Hi,
I have a few questions regarding a commuting bike for long distances.
I would like to build a bike for long distance commuting and long hours on the bike,
My priorities are not on speed and flashy looks any more( I am 37 getting old) However I am very interested in the durability of components. Does any one have inside information regarding the longest lasting components. Basically I will take a nice steel frame with a rigid fork (kona or kelly) and build it up with mountain bike parts and thin tires.My question is are xtr hubs and cranks going to be more durable than Lx or xt. Which cranks and hubs will last the longest and be the most reliable? DO I really need chris King Hubs and carbon cranks or will the lower end cranks hold up - do the higher priced parts really last longer?
I would appreciate any feedback,
Thanks

In terms of commuting longevity, it's hard to say. My rear wheel is off my road bike circa 1996, and has thousands of km on it. I think I repacked the bearings once in 2001. I've had a couple of sealed cartridge bearing hubs fail on other bikes the didn't see the horrors of a daily commute and cost a lot more money. Serviceability is key here, I think. It will also depend on where you live. A bike in SoCal will last for a lot longer than a bike ridden in a snowy place where they salt the roads.

I recommend going with cheaper components, such as your LX or even Deore level stuff. Commuting is like the death of 1000 cuts, as opposed to the guillotine. Chris King stuff is beautiful and I'd love to have it on my bikes, but for the price of a hubset and headset I can buy two entire commuter bikes that will last for years with regular maintenance. YMMV...

I would recommend a cyclocross or touring bike based on load handling capability and versatility. If you're a heavy guy, consider a mtn bike with slicks for nice weather and studs/knobbies for foul weather.

I never scoff at old school, retrogrouchy components, and dumpstered and yard sale bikes are great sources for durable parts. Even walmart specials have a few tough, usable components on them.
Good old steel frames and forks are bulletproof. Friction shifters fare far better on crank derailers than indexed, IMHO, you can trim out chaingrind on the fly. Oldschool cotterless cranks use easily serviced bearings, and last far longer than cartrige BBs.
And so on. The lightest and the newest isn't always the greatest, and the blasts from the past were built to last.

First of all, 37 is young so if you're in shape you can still enjoy nice equipment and smoke plenty of active twenty somethings for years to come.

Once you get to a certain point, more money doesn't really buy more durability -- rather it pays for less weight or styling. I absolutely would not bother with carbon anything on a commuter bike that's going to be abused year round in slop. Some components are inherently tough, so I can't see any point to expensive cranks on a commuter.

What kills commuting bikes is all the grime and dirt in combination with water -- it basically acts like grinding paste that can and will eat through just about rims, tranny components, and just about everything else where there is contact.

When you say you plan on putting on thin tires, I hope you just mean slicks. Tires are no place to go lightweight on a commuter. Unless your path is really clean, heavy tires that are resistant to glass cuts are an absolute must.

As pinkrobe says, there's something to be said for just buying cheaper stuff and replacing it more often.

Nasty weather is probably the single greatest contributor to wear. In ideal weather, nice parts will probably do a little better in the long run, but when you factor in abuse it doesn't make sense financially to spring for top-shelf stuff - especially if you have to leave the bike locked outside and/or unattended.

Like 2wheeledsoul and pinkrobe said, maintaining the bike is key. Chasing bearings around is not my idea of fun yet, but it seems like every year I get more involved in working on my bikes. From that perspective I prefer older stuff since it's less fussy and cheaper to replace. With ebay, craigslist, etc... it's easier than ever to find parts to keep an old bike running.

Longevity of your primary bike = a beater bike for bad weather.

Long-term durability of bike components has more to do with how well they are protected from the elements than with the components themselves. Fenders and a full or partial chaincase have a big effect. Hub gears are great. Anything that keeps the mechanical parts from being exposed to grit and grime is your friend. If you ride with rim brakes in the winter on sanded roads, you will find that your rims will last about one winter. That is a strong argument for disk or drum brakes.

Bottom line: unless you protect your components they will wear rapidly, whether cheap or expensive. Given that the expensive parts are often expensive because they are lighter, it is even possible that cheap ones would be beter for your application.

Paul

I will try and answer your question as no one else has, they have only given you their opinion as to what you should do and use (i.e. buy a cheap bike for commuting). I know where you're coming from, if you have the money to spend you want to spend wisely on the best stuff for the job.

Cranks: I have used both XT and the newer LX Holllowtech and they both seem to hold up well if kept clean, I think the LX has worn beter than the XT. I would not bother with the XTR, this is much better suited to off road racing where it is unbeatable.

Hubs: The key here is the sealing of the bearings. The last hubs I got for my commuter were LX and as soon as I got them I took the seals off and loaded them with grease, this has helped them stay smooth and keep out a lot of crap. Whatever you do never buy Deore hubs as they are useless. Being a Brit I would recommend Hope as I have a lot of freinds who have used these for years without problem. As for the American manufacturers I could only recommend Chris King from my own knowledge of hubs.

My one bit of advice to you whatever you decide is spend some cash each pay day and keep stocked up with cleaner and lube.

Happy commuting.

I have the older Shimano drivetrains and they work great. Heavier than the latest Hollwtech 2, but they last alot longer. Don't ask why, but they seem to make those new chainrings out of cheese or something. Friction shifters are good. LX level is also good. XTR might be awesome, but after some miles in grit, mud, and dirt, they all feel the same anyway.

Btw, I am 35 and am thinking the same way as you do.

My new commuting/touring bike will be a steel frame with rigid fork. Avid mechanical discs (after what the last winter did to my brake pads and rims, I swore that discs are the only way to go). LX-level drivetrain. LX or XT hubs (will check out price difference). 36-h. My front hub will be a SON Schmidts dynamo-hub - disc-able. I WISH I could afford a Rohloff, or a Shimano Premium Nexus drivetrain. I will save lots on cassettes and chains! Might still go this way.....

