sick to DEATH of things going wrong

fletch

Does anybody else have the troubles I do commuting?

Literally every 2-3 days(exaggerating due to anger at the moment), something breaks,snaps,explodes,tears,shreds,bursts,buckles,fails,falls off. At this stage public transport is looking like an option.

Today the latest in a string of failures, my lower bracket decided to give up the ghost....only been cycling about 6-7 months! At this stage it's getting expensive paying for repairs!

How does everyone else cope. I dread getting on the bike now wondering what else could possibly go wrong!!!

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Gavin

What sort of bike have you got ? It sounds like perhaps a cheap bicycle.

Gavin

Hmm. I see you have an FCR1. That should be reliable enough.

Thing do go alright, brake pads wear out and BBs eventually get it. But you shouldn't have to be changing stuff so regularly.

Maybe you are a rough rider, do you treat your bike with love and attention ? Do you maintain the chain?

fletch

Gavin wrote: »

What sort of bike have you got ? It sounds like perhaps a cheap bicycle.

Its a Giant FCR1, I wouldn't really class it as cheap??

fletch

Again, wouldn't say I'm a rough rider. Spend most of my time swerving to avoid potholes, oil the chain regularly enough, only last week took the whole chain off and degreased it. Its getting depressing, nearly every Saturday mornin now is spent fixing something.

Trojan

Get a cheap fixie (Plug/Bowery etc) - maintenance should be fairly cheap (non-existant?) on that.

Civilian_Target

That's odd, maybe get it properly serviced by the people you bought it from and explain what's wrong.

Personally, I have to top up the air and clean the chain every 3 weeks on my bike. Generally something gets close to expiring about every 3 months and either me or the bike shop give it a full service.

fletch

How long will the bottom bracket last, it started to click yesterday?

Trojan

What are you doing on this bike? Are you a big fella? Is the road around your area pretty bad?

I'm heavy enough - 110kg - and quite hard on my bikes (nor do I do enough maintenance either) but I've not had these kind of problems with any of them.

Worst case scenario: get a downhill bike

fletch

Just commuting in and out of the city centre. 26km round trip each day so not long a trip.
I'm 65kg so shouldn't be putting too much strain on the bike.
Had the front deraillieur seize on me, bought a new one, one month later the new one seized too (although I was able to take the new one apart and remove all the grit)
My old Raleigh Oregon I bought for £129.99 didn't give half the trouble (granted I didn't do half the milage on it either), I just expected better from an expensive(relatively) bike.

Trojan

Hmmmm.

Were you a really nasty fecker in your previous life?

rob1891

External bearings? These would probably have a 6 month lifetime with daily all weather use. They are too exposed and poorly sealed.

Replacements can be had for €15 and up, get used to replacing them. Another nice money spinner shimano et al. have thought up. Ride the set you've got into the ground get used to ignoring random clicks until something falls off :-)

Rob

blorg

Trojan wrote: »

Get a cheap fixie (Plug/Bowery etc) - maintenance should be fairly cheap (non-existant?) on that.

To be honest I wouldn't think that there is necessarily less maintenance (in terms of things potentially breaking) on a fixie but you don't need to pay as much attention to keeping the drivetrain immaculate- that's the biggest benefit, it will go longer without cleaning. Your bottom bracket could go just as easily (and indeed mine did.) Definitely a great choice for a winter bike though.

fletch

rob1891 wrote: »

External bearings? These would probably have a 6 month lifetime with daily all weather use. They are too exposed and poorly sealed.

Replacements can be had for €15 and up, get used to replacing them. Another nice money spinner shimano et al. have thought up. Ride the set you've got into the ground get used to ignoring random clicks until something falls off :-)

Rob

Thanks for the advice but I think I will go insane. I'm the type of person that takes my car apart to find one tiny little rattle. Its even worse on the bike, can't bare any clicks or sounds.

To be honest all the Shimano bits on the bike seem crap to me. Tried replacing the brake pads, of course the allen key just rang the bolt meaning I had to replace the shoes as well, same story with the first deraillieur that I tried to fix, the allen key just spun in that bolt too.

petethedrummer

Is your bike shop mechanic actually any good? I get mine serviced in wheelworx. One time I brought it in to get the gears adjusted and they asked 'did you try to adjust these yourself?' I hadn't but a few weeks previously I had brought it to another bike mechanic who was obviously no good.

blorg

fletch wrote: »

To be honest all the Shimano bits on the bike seem crap to me. Tried replacing the brake pads, of course the allen key just rang the bolt meaning I had to replace the shoes as well, same story with the first deraillieur that I tried to fix, the allen key just spun in that bolt too.

In fairness, in that case you are probably doing something wrong, I've never had that sort of problem replacing (Shimano) brake pads or adjusting a derailleur. Were the bolts corroded or something?

fletch

petethedrummer wrote: »

Is your bike shop mechanic actually any good? I get mine serviced in wheelworx.

I try to do everything myself to be honest unless I'm stuck in town

blorg wrote: »

In fairness, in that case you are probably doing something wrong, I've never had that sort of problem replacing (Shimano) brake pads or adjusting a derailleur. Were the bolts corroded or something?

They didn't seem corroded. Was using decent tools too(this). Cleaned out the bolt with WD40 before attempting to turn it

Explosive_Cornflake

Do you leave your bike outside at night?
Have you the right size allen key? I think Shimano is usually 6mm for most bits.

fletch

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Do you leave your bike outside at night?
Have you the right size allen key? I think Shimano is usually 6mm for most bits.

Nope in the shed at night and underground carpark during the day.

Húrin

fletch wrote: »

Nope in the shed at night and underground carpark during the day.

