Originally Posted by banerjek
Just 200 bucks maintenance for 45K miles? What are your riding conditions, and what kind of tires do you use? Also, what type of transmission do you have? Cassettes, chains, shifters, bearings, rims, brakes, gloves, helmets, etc all wear out with use/abuse. Even durable components like seats and pedals have a lifespan. Plus, running decent lights costs something because neither the bulbs don't last forever even if they last a long time)
$200 sounds right to me. I've put approx. 18,000 commuting miles on the bike I've been using for the last 3¾ years. (Transmission = Sachs/SRAM 7 speed with coaster) The bike was bought new in Germany for about $135 and I've spent about $100 on lights and a mirror. The saddle was replaced with a Brooks Leather B66 that came on a 1976 Raleigh that cost $142 complete. In the past 3¾ years my maintenance expenses are:
$65 to the LBS for a combination bottom bracket rebuild and respoking of the rear wheel.
One chain $5 at WalMart;
3 Schwalbe 47 x 622 tires at about $30 each and patched but never replaced a tube.
Approx 5 spokes for about $5
about 50 cents worth of epoxy and duct tape to fix a cracked chainguard.
The seat, pedals, LED bulbs, front brake pads have never needed any maintenance. The batteries for the lights are rechargeable AA & AAA's.
Originally Posted by banerjek
I'm with you on both points. However, my 13 year old truck has about 57K miles on it. Haven't paid a dime on it for years, I have cheap liability insurance, and it's fully depreciated. If I take good care of it, I'll be able to get many more years out of it. I try to drive it a couple times a month.
I also don't go overboard with car maintence. My 1995 Taurus has 144,000 miles and still has the original plugs in it and the car has never been tuned up. Still has the original muffler too. One oil change a year and tires every now and then. One brake job, a new radiator and removed an inoperative A/C. That's about it for maintenance in 11 years since new. Its more than paid off since the insurance company paid me off for a totaled car due to hail damage 3 years ago. All I had to do was replace the windshield and Dimples still starts everytime I need it which isn't often since I brought it back from Germany with 137,000 miles 3¾ years ago. The only problem with it is that the 85mph speedometer went on the fritz as soon as I started driving it on the Autobahn 9 years ago.