noglider 

OK, so I coined another word. So sue me.

What bike needs least maintenance? You can estimate it by time or miles; doesn't matter.

Conan

My 1973 Scwinn Super Sport I'm sure has a ton of maintenance free miles. just a few new tires and grip tape I think Is all i have done... Oh and did i mention that it got run over by a car and survived, short of the front wheel being bent.

Chrome Molly 

I always mess with stuff that's not broken, I'm not the person to ask.

However, I love the fact I can fix pretty much anything wrong with my bashed together "schwinnleigh" three speed using a big adjustable wrench and a screwdriver.

Howard

The Hercules is running about 3.8 cents per mile. I figure walking is no less than ten cents a mile, if I'm to wear shoes.

It is a high-availability tool.


trestle2_302 by 50N40W, on Flickr

Velognome 

'62 Sports. As long as it's oil drunk, it's happy

auchencrow

'53 Sports. It's very well made.
All of the post-North Korean nuclear apocalypse cockroaches will die first.

Scooper

The Waterford.

No paint that scrapes off and no rust to worry about. I just keep it clean and lubed, and it keeps on truckin'...

Shimagnolo

The one I ride the least.

gerv 

Hard to estimate. I pick at my bikes so much. They get maintenance whether they need it or not.

Flying Merkel

The oldest & simplest.

The 'Murican Iggle:

noglider 

Yeah, it's my 3-speed, too. With the thick tires, it gets fewer flats, too. Come to think of it, I can't remember if I've ever gotten a flat on it.

balindamood

1985 Schwinn Sierra. Rebuilt it in 2007, have not even oiled the chain since. I ride the crap out of it, especially in bad weather.

frantik

Well for me i've only owned one of my bikes longer than a year but my Diamondback Apex has been pretty much maintenance free since I built it. Only had one flat in two years. Worst I had to do was replace a spoke and true the wheel back up but considering I use it 2-3 times a week to get groceries, i'm not complaining.

Kevin stafford

82 Super LeTour, just turned 10,000 miles on the way in to work yesterday, hasn't ever let me down.

paulkal

My wife's 3 speed giant. Except for a tire and some small parts, no problems in 10 years. It does have a full chain case, which helps. I do check it sometimes. for any problems.

gomango 

I like to think all of my bicycles are pretty reliable.

This is the one I yank off the hook and just ride.

Great neighborhood bicycle, my Hercules.

I might treat it to a better saddle this year.

...or I might not.

wahoonc

1972 Raleigh Sports Standard. It has been with me since 1982 and has seen well over 35,000 miles of riding with minimal maintenance. It has been repurposed as a beer bike with enough baskets to haul 3 cases of beer. I also use it as a grocery getter. Currently the only maintenance it sees is having the tires pumped up to pressure prior to throwing a leg over and rolling up the road. It hasn't always gotten the white glove treatment, but has always been ready to roll at a moment's notice.

Aaron

photogravity

Aha! I knew I'd eventually spy the fabled gomango Hercules 3-speed!

jolly_ross

This depends on the frequency and stress-level of the use. The lovely old single speed commuters pictured earlier would be very little trouble at all when bimbling around city streets.

My winter mountain bike is out every week - does a lot of high stress hauling through clay and mud. After one upsetting failure of an XTR (!) rear derailleur I bought a purpose built winter bike. I thought the IGH and 1/8" chain and single drive cog *must* me more reliable and less friggery than a derailleur.

Surprisingly this is wrong - the bike has horizontal dropouts so it's not easy to find a sprung chain tensioner - so the chain requires a lot of tinkering. (It doesn't get it - I largely ignore it and replace it and sprocket every now and then.)

The Shimano sanctioned grease lube process for the IGH is v involved - so I'm switching to oil dipping, this is a wheel-off-hub-out messaround every 6 months.

Maybe a low level derailleur system would have been better. Perhaps a 1x9 or the like.

---

My most reliable bike has been our Tandem - which only sees dry weather road use and has a Rohloff hub.

photogravity

I'm not sure I can say which is the reliablest bike I have, but surely it's something with an IGH which is pretty much the majority of my collection. I ride the Norman Rapide the most.

photogravity

jolly_ross, can you explain the issue with the horizontal dropouts and the chain tensioner? If you have horizontal drops you shouldn't need a tensioner, unless you meant to say vertical dropouts. As far as chain tensioners go, they are readily available and can be found for not too much coin. I have seen folks take old derailleurs and use them as tensioners when they didn't have a purpose built one available.

bradtx

Tom, All of my bikes have been very reliable, discounting punctures. I would like to think partly due to good parts selection, partly due to my mechanical skills, but mostly it's probably just darn good luck.

I have to add a catagory, which is usage. My mountain bike is often beat up on it's outings (and is in need of a good cleaning as I type) and so wins by default.

Brad

jolly_ross

Sure.

They are horizontal dropouts, what I didn't mention is that there is no derailleur hanger mount. So nowhere to hang most chain tensioners. I agree that in theory you just set the chain tension appropriately and all is well, especially if the bike was a commuter. Even though the bike has solid axles (i.e. not qr) I had problems with keeping the tension where I wanted it, partially because of the heavy load put on the drivetrain (I'm no Cavendish, but as I often find myself pedalling as hard as i can manage in the lowest gear the axle eventually crept forward). A cheap set of tugnuts fixed this for a while until they broke - I now have a Surly tugnut which is doing a pretty good job keeping the axle still.

I still have problems with chain stretch though (yes - I know it's the holes getting bigger, not the links stretching). The chain has to be pretty firm as the bike is thrown side to side so much. I have to keep a close eye on the tension - having it as tight as reasonably possible. (set it too tight and it will eat bottom brackets of course)

I found an emount chain tensioner online ( Yess ETR-B ) but they seem to be listed as no longer in stock.

photogravity

^^ jolly_ross, thanks for the explanation. ^^

oddjob2

Bulletproof and low maintenance, Trek 850 Mountain Track: