Originally Posted by
wphamilton
You'll laugh but it's a Denali. It might last forever just replacing cheap parts - I'm just saying that even if I buy a new one every 20,000 miles and maintain it in between I'd never catch up to the cost of a $3000 bike, or even a $1000 bike. I am planning on getting a decent frame, relatively speaking, and outfitting it with whatever components I can find but not because of a cost calculation.
I haven't looked closely at the Denali specifically, but most bikes in that price category are not just heavy, but are poorly built and the tolerances are so bad it's not even possible to adjust them properly even if they are rideable. I would expect headsets, bb's, and hubs to have crummy poorly sealed bearings that don't last nearly as long, and I wouldn't expect your rims to stay true. Likewise, I wouldn't shifters, RD's, or brakes to last as long. FWIW, I expect 25K miles out of a shifter and I just replace the pulleys on my RD's when I wear them out.
Does your bike get much slop weather riding? I'm amazed you're able to put on as many miles as you have.
You won't catch up with a $3K bike, but you don't even need to spend $1K to get a bike that is really quite nice.