Why would you want to put junkyard parts on your bike anyway?
Does it shift too nice?
Is the drivetrain too smooth and quiet?
Is the reliability of good components too great?
Do you want chains to snap at inopportune moments?
Perhaps you enjoy slipping gears?
It sounds like an exercise in false economy to me. I'm car-free, so I ride almost every day. Cassettes for my bike run $65. I get thousands of miles out of them, but ride only hundreds of miles in the winter. A winter's worth of wear is nothing.
The other day I heard a co-worker complaining about $65 to fill her gas tank. And it lasts just a few days.
Chains for my bike run $30. Yeah, I plan wearing one out over the winter. In 90 days of winter, that's 33¢ per day. Compared to the price of lunch, I think I can afford it.
I hear MTB components are even cheaper.
If you're in some sort of contest with yourself for how big a cheapskate you can be, you'll save even more if you turn off the furnace and electric.
Last edited by tsl; 09-14-08 at 12:38 PM.