Originally Posted by puddin' legs

I'll qualify this. It's an issue of bearings and cups/cones, not something like a crank arm or brake calipers. Those will last decades. It's the maintainance of bearings and related that takes time if your a mechanic trying to service a bunch of bikes in a very short time and why teams use top end stuff. Notice the King headsets on Discovery bikes? Why? They move AND last forever, so they're worth their weight in time NOT spend futzing with. 105 and Ultegra shifters have improved a lot compared to the first generation STI for these two groups. The old right hand shifter indeed wore out at about 12,000 miles if not sooner. What I don't get is that the latest stuff all comes with highly desposible and expensive cog sets. Sometimes the 10 spd more is less.

About the 25,000 miles...I have no doubt that my current road bike is way over that. 8spd D/A, all cups/cones, etc...have been replace a couple of times. The remaining original bits: crank (not the rings), brake calipers, STI levers, seat post, re-built hubs, front derailleur, rear derailleur (not the pulley wheels)...what else? Guess that's about it. At least a couple handfuls of crashes that broke parts in me but not the bike other than tacoed wheels.