Durability

[johnridley]

I rolled the odometer on the bike over 8000 miles today. I guess I might have been surprised to find out that this $300 bike had 8000 miles in it, but it's still rolling along with hardly any maintenance, and I don't have any reason to think it'll need replacement any time soon. I might put disc brakes on the front wheel before winter really sets in, but that's about it.

I've built a new rear wheel, since the one it came with was garbage, I've replaced the tires once at about 5800 miles (plus winter tires), brake pads 4 or 5 times, and I just put my 5th chain on yesterday. I wave the power washer over it once in a while when it's warm, and I oil the chain. That's about it.

I did have to replace the freewheel, but the old one died because I did something stupid.

I'll be rolling over 4000 miles for the year just at the end of this month. I guess I won't make 5000 this year but I shouldn't be far off.

Comments

[madtechie2718.livejournal.com]

My old odometer got trashed when I was knocked off my bike two years back, so now I'm down to estimating based on the old readings and noting changes in cycling habits.

I'm been doing around 3500 miles per year (the rate is increasing a bit since I got a larger backpack and can carry more, doing less domestic shopping and inter-site work commuting by car).

Still on the original chain (but the load on the chain is reduced because I have electric-assist). I change tyres once per year as standard. I no longer do a winter/summer chance, I just stick with semi-slicks year round.


I recently fitted a DrainBrain -

http://www.jvbike.com/other/parts/DrainBrain.htm

which logs peak and average power, voltage and curent, total Watt-hours consumed and Watt-hours per mile.

From an early look (before the magnet fell of the front wheel!) it's quite interesting. Rather like the power panel on a Prius, it provides some interesting feedback on the way I cycle.

One real eye-opener is the amount of drag from under-inflated tyres, so the message is to KEEP THE TYRE PRESSURE UP!!!

According to the meter, the power consumption almost doubles when I deliberately dropped the pressure to 'not-quite-soft' from max pressure, where I usually keep it.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I've seen some people comment that they leave the chains on their bikes for a very long time, especially those with no deraillers. If the chain and the cogs wear together, they'll run for a long time. However, they all live in mild climates. My chains get to looking pretty grungy especially in midwinter after a number of saltwater spray baths. If I let the chain stay on too long, it wears the cogs to match its extended pitch, and when I put a new chain on it skips badly. This happened last winter when I left a chain on for 2800 miles and I had to replace the freewheel.

I just changed my chain on Thursday. I'm going to try to keep it well lubricated and see how long it lasts. The last one tripped the "worn out" gauge at 1600 miles, which is pretty low. But I admit I ignored it, and I rode it many miles with it squeaking due to having ridden in the rain and not lubricated it afterwards.

Good advice on the tires. I probably don't notice as much because when the pressure is down, I just expend the same effort, go a little slower, and take another 5 minutes to get home.