Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
It's odd, I have a $300 bike with 14000 miles on it, and I've never had it down for repair. There's nothing on a bike that's all that hard to fix. The worst was when I stripped the pedal threads and had to go into town and buy a new crank. But even then, it was about 10 minutes to put the new crank on. Building the new wheel on the back by taking the old one apart first, I did that over the weekend so as not to risk not having a bike the next day.
I do have a car to fall back on, but I never have. I do drive it 4 or 5 times a year to work, if I have to pick up something very large or heavy near work, but never because my bike isn't working.
My wife does have a bike that I guess I could ride if it came down to it; I'd just have to move some lights over if needed, and toss my stuff in a backpack instead of panniers, and ride with platforms. And move the seat up quite a ways, but apart from that, it'd be fine.
totally agree with you. every time i visit a bike shop, i see customers bringing bikes to have a tune-up costing upward 200 bucks. a bike is suppose to be low maintenance. i have older bikes with very little, if any maintenance, beside lubing the chain once a month.
i also don't get the idea of having a chain changed every year? what kind of chain needed annual replacement? it seems like a lot of shops want our business by playing the "you want the best, right?" card.