Commuting - What tends to break/wear?

I was curious as to what components I can expect to fail or wear on my commuter. After I adjusted the derailleur, it just hasn't really needed anything. I hear people talking about needing new frames, but outside of a crash is it that common to wear out a frame? It seems a bit far-fetched to me, but I ride a steel bike so maybe that's it. Do shift components go out? Brakes? Obviously the pads do. Tires wear, eventually--but it takes a good long time it seems. I could maybe cables need replacement but honestly after they're worn in it would seem that they don't tend to wear or stretch significantly. The chain I can see needing replacement, obviously. A lot of you seem to wear out or break the rear cassette; is that common?

it all wears out.... just at different times... just wait and see.

Old, corroded cables certainly can break. The real issue with replacing them frequently, though, is that they cease to operate smoothly.

Shifters/brifters most definitely wear out eventually, as do derailers. Brake springs can corrode over time. Chainring and cog teeth wear down over the miles, yes. Tyres and tubes. The braking surface on rims is subject to wear. Bearing surfaces wear down over time. Grease breaks down.

Frames sometimes break. If it's nice steel, repair may be preferable to replacement, though.

I've never broken a cassette. Brake pads once or twice a year, and the same for tires.

I've found commuting to be hardest on cables, chains, and cassettes. Oh, and tires of course. But these are all relatively cheap and easy (you can learn to do it yourself--I did).

Wear items include:
Chains, cassettes, chainrings, cables, brake pads, brake surfaces tires and tubes. Expect to periodically replace them depending on conditions and maintenance. Stay on top of that and expect a reasonably long life from the rest. Ig nore them at your peril.

Re cables: I tend to be a sweaty guy and it seems like it was running down and into the rear brake cable housing. I was noticing some rust on the cable and I just shot a bunch of WD40 and ignored it for a couple of more months. Then it started to get grabby so I pulled hard on the brake lever to expose more cable for another shot of WD40 when it just snapped. Thank goodness that happened in my driveway and not in traffic.

Check your cables!

WD40 is a degreaser! You should use oil to clean and preserve the exposedmetal parts, and grease on the inner parts. I like to use the M-Pro cleaners on my bike, because they've worked extremely well on my iron. They're expensive but a very light dose of CLP (Clean/Lube/Protect) is enough to keep rust at bay until the next cleanup and inspection.

Ride a fixie and it'll be just your chain...

After about 3000 km of commuting on my current bike. I've gone through a set of front and rear pads (disk brakes), this happend at about 2200 km. I changed the cables when I did my pads. I've also rotated my rear and front tires as the rear has worn pretty thin. Did this at about 2000 km, I think new tires will be in order in about a year or another 1000 km. Everything else seems ok for now.

I've put 2100 miles on my touring bike since March. Nothing has needed replacing (yet. knock on wood).
I lost one bar end cap and my bar tape is looking a tad tattered.
Anyhow, I will see how things go when I take it in for a tune up sometime before fall.
I'm guessing I will need brake pads soon.

Old, corroded cables certainly can break. The real issue with replacing them frequently, though, is that they cease to operate smoothly.

I'm not sure I see the logic in this. Replacing them more frequently than neccessary may be wasteful, but I don't see how that could in anyway affect the performance of the components the cable is connected to.....

I'm not sure I see the logic in this. Replacing them more frequently than neccessary may be wasteful, but I don't see how that could in anyway affect the performance of the components the cable is connected to.....
New cables tend to stretch, thus you will need to adjust derliures more frequently.

^^I think he meant that old cables cease to operate smoothly due to grit and corrosion of the cables and housing. Fresh cables will result in smoother shifting and better brake control as well as lower the chance of an untimely broken cable.

Cables, housing, etc. is very overpriced at an lbs, b/c it takes labor to dispense. Online sets are pretty cheap.

After about 3000 km of commuting on my current bike. I've gone through a set of front and rear pads (disk brakes), this happend at about 2200 km. I changed the cables when I did my pads. I've also rotated my rear and front tires as the rear has worn pretty thin. Did this at about 2000 km, I think new tires will be in order in about a year or another 1000 km. Everything else seems ok for now.

