Our throw away society

shindig

We live in a throw away society and that really irks me. Latest example : I've damaged the cable on my Cateye vela 7. I managed to trap the cable in-between the stem and handlebars when fitting a new stem last year. Cable broke today. It's cheaper to buy a new complete computer @ £13.95 than a heavy duty fitting fitting kit @£13.99. No incentive to re-use anything nowadays.

I remember when I used to be abel to repair TV's at component level and a TV could last 10 years or more. Now-a-days if your TV goes faulty you have to buy a new one.

We have much better products and pricing now, but at what cost ...

cooldad

I remember when a tool broke, you just went out, found another rock and chipped it to shape.

shindig

lol. I would still rather be out riding than chipping away at new tools though...

HebdenBiker

My Nexus 7 tablet is knackered and out of warranty. The parts I need to fix it (new USB socket/jack out board plus new battery) come to half the cost of the tablet. Which makes it uneconomical, given the chance that my home repairs might not succeed, and I may do further damage breaking into the thing, when it's not designed to be opened.

Throwaway society indeed.

shindig

Meanwhile back in Gotham City... I am still running 9 speed from 2002 and 10 year old hope Mono M4's. Both are on my newly built Santa Cruz along with my 2012 Fox Float RLC 140's. I wonder if the fox's will last 10 years .

Kowalski675

shindig wrote:

I managed to trap the cable in-between the stem and handlebars when fitting a new stem last year. Cable broke today. It's cheaper to buy a new complete computer @ £13.95 than a heavy duty fitting fitting kit @£13.99.

Can't you just cut it, solder in a new piece of wire and shrink wrap the joint?

shindig

Tried that and the wired don't solder for some strange reason.

rockmonkeysc

shindig wrote:

Tried that and the wired don't solder for some strange reason.

You didn't do it right?

poah

shindig wrote:

I wonder if the fox's will last 10 years .

no they will be fucked in 6 months lol :twisted:

paul.skibum

I have a small dent in a fork stantion, forks work ok but need frequent servicing - new fork stantion costs more than the fork.

I drive a 300 quid car that pretty much everyone I know thinks should be consigned to the scrap heap and sadly due to the cost to keep it running it will be next tuesday.

monkimark

I had to change a tyre on a ride last week, my mate was astounded to see a patch on the spare tube before I put it on. He's never repaired a tyre - he just swaps tubes and bins the old one.

As a skinflint northerner, I repair everything I can (bike, clothes, house) rather than buying new. I always keep old broken stuff in case the parts can be used later to canabalise another broken thing. It does mean I have a drawer full of rusty old crap sitting in the shed but it's well on its way to becoming a new bike to take a baby seat.

The Rookie

I repaired all four thorn holes in my front tube from last weeks ride!

Modern miniaturisation makes small repairs either impossible or much harder.