hippy wrote:
>
> What he said. If it was JUST a commuter, you'd have cheap slicks
> ($120/yr), blowing a shock just wouldn't happen on a commuter and if it
> did I'd be worried about the quality of the bike, besides RIGID ROCKS!
> Destroying a rear wheel wouldn't happen commuting unless you were unco
> or your commute happened to be off-road and a replacement would
> definately be less than $250 on a COMMUTER
> Killing BB's??? WTF? again, not on a commuter with normal use and if
> you did it would almost certainly take more than a year and would cost
> $50 to replace - DH BB?? Not on a commuter!
> I seriously doubt most commuters would have to do a chain and cassette
> swap each year, let alone two and if you were using commuter-spec parts
> it would've cost ~$100 for each swap.
> Two fork services in a year? Not commuting and remember, rigid rules
>
> Slime tubes - $100? Patches $5/yr.
> Bent saddle rails due to a crash (probably mtb'ing right?) is hardly
> commuter use.
>
> Basically what you're are saying is that the bike is not at all a
> commuter. Almost all the costs you listed are related to recreational
> use. Like I said, $300 for an older mtb, leave the gears on it if you
> want and the yearly maintenance would be almost $0. You should see what
> people use in NL!
> Bike not running smoothly? Replace it with something nice, new and
> red.. because we all want to get to work as fast as possible, right?
>
hippy, i do agree with you largely. could i have spent less through the
year? without a doubt. in fact i could have saved $500 by biting the
bullet and being without a ride for 3 weeks. i could also be on machine
where less could go wrong with it such as a SS. but would i enjoy my
commute as much and stay motivated to keep up the miles? maybe but i'd
suspect not.
you're right some of the repairs (or frequency of maintenance) are due
to recreational riding, but in 13 months i've done a little under 14k
kilometers on the jekyll. i change the chain and cassette around the
time my park chain gauge suggests which i find regardless of mtb or road
bike is around 5-7k kilometers. so i don't see that as a factor of
offroad use. i didn't really off road the bike in the first 1.5k
kilometers and in that time had a BB go funny. ie making horrible
grinding noises. the second one failed after a big weekend in the Blue
Mountains so chalk one up to abuse ;-) the rear shock failed on a
commute in the locked out position. appparently it's a "known issue" in
the Fox Float. The rim failed on a commute but most liekly the damage
occurred off road.
my point is that keeping your bike on the road isn't free. i treat my
road bike with a great deal of respect and yet parts wear (i just spent
about $300 changing the chain and cluster on it after around 7k
kilometers) and another $150 changing the tires (actually i got 4 for
that price).
brett