I would advise against leaving it in an underground carpark. Those places are very easy to steal a bike from, because nobody is watching, except perhaps CCTV. Leave it on the street in full public view, it is less likely to be robbed.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Slightly OT but what's the big advantage of these single piece un-maintainable bottom brackets? They seem to me to be just a money spinner. They don't last and just have to be thrown out when something goes wrong.

I have an old cup & cone bb which has never given me trouble. I can open it up, clean it, replace bearings if needs be. It runs perfectly smoothly.

blorg

Sean_K wrote: »

Slightly OT but what's the big advantage of these single piece un-maintainable bottom brackets? They seem to me to be just a money spinner. They don't last and just have to be thrown out when something goes wrong.

I think they are fine. I think the sealing from the weather is a key advantage. The good ones do last and frankly they aren't exactly expensive anyway.

fletch

Húrin wrote: »

I would advise against leaving it in an underground carpark. Those places are very easy to steal a bike from, because nobody is watching, except perhaps CCTV. Leave it on the street in full public view, it is less likely to be robbed.

Thanks for the tip but it's a work underground and very secure. Most people don't even lock their bikes.

rob1891

Sean_K wrote: »

Slightly OT but what's the big advantage of these single piece un-maintainable bottom brackets? They seem to me to be just a money spinner. They don't last and just have to be thrown out when something goes wrong.

I have an old cup & cone bb which has never given me trouble. I can open it up, clean it, replace bearings if needs be. It runs perfectly smoothly.

Square taper was OK but people bend and crack the axles, or strip the tapers on them on occasion. MTBs specifically. This necessitated a change to a larger diameter axle.

Octalink and ISIS came and they were stiff and 'efficient' but because of the larger diameter of the axle, the bearings were now too small (they had still to fit in the standard BB shell). Bearings died at an alarming rate. SKF have fixed this but about 5 years too late and 200g too heavy, everyone hates ISIS already. Octalink was patented into obscurity, dunno if its bearings sucked also ....

So Hollowtech II came in, very wide diameter, stiff, 'efficient' axle. Bearings now outside the BB shell could be any size you like, so should in theory be durable. Turns out they are overly exposed to the elements and turn to dust with regularity. (Blorg will find this out when he starts riding his MTB weekly :-P). Q-factor also suffered. Obree wept.

Next up, BB30. A much larger BB shell where you can fit everything internally in the frame, no more external BB, but big bearings and axles. 1 more reason to buy that 2009 frame/crankset. Why couldn't they think up this design instead of taking us through two iterations of crap?

Halfrauds

fletch wrote: »

Just commuting in and out of the city centre. 26km round trip each day so not long a trip.
I'm 65kg so shouldn't be putting too much strain on the bike.
Had the front deraillieur seize on me, bought a new one, one month later the new one seized too (although I was able to take the new one apart and remove all the grit)
My old Raleigh Oregon I bought for £129.99 didn't give half the trouble (granted I didn't do half the milage on it either), I just expected better from an expensive(relatively) bike.

if youve seized 2 front mechs, you do not look after your bike.

this is why it is breaking. bring it to a bike mechanic and get the thing stripped, rebuilt and replace any worn parts, that way its in top nick. then get a basic service every month.;)

blorg

I've used square taper, Truvativ GXP and Hollowtech II and had no problems with any of them on the road, over tens of thousands of km including very bad weather. No way do road external BB cups need replacing every 6 months.

My MTB is Hollowtech II, it hasn't got enough use yet to make a judgement. I acknowledge MTB is a lot more mucky.

In fact the only BBs I ever did have trouble with were cheap cup and cone ones over a decade ago, they went wobbly. Problem was solved replacing with a cartridge BB

BostonB

Sounds like you've just got a lemon bike.

You need a new different and new Karma.

Wez

I've heard of people living nearer to the sea having problems with parts bonding, turning out to be slight rust. That couldn't be part of the problem, no?

WD40 would help loosen anything (once you leave it soak in long enough), or maybe not the perfect size allen keys?

I find, the key is to find the problems before parts break, that way you either can repair without replacing part, and you will more than likely know when things are gonna break!

I check over my bike every couple days to make sure nothing's about to fall off, being a fixie conversion, it's simple, but the conversion makes it complicated (chainline etc.).

It's the fine tuning that I always find awkward! E.g. I can build my back wheel, get it straight, round and tight, but it's the last few mm's of chainline that are doing my head in!

humbert

Is there any chance it could be a lot of imperfect diy tweaking that's causing problems?

Trojan

Bit of threadsurrection going on here. This is from months ago lads. I don't think the OP has updated us on the situ.

kona

Trojan wrote: »

Bit of threadsurrection going on here. This is from months ago lads. I don't think the OP has updated us on the situ.

Probably burned the yoke:D Or even worse took the bus:eek:

mloc123

Pretty sure he did the w100 on it last week so I presume it held up since

fletch

lol yeh got it all sorted....turned out to be a pedal was cracked..not the bottom bracket.
Only a puncture on the W100, no mechanical failures....
Oh and mloc123, I read you lost 5 stone, fair dues!

thebouldwhacker

I had an entry level trek mtb, just retired to my brother, 3 years old and not one problem with it... except when I'd crash now and again... no cables, BB, gearing issues clean as a whistle, did many many miles both on and off road.

I think sometimes bikes are just born bad, I had a road bike years ago and the thing nearly killed me a number of times, breaking a chain while a bus was bearing down on me, woeful gearing issues, I think the saddle bracket came lose one day and nearly broke my ass when it retracted to the lowest position etc etc...:mad:
Maybe you need a bit of this to feel and be one with the bike...



Crapbags... just saw the date post.... ah well glad it turned out well for you :-)