If durability is your goal, you should take a look at the Rohloff rear hub. I believe servicing the internal parts requires manufacturer's help, but you will ride a very long way before it comes to that. As mentioned, it'll be easier on your chain too, and your rear wheel will not be dished as with "normal" deraillure drivetrain.

--J

I agree with the lower level component bit. While the above quote seems to put Deore components at a lower status they still recommend it. I certainly do. I commute on a Bruce Gordon Basic Loaded Touring (BLY) bike which is part Deore. In over 7000 miles in the last year, half commuting, The only component to fail (sort of) was a Nitto handlebar that bent after some potholes and off-roading. Gordon replaced the handlebar at his cost. Try his site www.bgcycles.com and look at the component lists for his bikes. The high end Rock-and-Road has the full Deore group. His idea of bike design is for fully-loaded touring in places where you might not see a bike shop for a long time.

Many long distance commuters riding into London (UK) have switched to riding fixed. There aren't many hills and it is really annoying to wear out two sprockets on a cassette over the winter. So why bother with all the complexity and expense of gears? Choose a gear that matches your optimum cadence with your normal cruising speed (normally 67-72 inches) and you won't go far wrong.

word!

you can also do achieve almost this level of simplicity much less masochistically if your so inclined by making a regular old singlespeed with only one glorious gear, but the ability to coast.

i currently rock both. freeewheel and fenders for rainy days, and fixed minimal seup for nice days. i am quite convinced i could ride my fixie around the world and never need anything but tires (and maybe some smaller gears for mountains)....

Another vote for fixed. When my bike was a 8 speed, I was always fiddling with adjustments, but of course the crappy grip shifters were pretty bad. Thumbies would've been better in my case. But I digress. I wore out the casette and bought a new one and then promptly messed up on the adjustment of the derailer and now I have a wheel that is missing spokes and needs a rebuild. So for me fixed gear means alot less maintenence. I can ride it in any weather and as long as my chain tension is set correctly, I have nothing to worry about. My town is pretty flat though, compared to some, so YMMV. For commuting though, I can't think of a more durable setup.

I also built my fixed gear out of an old rock hopper from the late 80's. Steel is real, 26" wheels mean bomb proof durability, even in 32 spokes, and I can run everything from 1.25" slicks to 2.125 knobbies (if I take the fenders off). It is very versatile. See pix at https://rykoala.org/ryko/fixedgear.html, although they're a little outdated. I've since added freddy fenders and wrapped the ugly bar-ends in inner tube.

I've used a number of different levels of parts over the years, and generally speaking, more expensive parts last considerably longer. Just avoid anything that is billed as racer-only, things that look like they have placed fashion over function, and anything massively lighter than similarly-priced parts.

The XT parts I have just keep working longer than the deore stuff. Ditto the king headset, costs 3X as much as other headsets but lasts 5X as long, maybe more. Disc brake wheels are also lasting me massively longer than the rim brakes that kept thinning the sidewalls.

That said, obviously if there is considerable risk of theft, expensive parts are not really an option... that might even get me onto a recycled fixie, who knows.

One speed is no good for distance commuters. Sure, you might be riding 70gi 90% of the time, but what about if you have a strong headwind? If your one way commute takes an hour and you get a 10mph headwind with 15-20mph gusts (fairly common), you won't have much fun if you're stuck in 70gi. Boost that wind to 20+mph with gusts over 30 (uncommon, but it happens now and then) and the ride is outright torture. Conversely, you might want 100gi if you can pick up a strong tailwind or just want to sprint.

If you're paranoid about reliability on shifters, just switch to bar end or downtube. Even if the cable breaks (your fault for not noticing it was about to go), you can always break the chain, take the derailleur out of the picture, and set it on your favorite gear so you can ride in at normal speed.

They're made out of meat.
But seriously, Great Minds Think Alike.

The conversation with my LBS guy went like this:

DB: I need a new rear derailleur, what do you recommend?
LBS: 9 speed?
DB: yes
LBS: all weather or sunny day...use the bike for group rides?
DB: all weather, yes use for group rides.
LBS: Forget XTR, won't last a winter...Deore will frustrate you on unloaded group rides, I'd go LX or XT...Essentially the same except for weight and cost...Go with LX. If just commuting I'd go Deore.
DB: ok.

LX stuff works great with cleaning once bi-weekly. I know you meant hubs, but I'd guess the conversation would have been similar...(except that I have 130 mm dropouts, not 135).

I switched to a single speed cross bike for commuting 4 years ago and wouldn't switch back. I even ride it on some of the club rides I go on with it geared cousins. It is so much easier and cheaper to maintain that my geared bikes and if you choose the right gearing hills, wind and distance aren't an issue. My Chicago commute was 15 miles each way, sometimes 25-30 if I was running errands. That said it isn't for everyone.

elad,
I wouldn't recommend XTR on a commuter, as posted earlier it is better suited to off road racing (those titanium cogs would be shredded on a commuter). LX or XT are essentially the same except for weight and cosmetics and will work fine for years if you maintain your bike. My wife's commuter has a mix of ten year old LX and XT stuff off my old bikes and it works great. If you live in a really wet environment I would recommend cartridge bearings for hubs and headsets, or just pack the grease into conventional bearings. It seems like all the Shimano hubs and headsets I have ever installed are light on the grease, so I always take them apart and re-pack them.

banerjek,
Switching to ss or fixed isn't brought about due to paranoia about shifters. People wax poetic about why they switched to ss/fixed, I do it for the reasons mentioned above and because I like the simplicity. Mostly the reasons are personal not technical, you either get it or you don't.