On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:14:57 +0200,
M-gineering <
[email protected]> wrote:
> Adam Lea wrote:
>> Took the folding bike in for a service last weekend (just over 6 months
>> since I bought it) and have found out today that it needs a new cassette,
>> chain and the shifter has broken. This is probably going to mean a huge bill
>> at the end of it. For a bike that cost nearly £1200 the parts seem to wear
>> out remarkably quickly. I have done about 100 miles/week on average since I
>> bought it.
>>
>>
> 2500 miles is about par for a modern chain and cluster. Shifters should
> last longer but on a folder accident happen
>
On the Brompton I have two chains I alternate and I ride them until the
chain starts skipping. (Saves having to measure anything)
The first time I only had one chain and it lasted about 1000 miles.
These two chains[1] are still going strong after 3000 miles. (I'm better
about cleaning them with two because I can put the clean one on when
it's needed without having to find time to clean the dirty one there and
then)
[1] Actually it's 3 because I cleaned the chain and hung it up to dry
but forgot to oil it. When I came to put it on the bike it was a solid
bar of rust. Fortunately there was little enough wear at that point that
I could just get another new chain and use that.
What I have "destroyed" in about 4000miles in 3.5 years (actually my
back of envelope calculation says about 6000 miles. I can't remember
when I fitted the speedo but that has 6000km on it)
1. The rear pivot hinge (the one that folds the
back wheel under) - been replaced once already and needs doing again.
2. The rear hub gear - the bearings on one side disintegrated and the
bits ruined the inner compression spring. Then the sliding pin snapped
in half - I don't know if that was also related to the bits of bearing
or whether that was just my hamfistedness. (This is still sitting in my
shed waiting for me to get the parts to reassemble it so that then I've
got a spare rear wheel)
3. The headset. Well it's not destroyed but it's "notched" - it actually
makes the bike very easy to push from the saddle as long as you don't want to
make right turns because the wheel is reluctant to turn to the right
when you lean the bike. This isn't noticable when you are cycling.
4. Rear rim - that was a pothole that I didn't see until the last second
- took me a while to realize what had happened - every time I tried to
use the rear brake the wheel locked up
5. Countless brake blocks - I don't think brake blocks last me more than
about 300 miles
6. Countless front light bulbs - although since going to 3W on the front
(plus a rear light) I've only had one blow.
7. Front standlight - after one of those front light blowing adventures.
8. Rear standlight - ditto.
9. Tyres. I can't remember exactly how many tyres I've bought but it
must be 5 or 6. A couple I've lost to severe cuts. A couple I've worn
out and a couple were getting too many punctures. I'm on schwalbe
marathons now and I've only had once puncture since then.
And the front rim is looking very worn and probably should be replaced
fairly soon.
I only ride on the road and never ride up and down curbs. The roads I
ride on in London (Euston Road, Pentonville Road, City Road)
round the edge of the charging zone are fairly free from potholes and
are in much better condition that the roads when you start heading into
the charging zone.
I do ride fairly fast and I'm assuming that that's why my bike is
suffering. I've tried and I _can't_ go any slower
Tim.
--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.
http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/
