How much maintenence is really required?
I am a bicycle commuter, with a 30 mile RT commute. My wife has about the same distance commute which she does in her Honda Accord. I spend 30 mins to an hour each week doing misc maintenence on the bike - cleaning and relubing the chain, adjusting cables, tightening down whatever needs it etc. My wife takes her car in for an oil change about once every 3 months. She asked me why it is that the bike needs so much more attention than the car - which got me thinking - would it be possible to design and build a bike which was more like a car in its maintenence needs. How much heavier of a chain and sprockets would I need to use so that I wouldn't need to replace chains for 30,000 miles, rather than the 1500 miles or so that I get now? What about the hubs and bottom brackets? - what technology would be required for them to last a lifetime? I am willing to put up with some extra weight - my commute bike already weights twice what my lightest bike weighs.