Murphy's 3rd Law

The Running Man

Murphy's 1st Law states that if anything can go wrong ..... it will.

Murphy's 2nd Law states that if any number of things can go wrong ..... they will.

Murphy's 3rd Law states that if any number of things can go wrong in the worst possible consecutive order ... they will.

Today I am a victim of Murphy's 3rd Law.

Both bikes are in today for service just to have the chain, cables etc checked after recent purchases.

I get a call to say the chain and cassette have gone on the Roubaix. You're doing far too many miles they say. OK so it's going to cost £xxx for a new set. I can live with that.

Then I get a call to say the chain and cassette have gone on the Litespeed as well : same story and my "mood-ometer" starts to slump. I'll have to live with that.

THEN to put the tin hat on it I get another call to say that both Dura Ace wheels are fecked on the Litespeed as well. The bearings have gone on the front and the rim has gone on the rear under consistent braking pressure. I really resent that and have asked them to refer them back to Madison.

All of this is apparently down to hills and mileage.

SC Stats will be getting an invoice from my solicitors.

In the meantime I am just off to sit in a corner and weep.

CiB

The Running Man wrote:

Murphy's 1st Law states that if anything can go wrong ..... it will.

Murphy's 2nd Law states that if any number of things can go wrong ..... they will.

Murphy's 3rd Law states that if any number of things can go wrong in the worst possible consecutive order ... they will.

Today I am a victim of Murphy's 3rd Law.

Both bikes are in today for service just to have the chain, cables etc checked after recent purchases.

I get a call to say the chain and cassette have gone on the Roubaix. You're doing far too many miles they say. OK so it's going to cost £xxx for a new set. I can live with that.

Then I get a call to say the chain and cassette have gone on the Litespeed as well : same story and my "mood-ometer" starts to slump. I'll have to live with that.

THEN to put the tin hat on it I get another call to say that both Dura Ace wheels are fecked on the Litespeed as well. The bearings have gone on the front and the rim has gone on the rear under consistent braking pressure. I really resent that and have asked them to refer them back to Madison.

All of this is apparently down to hills and mileage.

SC Stats will be getting an invoice from my solicitors.

In the meantime I am just off to sit in a corner and weep.

Credit where credit's due. ITB thought of all this last May. I've always been keen to give credit where it's most merited, and I think this is just such a case.

gert_lush

....its the only reason I don't do more miles....honest guv :roll:

mudcovered

The Running Man wrote:

THEN to put the tin hat on it I get another call to say that both Dura Ace wheels are fecked on the Litespeed as well. The bearings have gone on the front and the rim has gone on the rear under consistent braking pressure. I really resent that and have asked them to refer them back to Madison.

What sort of mileage have you put on them. The rim wear is fairly forgivable but the bearings is surprising unless they are very high mileage.

Mike

wgwarburton

The Running Man wrote:

...THEN to put the tin hat on it I get another call to say that both Dura Ace wheels are fecked on the Litespeed as well. The bearings have gone on the front and the rim has gone on the rear under consistent braking pressure. I....

Seems to me like you need to do your own fettling... You still have one good wheel and a useable set of spokes, they just arn't assembled in the right way. All you need is a front hub and a new rim, which sounds a whole lot cheaper than a new pair of wheels...

As to the chain & cassette replacements... well, if you choose to do utility riding on a recreational bike, that's what's gonna happen... It's like car-commuting in a Maserati...

That sounds really unsympathetic, doesn't it? Sorry...! :oops:

Cheers,
W.

beverick

That's not Murphy's law it's just down to the fact that things wear out. I was trying to factor in the cost of replacing the drive train on the hybrid (BB, front chainset, chain and rear casette for about £200) into the budget. However, last Friday on the way home the chain jumped a couple of times on the road bike on a hilly section so it appears that it needs changing. I knew that the chain was coming up for replacement but I was hpoing it would last out the summer with light use.

So iit seems that it won't and the net resullt is that I now need to add another £60 to the repair budget for another chain and casette.

The next time someone asks me about how cheap cycling is I'll just hit them.....

Bob

The Running Man

I cannot accept personal liability for any of the above as it is entirely the fault of the SC Stats list placing a non-negotiable obligation upon me.

My only contribution has been doing appx 5000 miles on the wheels and chainset on the Litespeed which is perfectly reasonable and appx 2000 miles on the Roubaix

The one handicap I do have is that I am completely mechanically retarded so the prospect of me engaging in anything resembling serious fettling is as remote as Nick Griffin getting Man of the Year .....

Now how much interest do they charge on overdrafts ......

redddraggon

2000miles should not mean a chain change and definitely not a cassette change.

You are being conned mate.

Rich158

I'm not going to gloat, really I'm not, it's got nothing to do with me, and my middle names not Murphy

Bad luck on the DA wheels, the bearings really should last longer than 5k, that said once the grease get's contaminated it doesn't take long for the bearing surfaces to be completely fecked. That's why I swear by casette bearings, you can just have new ones fitted without writing off the hub/wheel.

always_tyred

Every bike shop will tell you that you have to change a cassette when you change a chain. If you do it yourself, you can try just the chain and see if the gears slip.

A chain might be worn out after 2k miles. A chain testing tool is dirt cheap and will allow you to tell for yourself. I too find it hard to believe that a cassette will have worn out after this length of time, even if the chain has.

2000 miles should not be the end of bearings, but it has been a harsh winter.

As I recall, even DA prebuilt wheels use traditional cup and cone bearings and therefore it ought to be possible to rebuild them without replacing the hubs. If this is indeed possible, and if the bike shop doesn't suggest it to you, then go to another bike shop.

If you have worn out the rims after 2k, then you are doing something wrong and its an expensive lesson. I'm terrible at cleaning my bikes, but even I occasionally clean the brake pads and remove aluminium flakes and other embedded grit.

My guess is that DA wheels will have a wear line on the rim. It may be worth visiting and asking them to show it to you. There is at least some possibility that they are pre-emtively telling you that the wheels will eventually wear out.

itboffin

If it's any consolation my Dolan CX is sounding terminal, even after an almost full strip down at the weekend, i'm beginning to think something frame related is imminent :?

itboffin

Both cleats came loose follow by a visit from the PF, what's my number 3.......?