difficult to ride at all if the gear ratios are chosen correctly.

Pashley still sell a bike that is almost identical: http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/roadster-sovereign.html

I have a Velorbis like this which is pretty identical to a raleigh DL1 except it has hub brakes, and big fat tryres.. they are fantastic bikes and way nicer to ride than modern hybrids, and it comes with rack, guards, hub dynamo and hub brakes, its good for riding in any weather. its a real shame they struggle to sell.

 

[lulubel]

This is only because the government transport policy has been skewed towards private motoring and away from public transport and cycling for the last fifty years, including planning policies which require people to use cars to gain access to many facilities.

I didn't say it wasn't.

I thought we were discussing why there's a trend towards owning bikes that require a lot of maintenance, not why people choose to use bikes for transport or not.

 

[Licramite]

It's a point, most people don't ride as a main means of transport, but for sport and leisure - when bikes were your only means of transport they looked more like style over speeds bikes. chainguards to keep your trousers/legs clean, mudguards the lot. and didnt need the derailer (god they are a temprimental pain) and 18gears.
It doesn't help that modern bikes are a bit like cars in that unless you have a workshop of specialist tools you cannot take the important bits appart (my old mini all I needed was an 1/2 inch spanner , a hammer, a 1/4" screwdriver and I could fix just about everything)

 

[Amanda P]

Most of the bikes we see in Britain are, let's face it, toys. They're not designed for regular, utility use. If they were, they'd have exactly those features you've all outlined - hub gears, disc or hub brakes, chain cases or belt drive etc etc.

Worse, we're snobbish about our bikes (and our cars) in a way that in other nations aren't. I find it hard to believe that some of my colleagues would rather arrive at work covered in road muck and with a sweaty back than be seen on a bike with mudguards or a rack. But they would. I don't know why - no-one would recognise them with their helmets and glasses on anyway!

You can see where I'm going with this. Spend some time in a place where bikes aren't mostly just toys, and yes, you'll see the odd stripped-down road bike - but mostly at weekends. On weekdays, fat-tyred, flat-barred, chain cased, back-pedal-braked leviathans rule the road bike path.

(*Actually, that's a bit unfair. They're often built big, but can be surprisingly light).

Those bikes don't need much maintenance. When they do, they're generally entrusted to a specialist workshop, just as we do with our cars.

A couple of years ago I was working in the Netherlands. I'd agreed to meet a farmer at the edge of a village early one morning. I arrived before him at the field and parked up to wait for him. He was late, and while I was waiting, I saw some of the chaps from the 'executive' village-edge homes setting off for work. In fifteen minutes I saw three guys in suits come out of their houses, briefcase in hand, walk past the BMW/Audi/Mercedes on the drive, get a chunky, upright bike out of the garage or the rack and pedal off to work.

When I mentioned this to a Dutch colleague, he wasn't surprised, but pointed out that they'd have been Executive, expensive bikes. It's enough to own a prestige car in the Netherlands. But it'd be stupid to drive it into town. Stilstaand verkeer is a phrase you hear a lot on traffic reports.

 

[tyred]

I think back pedal brakes are an overlooked feature here as well. They work very well in practice, are weather proof and basically maintenance free.

 

[Bromptonaut]

As above a belt need a redisign to so it can run through seatstay/dropouts/chainstay. It also needs to be a very precise length unlike a chain where there is a facility to vary number of links.

 

[ufkacbln]

Three of the most common complains about a new car are:-

Trip Comp./Navigation Systems Diff. To Understand/Use
Unusual Transmission Noise
Poor Performance/Lacks Power

Bikes are the same then.

I thought it was only BMW and Audi drivers who lacked power and performance

 

[ufkacbln]

As above a belt need a redisign to so it can run through seatstay/dropouts/chainstay. It also needs to be a very precise length unlike a chain where there is a facility to vary number of links.

The Strida design was such that there was ne rear trianle to cause this issue

 

[Jimmy Doug]

One of the things I love about my bike is that I can maintain it. When something breaks, which is rare, I can replace it. And every time I change something, every minute I spend working on it, I appropriate it a tiny amount, make it just that little more my own. When you buy a B'Twin Triban 3 or whatever, you have a factory built, standardised machine that differs from no other bike that came out of that factory. But every time you replace something, and most people can still do this themselves, you personalise it just that little bit. Obviously, there are constraints, both technical and financial, that limit what you can change; but you still imprint something of yourself on that machine. My EBC Country Traveller is now unique: no other EBC Country Traveller is exactly like mine; no other bike in the world is exactly like mine.
Bikes require work to keep them running smooth, but that's a small price to pay for what they give in return. What other machine has mankind invented that gives more than it takes? Getting you from A to B quickly, cleanly and efficiently, saving you money and keeping you fit all at the same time? Hell - they're evening claiming that cycling can help make you happier and keep your brain functioning properly. Soon they'll be saying that it can improve your sex-life too - perhaps they already have. So, I don't care if I need to spend 10 minutes a week maintaining my bike - even if I do need to grease the bearings every six months too. It's the least I can do.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I think Gates now spec a belt equivalent of a pushing up chain tensioner for this very reason. I think the lack of long term reports and ability to retrofit are probably enough to steer me away from belts for the foreseeable future. I just don't see chaindrive hub gears as something that's crying out for an upgrade to a belt. The longevity of parts is already good and they work just fine with cheap and cheerful bits.

Even with snubber bearings fitted the feedback on the longevity of Gates drives used on hub geared mtb's stateside is mixed, especially if bits of the scenery get pulled into the drive or you ride on terrain where gritty paste builds up on the read 'cog'. It's a solution in search of a problem in our application; probably works fine on road with a light plastic chaincase and a Rohloff but honestly otherwise what's the point. I've had a drive belt slip on a brand new strida which is why I didn't buy one and went Brompton instead (I still take my old Strida Mk 3.5 out to the shops just for the hell of it though, it's flat and I pedal gently)

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The Strida design was such that there was ne rear trianle to cause this issue

Indeed. But then the Strida design fixes that problem but introduces a whole lot of other ones.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

My 1951 Rudge:

Rudge Roadster by braveheart1979, on Flickr

A thing of beauty. The danes still ride bikes like this so they are still out there.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I think back pedal brakes are an overlooked feature here as well. They work very well in practice, are weather proof and basically maintenance free.

Coaster brakes have their place.








In a skip*



*I am actually joking I have a two-speed hub with a coaster brake that slots into my fixed when the fancy takes.

 

[mcshroom]

Out of interest, how long each year does the OP think he spends filling up the car at the petrol station? I would call that maintaining the vehicle.