Not trying to be the Commuting forum police, but given that a front flat is way worse than a rear flat, rotating your tires is not a good idea. If the rear wears out well before the front, just replace it, or swap the front to the rear and put the new tire up front.

Not trying to be the Commuting forum police, but given that a front flat is way worse than a rear flat, rotating your tires is not a good idea. If the rear wears out well before the front, just replace it, or swap the front to the rear and put the new tire up front.
+1

NEVER rotate tires!!! Replace the worn out rear tire by moving the less worn front tire to the rear and putting a new tire on the front.


The only things I've had to replace on my "new" commuter (it replaced my old one in December 2004) were brake pads and a tire that got a huge cut in it. The other things I've replaced were a personal choice or cosmetic, like yellow handlebar tape to replace the ugly black tape that came on the bike, and stainless steel screws for the bottle cage, etc.

Adjustments are another story. There will always be something that needs a slight adjustment.

Newbie question here but, why is rotating tires so bad?

I have no idea how many miles I put on the bike, but I've replaced the rear tire and wheel, the brake pads a couple of times, and when I ignored my chain for too long, it broke, the cogs and chainrings were worn, the front derailleur got loose, so those needed replacement. I also recently replaced the bottom bracket and rear derailleur.

Newbie question here but, why is rotating tires so bad?

Because you steer with the front tire, when it goes flat you lose a lot of control. If the flat happens on a fast downhill, it's going to be scary trying to stop. Not that you can't get a front flat on a new tire but by keeping a fresh tire up front you mitigate some of the risk. Placing a very worn rear tire on the front greatly increases your chances of getting a front flat and is a bad idea as such.

My greatest single expense is bike shorts. They wear out in a year, the material around the padding goes all transparent like pantyhose. I calculated it costs me US$0.10 per hour to wear bike shorts.

I seen to have been wearing through a lot of saddles lately. Odd.

Maybe I need to stand on the pedals more.

1. Tires (once a year ~ 3000 miles)
2. Lights (I can never find lights I love and once in a while they bounce off in NYC traffic)
3. shorts (tend to start chaffing in the most uncomfortable places.)

Way bottom of the list-
Helmet- just bought a new helpmet after about 10 years.

3000 miles? You must have some rough roads.
I have 2100 miles on mine and they only look slightly worn.

NYC streets and I wear them to the core. I got a "Holy Cr@p!!" from the bike shop personnel when I brought them in. Riding Armadillos.

Because you steer with the front tire, when it goes flat you lose a lot of control. If the flat happens on a fast downhill, it's going to be scary trying to stop. Not that you can't get a front flat on a new tire but by keeping a fresh tire up front you mitigate some of the risk. Placing a very worn rear tire on the front greatly increases your chances of getting a front flat and is a bad idea as such.

pus you reartire gets a nice flat spot on the contact patch after a while. if you flip it to the front it feels REAL WIERD cornering. i thought i was a good monet saving idea but after trying it out i agreee with what everyone else said.

one expensive part foir me is rear rims... the rims themselves are not so expensive but getting a wheel rebuilt can be a little pricey if your rims wear out more than once a year. so far my girlfriends dtswiss rims are looking almost fried after only 6 months; but usually my rims last at least a year. BIKING IN THE RAIN/SLOP EATS RIMS AND PADS.

NYC streets and I wear them to the core. I got a "Holy Cr@p!!" from the bike shop personnel when I brought them in. Riding Armadillos.

..and I say "HOLY CRAP Batman!"

High wear items: Brake pads and tires.

Medium wear items: chain, chainrings, rear gear cassette, freewheel, or cog, handle bar grips or tape.

Low wear items: cables and cable housings, rims, bearings (wheel hubs and BB).

Some people clean and lube the cables and housings. New ones are cheap enough. I just toss them and install new ones when the old ones stop moving smoothly.

Saddles can wear out if left exposed to the sun most days.

The rest of the bike pretty much should last forever.

Oh, and blinkies. I probably lose or break 2 or 3 every year.