how long should components last?

Mark Alexander

I was out yesterday on a long ride and bumped into another rider. Whilst riding along chatting, the conversation got onto bikes [oddly enough] and components. His Trek was about the same age as my Monoc and he was saying that he'd replaced almost all of the components. chain set, cassette, chain, bracket. pads etc. He said that they seem to last a few thousand miles and then go.

I've had mine since August "04 and all are original. Other than the bottom bracket, which was replaced within months from being faulty. Is this normal?

pliptrot

1991 Chas Roberts - started with Record and have since replaced the rings & BB 3 times, 4 sets of rims (hubs are getting a bit rough) and on the 5th or 6th freewheel (thank God for ebay). The brake levers (pre ergopower) went onto the fixed and appear ready to last forever. The delta brakes (yes, those) are in a box somewhere and were replaced after about 10 years with no discernable wear in the mechanisms. 8-speed ergo levers & rear mech bought in 1997 still going strong. The frame has 60,000 miles on it (753). Pedals were shot after 5 or 6 years, but went clipless before then.

It is my contention that - properly looked after- stuff should last a very long time. That's why Campag and Shimano keep adding sprockets and so forth - the good old days when they helped us keep kit going are over.

I'm planning on a new bike this year, but am waiting for something to appeal. It seems a record UT chainset is not going to last 15 years. And, of course, how would I get new rims on factory wheels?

graham_g

pliptrot wrote:

It is my contention that - properly looked after- stuff should last a very long time. That's why Campag and Shimano keep adding sprockets and so forth - the good old days when they helped us keep kit going are over.

At least you can still get 7/8 speed Shimano quite easily, that's another reason I've done a mix'n'match with components.

Here's a question - where do we go after 10 speed? surely we're pretty much at the limits of necessity as far as a racing cassette goes (that's what drives development after all!)? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all the change to be in the electronic shifting and that 10 speed shimano cassettes will still be available in 20 years time!

acorn_user

Well, the new Dura Ace mechanical group will be nice and incompatible with existing Shimano gear. You'll note Sram's road groups are incompatible with their mtb groups.

Btw, one friend destroyed the drivetrain of her Ridgeback in 1 year thanks to daily commuting. It all depends on the usage, maintenance and quality of the drivetrain.

pliptrot

Shimano have a patent on a 14-speed rear cluster. Wouldn't the frame makers love it if the rear spacing increased yet again?

Kléber

Mark Alexander wrote:

I've had mine since August "04 and all are original. Other than the bottom bracket, which was replaced within months from being faulty. Is this normal?

Have you not even changed the chain? :shock:

In the same time as you, I would have worn through other parts too like brake blocks, the cassette and more. It all depends on your mileage, if you commute to work and have to ride in bad weather and your weight and riding style.

meagain

I've just overhauled a 27 y.o. Carlton that from the appearance of the outside of the frame has led a far from shetered life. Sound as the proverbial internally, the entire b/b shell and into the tubes e.g. packed with grease! All parts came off/out easily. Hubs and axles fine.

Unless significantly sacrifice strength for lightness, it's down to maintenance I guess.

Eat My Dust

I've already had new cassette and chain put on my Cayo and I've only had it since September!!

Eros Polly

I bought a new handlebar stem recently and the manufacturer's blurb said that stems should be replaced every 3 years. :shock:

meagain

Forty years past use by date then on my oldest Carlton!

Mark Alexander

Kléber wrote:

Mark Alexander wrote:

I've had mine since August "04 and all are original. Other than the bottom bracket, which was replaced within months from being faulty. Is this normal?

Have you not even changed the chain? :shock:

In the same time as you, I would have worn through other parts too like brake blocks, the cassette and more. It all depends on your mileage, if you commute to work and have to ride in bad weather and your weight and riding style.

It is the 1st chain.
2nd set of handlebars (due to a lorry crash)
What's even more surprising is that it has survived all the off's [F1 style :shock: ]
even the Cirrocco G3's have only been trued after one crash [the lorry]
2k miles each of the 1st 2 years then 4k+ last year 5k this Jan to Apr 1.5k

campagsarge

Eros Polly wrote:

I bought a new handlebar stem recently and the manufacturer's blurb said that stems should be replaced every 3 years. :shock:

I have a specialized CF seat post. The marketing/instruction sheet says I should change it every 3 years as well. Nice marketing but is this the case with CF? If so, should you be changing your £1500 carbon fibre frame every three years?

