Originally Posted by
mynameuk
so i've been commuting for around 9 months now and i'm at around 1000 miles or so on my bike. i ride a $50 chinese hybrid style mountain bike and so far i've snapped 3 pedals, broken both of my grip shifts, worn out the rear brake pads and cable and re-greased all major bearings. other than that its in great shape, no chain problems and all the cranks seem fine and my tires are holding up well. i'm really surprised the amount of abuse that such a cheap bike can handle.
i ride in hot weather with tropical rains a few months of the year and work on my bike often to keep it in good working order.
so i know its difficult to compare but what kind of wear do others get after a good 1000 miles of commuting? can my cheap ass bike compare with a more expensive counterpart?
My break pads and cables last better than that, but the replacements were better than the originals of course. I think I upgraded my platform pedals at the start, they're still fine after about 15000 miles. I'm riding an only marginally more expensive bike than yours. I think that if you do your own basic maintenance, and do it consistently, that the cheap bike can hold up just fine.
Naturally, whatever sucks about it at the start still sucks no matter how well it lasts. If, like me, you can live with it (whatever it is) then it's very viable and practical.