It werent like that when i were a lad

cyclingwombat

Ive got a scott which ive had for a couple of years now and it hasnt seen anywhere near the amount of use or abuse it should have seen due to various reasons and ive taken good care of it. But already ive needed a new chain, new shifter pod, find the disc brakes to need attention constantly, and the sus fork has in various places the paint bubbling up from corrosion underneath. Have i been unlucky or are bikes mowadays not so good quality? When i were a lad my bike would be left out in all weather, ridden through mud up to its bb, and got some damn good abuse and thrashed daily and yet it went on for ever with a mere flick of some 3in1 in its general direction! whats going on?!

supersonic

I find some bits not as good, other bits much better ie forks.

As we keep reducing weight of parts (thinner chains, thinner chainrings, thinner cassettes), softer tyres etc they don't seem to last as long.

But if you put on some Shimano Altus/Alivio 8 speed kit kit it lasts ages as is all steel. It is not as slick, but probably not any worse than what was on your bike 10 years ago.

stubs

I think you could just be unlucky my On-One Scandal is 3 years old and has done 4000+ miles. All I have done is replace the stuff that wears out ie tyres, brake pads, chains and cassettes and the big chainring everything else is as I built it.

edit: I treestumped the rear mech last year and bust the mech hanger

Tim.s

Things I dont miss from ten years ago -

1 - Square taper crank arms coming loose miles from home and riding home with egg shaped pedal strokes despite trying desparately to tighten it with your door key or a rock.

2 - Brake cables snapping randomly or streching so they require adjusting twice a week.

3 - Blowing through a complete set of new brake blocks in one day.

4 - Suspension which simply does not work, quite literally bouncing along on two blocks of foam wadding until your wrists snap.

The good old days were indeed the good old days, but i'll keep todays technology thanks.

Si78

Ive noticed that paint is a lot thinner these days!

Just been faffing around trying to get my bike rack sorted for tomorrow and noticed loads of little scratches and chips on my Boardman's soft under-belly

hmmmm.... Im sure ive got some black colour-magic car wax somewhere lol

Si

Northwind

OTOH... I had a nice comparison when I got my kraken last year.

In 1991, I bought a Carrera Krakatoa Flex for £350. It had a butted tange steel frame, 21 gears (index and rapid fire, which was quite exciting at the time, all Shimano), cantis, rigid forks, a horrible girvin flexstem, steel bars and seatpost, reasonably light but flimsy wheels, and tioga smokes. Some parts lasted forever- the shimano square taper bottom bracket was replaced last year

Then, in 2008 I bought a Carrera Kraken, new price £350. It's got an alloy frame which is much lighter and stronger than the old one. 27 gears (all SRAM X5), nice hydro discs, basic but effective 120mm (high maintenance but they work), reasonably light ally seatpost and bars, wheels which have proven themselves very sturdy, and horrible tioga factory tyres. The BB wore out almost instantly, the hubs need constant attention, and the drivetrain is wearing about 10 times faster than the old shimano did...

But, on the other hand, the '91 Carrera was barely capable of going down a fire road. If I'd done a 4 foot drop to flat on it, the only question would be how long it took me to wake up Even when the drivetrain was brand new, it worked less well than the X5/Truvativ stuff does when it's worn out. And don't even talk about the brakes!

So, on the one hand the old one was definately better made, but it was so much less capable, it'd count as a hybrid now. And heavy too. I can't bemoan the lack of durability without considering the fact that the same amount of money bought me a bike I could just about have won downhill races on in 91 :shock: I'd trade lifespan for capability at this level, every day.

Northwind

Oh, and on the other other hand- bike manufacturers know their buyers. Realistically, how many miles does a brand new mtb do a year on average? How many get ridden twice then parked, or do a 20 mile ride once a month? If I was building an mtb with a limited budget, I'd build it to last 5000 miles tops then explode, because chances are it'll never go that far. Too bad if you buy it to ride around the world but the 99% of riders who'll not get close to that mileage will be happy.