I was having a 'back in the day components where meant to last' conversation with a bloke who helped me fix my first ever broken chain in 17 years of cycling.

Could it be that there is a trade off with lighter components, decreased longevity?

meagain

"should you be changing your £1500 carbon fibre frame every three years? "

You mean some folk DON'T? The marketeers will be slashing their wrists ....

"Could it be that there is a trade off with lighter components, decreased longevity?"

Cheek, tongue, in and firmly come to mind....

mozwyn69

Trek Madone 5.9, two and a half yrs old. Done 12000 miles and had just about a new everything! Wheel rims just replaced, bottom Bracket, rear cassette, chain, chainset, several brake pads, front shifter broke in Jan, front derailleur broke, new headset and to top it all its now in the shop awaiting new forks after they found a crack in them. Will have spent 450 quid on it this year.
It's a fantastic bike but fecking expensive when things wear out. Going to use my heavy winter beast a lot more from now on.
Someone has mentioned that some carbon frames should be ditched after 5yrs..is this true? Tho the way i'm going mine will have broke by then anyway!

aracer

pliptrot wrote:

Shimano have a patent on a 14-speed rear cluster. Wouldn't the frame makers love it if the rear spacing increased yet again?

Though the patent is actually for fitting 14 speeds into the same space as 10, so no difference to rear spacing. It's also got a lot of functional flaws (given we're talking about durability, the chain would not only not last 1000 miles, it would have lots of extra friction whilst it was about it) which leads me to think it was simply registered as some sort of placeholder or for the publicity rather in the expectation they'd ever make anything like it.

Haynes

So in 3 years, 8000+ mostly dry miles, 1 chain and headset doesnt seem too bad. Just replacing the cassettes and chain again this week. Headset has been ropey for ages. Oh nearly forgot the replacement set of wheels on warranty. Another Trek madone btw.

Frustrating thing is you get a nice new bike and theres some warranty issue which marrs the first 12 months, by the time thats resolved other components are failing due to wear and tear. Mind you the brake blocks look hardly worn, unlike the winter bike which goes through rims pretty quick.

oldwelshman

Personally I think it depends on several factors.
It can depend on your style of riding, condition of roads where you ride and also the weather conditions you ride in.
Then it also depends how much maintenance you do on the bike.
Then you have the quality of components you select, even with expensive componenets it it possible to get a duffer.
But if well looked, appart from consumables such as tyres, tubes, chain and sometimes cassettes, they should last quite a while.

Mark Alexander

Right, today, I finally changed the rear mech, cassette, cables, brake pads and chain. the rear mech has been upgraded from Xenon to Mirage

verloren

I have a 6 year old Giant OCR2 that has had a new fork, handlebar, stem, cassette, chain (x2), read derailler, seat post, saddle, brakes, cables (x2), and pedals. But the only things that *needed* replacing were the chain and cables - everything else was because a better choice for my riding turned up at a decent price. With a little cruising of eBay every now and then I don't think anything needs to get to the point where it wears out

Oh, and I should get my hubs serviced, but thinking about new wheels anyway...

Tom Butcher

mozwyn69 wrote:

Someone has mentioned that some carbon frames should be ditched after 5yrs..is this true? Tho the way i'm going mine will have broke by then anyway!

I thought carbon lasted pretty much forever so long as it wasn't damaged or the bits that are glued together become unglued.

wastelander

I had a groupset change when I bought my winter frame and 'shuffled' the 105/Ultegra mix down whic hwas placed with a full Ultegra-SL. So far in 1200miles I've replaced nothing on the SL equip'ed bike except a pair of tires from last year, and the 105/Ultegra mix groupset had a chain/cassette changed after 2600 miles.

I read post with tales of people racking up 1000's miles on a single chain/cassette :shock: I regularly degrease/relube but I suspect the fact that I ride in all weathers and my daily return commute includes between 1500 and 2500ft of climbs (depending on the routes of course) has something to do with it.