That's not my experience at all. I kept waiting for my GMC Denali to fall apart so I'd have an excuse to upgrade pieces of it. Eventually after a few thousand miles (6 or 8) I did get some broken spokes and new wheels ... but that was kind of my fault for abusing them and never truing them. The grip shifter also, and that was it. No other parts would fall apart and it wasn't until I got tired of waiting that I finally started improving it. I've still got that boat anchor triple and the DR's somewhere, still in good condition.


It was only in a shop once, to see if they could get the drive-side bottom bracket cup out (they couldn't but I wrestled it out later). As far as I can tell it has no more maintenance headaches than any other, name brand bikes. Other gripes about it, sure, but honestly the "falls apart" assessment probably depends on which bike, and what they've done to it. As people have mentioned, you'd never even see a bike like mine that was absolutely reliable when cared for.