Life Span of a new bike?

SuperCereal

How long would you expect to get out of a new bike?

I purchased a new bike for €250 18 months ago.

It is a hybrid bike, 21 gears, I took it to a bike shop for regualr tune ups and fixing. Spent at least €100 in rerpairs and maintenance.

Took it in for another repair job last week as the pedals need to be re affixed.

Quote I got was €220 to repair the pedals, rebuild or relpace the back wheel and fit a new chain.

Obviously I declined to invest almost the value of a new bike in repairing this one. My question is though, shouldn't a bike last at least 5 years?

Is this reasonable?

I live in Dublin, cycle to work 4-5 times a week, a short journey of 4 KM.

IM0

depends on the weather, and how well looked after it is.

oh strings, how long are they?

Max_Charger

SuperCereal wrote: »

Quote I got was €220 to repair the pedals, rebuild or relpace the back wheel and fit a new chain.

For a bike that's worth €250?!

Don't forget to add lube to that list op.

happytramp

Max_Charger wrote: »

For a bike that's worth €250?!

Don't forget to add lube to that list op.

I guarantee you that whatever is wrong with your bike it should not cost that much to fix.

Lumen

Very cheap bikes are often a false economy.

€250 is a very cheap bike.

AltAccount

You're being ripped off on the repair price tbh

dissed doc

I'd say a year from a €250 bike is pretty okay. At that point, the cheap components will be on their last legs and so the repair cost approaches a new cheap bike price because nothing is really maintainable when it's very cheap.

Cheapest option is to learn to service the bike yourself, ordering parts online. Have a look at e.g., Chain Reaction Cycles and see how much parts would cost.

Most bikes should have a service twice a year IMO. Even at 18 months, that is around 700km on the chain, which if they are cheap components can't be expected to last the 2000-3000 from more normally priced bikes.

All IMO of course.

SuperCereal

Honestly had no idea €250 was a cheap bike, feel a bit better now to know it wasn't just bad luck.

What is the normal average price for a good commuter bike just to go to and from work? €500?

Outkast_IRE

Brand new , i would at least be spending €600+ myself.

Got my bike for €900 two years ago, use it for commuting daily and mountain biking , and it hasnt needed any components replaced or repaired, i did get it serviced last summer and do regular cleaning and maintaince myself.

smacl

SuperCereal wrote: »

Quote I got was €220 to repair the pedals, rebuild or relpace the back wheel and fit a new chain.

Decent new hybrid rear wheel €86
New pedals €11
New 7 speed chain €8

Total shipped price, €105, from Wiggle, and a bit of searching would probably get you better parts cheaper. I'm no bike mechanic, but even I could fit that lot inside 30 minutes. Throwing in new brake pads and cables might bring it up to €120, and maybe two hours works tops. An experienced mechanic would probably do the work far quicker and source the parts cheaper. My advice would be to shop around, maybe start by asking some of the mechanics here. IMHO €220 is taking the proverbial pi$$.

Lumen

SuperCereal wrote: »

What is the normal average price for a good commuter bike just to go to and from work? €500?

Yeah, about that. Depends where you buy it from and when.

I got a singlespeed mountainbike (similar to this) for €300 from Chainreaction a couple of months ago and it hasn't missed a beat, but it was an end of year clearance special. With gears it's close to €500.

Once you start adding on mudguards, rack/panniers, lights and locks the price goes onwards and upwards...

Most bikes (like most of everything) are manufactured in the Far East. Therefore it's not surprising that maintenance costs seem high compared to the purchase price. If bike shops were massive factories employing people on $2/hour servicing would be cheap too.

Nonetheless, the €220 repair quote seems a bit mental.

Darkglasses

What was the make and model of the bike OP?

A 250 euro bike is going to have the absolute basic components unfortunately, not going to last much longer than a year with every day use.

My commuter/banger cost me 350ish, a Giant Escape 3, has survived a year and a half of every day and all weather commuting well so far (just one set of bearings failed, nothing else beyond minor adjustments needed). That said, it's very heavy and not much fun to ride.

Run_to_da_hills

It depends totally how you look after it and whether you wish to upgrade components on it.

I still have my first racer that I bought new in Eltoys OConnel St for £75 in 1977, A Carlton Continental 10 Speed. Considered low budget at the time, steel chain set, wheels etc weighing a ton, There is probably very little of the original bike left of it.

Lumen

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

It depends totally how you look after it and whether you wish to upgrade components on it.

I still have my first racer that I bought new in Eltoys OConnel St for £75 in 1977, A Carlton Continental 10 Speed. Considered low budget at the time, steel chain set, wheels etc weighing a ton, There is probably very little of the original bike left of it.

The average industrial wage in 1977 was about €4k, it's now about €42k.

So that £75 is now getting on for €1k in terms of relative affordability.

Run_to_da_hills

Lumen wrote: »

The average industrial wage in 1977 was about €4k, it's now about €42k.

So that £75 is now getting on for €1k in terms of relative affordability.

I was earning 70 pound a week in 1978. (Three months work got me a 531 frame equipped with Nouvo Record and Dura Ace.) Anything decent you would have to custom build.

The quality of the average bike was ****e, about 80% of bikes sold would have had steel hubs, chainsets and crappy Simplex Prestiege or Huret Components. The only place you would purchase anything of quality would have been in the Rutland or Hardings of Cork.

The top end off the shelf bikes of the day would have been the Dawes Mirage and Viscount Aerospace, they would have been well over 400