Commute bike question

sonnyb
sonnyb Posts: 35
edited May 2012 in Commuting general
Hope this is the right place for this...anyway i have been commuting to work, 6 miles a day for the last five years on a Boardman Pro hybrid. The bike has been basically faultless until the last few hundred miles.
I am no bike mechanic but could tell it was not riding right. After six thousand miles it was loose and wobbling all over the place. The spokes on the rear wheel were all loose etc, amongst other things.
Anyway I took it back to Halfords as I have their three year care plan. After assessment they found it needed the wheels re-building, new chain, new cassette, new front sprocket set, new head set, new pedals and essentially the whole drive train! It cost £166, which I was reasonably happy with, as the bike was originally £700, so I knew all those bits would not be cheap. My question is, do members think this is normal for a bike after this sort of usage?

Thanks for any opinions, views..

Comments

  • MrChuck
    MrChuck Posts: 1,663
    Depends on things like the conditions you ride in and the maintenance you do on it, but it doesn't sound totally mad. I'd personally expect to get more out of the headset, front chainrings and wheels than that though.

    If, say, you don't use mudguards, ride through winter when all the salt is on the road, and never clean the drivetrain then it could well be pretty knackered after a few thousand miles. It''s also true that you often can't change the chain without changing the cassette too, but you can usually get more out of the front chainrings.

    The wheels depends too- if they're cup and cone hubs that have been allowed to run loose then they could need replacing.
  • jockywilson
    jockywilson Posts: 89
    Seems reasonable for a bike that's getting used day-in, day-out in all weathers. You did well to get 6,000 miles out the components, but then maybe you've got a more fastidious cleaning regime than me as I get about half that for cassette's/chains.....
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    new pedals?

    I reckon it seems reasonable, given the amount of use, and 166 for that isn't bad at all. Is it all running as perfectly as before?
    My comments would only be:
    1) amazing that it has stood 5 years of 0 servicing, if you think that's 30 quid a year of maintenance, you have done extremely well.
    2) Given that you are riding so much, why not look into some basic bike maintenance yourself? A few tools and youtube could have saved you the labour on fitting most of it (even basic spoke tensioning is very easy) and bought cheap parts online. As with all things, youtube is your friend.

    In all, yeah, I'd say given the amount of work, you've not done too badly there.
  • sonnyb
    sonnyb Posts: 35
    Thanks all.
    The bike is used day in day out in all weather and has been for five years.
    The bike has full guards, which are really useful in pouring rain.
    I suppose I should do more maintenance, but I do hose it down and clean and oil it after it is ridden through rain and dirt. I am quite fastidious about keeping it clean and it does look good for a 6000 mile, five year old bike, though as I said it was riding terribly recently.
    I am just not good at routine maintenance, which is why I get the Halfords three year plan.
    Everything else is fine now, but the front steering is just wrong. Halfords have not yet fitted the front headset as it is on order. They said the bearings in the original have gone and it does feel awful. The steering is very tight and the front wheel feels like it is drifting and wandering. It is a strange sensation and gives me very little confidence around corners. I am hoping the new headset cures this as it just feels really weird.
  • cyberknight
    cyberknight Posts: 1,238
    Its done very well!
    I reckon on a new cassette + 2 chains a year along with 2 sets of brake pads every year .
    On top of that in the last 10,000 + miles in 3 years i have had out of the bike i have had a
    new headset,bottom bracket ,chain ring and i have just put a new rear mech on as the original developed play so the jockey cage was rubbbing the chain.Had a new rear wheel as the original had a flat spot and the freewheel was getting rough so it worked out better just to get a replacement and strip the old one for spares.

    I bought a tool kit from halfords with most of the tools i need so i do nearly all the jobs myself so all i have to do is get the parts .
    The way i look at it is that i save over £1k in petrol a year so allowing maybe £150 a year for parts +clothing i am still making a saving.
    FCN 3/5/9
  • jonomc4
    jonomc4 Posts: 891
    My commuter is a Sirrus Expert - 5,000 miles and nothing was replaced except brake pads and tyres. Got hit by a car and basically got new chainset, cassette, deraileur, chain for free. I think what you had to replace was way too much - especially things like the headset! But they may have been cheap parts to start with that will wear out very fast.

    I also maintain my bikes a lot and keep them clean
  • Initialised
    Initialised Posts: 3,047
    Yes, my bike was in that sort of state when I got it ridable but not for too long. New BB, wheels, brakes, cranks, rings, pedals, shifters, front mech, jockey wheels, cabling, seat, seatpost and cassette and it's all good. Brake levers, frame, fork, headset, stem, bars and rear mech are still original. Did all of it myself as Cyberknight says saving more than make up for it. Next step is a 9 or 10 speed drive train. Unless I can convince myself to buy a new frame and start again.
    I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.

Categories