so i've been commuting for around 9 months now and i'm at around 1000 miles or so on my bike. i ride a $50 chinese hybrid style mountain bike and so far i've snapped 3 pedals, broken both of my grip shifts, worn out the rear brake pads and cable and re-greased all major bearings. other than that its in great shape, no chain problems and all the cranks seem fine and my tires are holding up well. i'm really surprised the amount of abuse that such a cheap bike can handle.

i ride in hot weather with tropical rains a few months of the year and work on my bike often to keep it in good working order.

so i know its difficult to compare but what kind of wear do others get after a good 1000 miles of commuting? can my cheap ass bike compare with a more expensive counterpart?

I commute on a '92 Cannondale touring bike. In 1000 miles, I'd expect to clean and lube the chain once unless I got caught in wet conditions a few times. Otherwise, pedals last forever, current shifters have lasted 43,000 miles, brake pads go forever, major bearings need attention either never, or 5-10k range.

Does that help? :-)

I replace chain and tires about every 8,000 miles (no load on recumbent chains, but when i do it, I have to buy 3 because of the length). Cables about twice as often but it would be less if we didn't have winter where they freeze in the housing. Bearing areas like hubs or bottom bracket or pedals probably more like 20,000 miles (only done them once).

350 euro custom built hybrid. Brake pads and a new chain after first 1800 kms.

Changed pedals and tires for models that suit me better, but the old ones are still good.

My bike is a Motobecane Fantom CX from https://www.bikesdirect.com Changed out the stock tires after 2 weeks for some Schwalbe Marathon Plus' as the cx tires are too soft for asphalt/pavement. Have over 17,000 commuter/utility miles w/one overhaul and several cleaning/lubing/adjustment services. A couple of minor rear wheel re-truings...none on the front. I re-lube and clean the chain after every wet ride. The bb is beginning to creak, so it will have to be changed out soon. Other than that it's been a real workhorse. No major problems at all. Mine was 500.00US when purchased over 3 years ago. They're up to 550.00US now. Still, a very good deal.

I applaud you for taking such good care of such a cheap bike
Are you upgrading somewhat the parts that break down? Or replacing with similar quality? By upgrading slowly you may end up with a decent bike without a large one-off investment.

Comparing your bike with what a lot of people around here ride, many of us have the privilege of being able to buy $1000 - $2000 bikes, just isn't fair.

1000 miles is maybe what I'll ride in two weeks or so on tour. I expect any wear and tear in that time to basically be unnoticeable.

in China?, I'm only familiar with the Exports, from there,
what is available for the locals?

Hong Kong I'm told sells stuff at good prices,
people go there from here for the Bargains.

For comparison purposes; a German Steppenwolf hybrid bike with Shimano Alivio group. Used on and off for commuting since 2003, and exclusively since this summer, about 600 km a month.

Besides the drive train, brake pads and tyres, I had to replace the pedals for damage at around 10000 km. The rear rim had a lengthwise tear over the length of three spoke holes at about 8000 km, replaced the whole wheel, has now deore hub. Alivio shift levers (plastic) felt a bit jiggly, lately, before replacing them with barcons. Bell broke. Rubber handles became sticky and icky. One halogen bulb wore out last winter. That's all that really broke so far.

I did replace the whole drive train at about 5000 km, because the worn chain (I didn't keep up with it) had eaten all the cogs and chain rings. Since then up to now at about 10000 I had to give it two more cassettes, 3 more chains, and soon one more chain will be necessary, perhaps at 1100, then a whole drive train again in spring, at possibly 13000 km.

New brakepads roughly every 2000 or 3000 km, I like to err on the side of caution here.

First set of tyres, Schwalbe Cross Country, were gone at 500 km (the rear, anyway), second set, some Chinese made department store tyres held up to 8000. The new ones, Schwalbe Marathon don't look touched after 2000 km.

The Chinese tyres (Chen Shin?) were not bad, really. Not quite so grippy as the Schwalbes, a bit less rolling comfort. Durable, there was thread left on the rear, but they began to develop some cracks on the sidewalls. Cost only a third of the Schwalbes. I believe they where a good choice when you want to get on your bike, but are a bit low on money.

Over the years I had some parts replaced because I wanted a different setup, not for wear. Things like handlebars, brake and shift levers, saddles, better lights, longer mudguards. The parts I removed for that are mostly still good, went into the parts box.

My break pads and cables last better than that, but the replacements were better than the originals of course. I think I upgraded my platform pedals at the start, they're still fine after about 15000 miles. I'm riding an only marginally more expensive bike than yours. I think that if you do your own basic maintenance, and do it consistently, that the cheap bike can hold up just fine.

Naturally, whatever sucks about it at the start still sucks no matter how well it lasts. If, like me, you can live with it (whatever it is) then it's very viable and practical.

At 5K miles, my low end Schwinn commuter (Le Tour GS) was doing great. Clean and lube was been all that had been needed till it encountered a Camry. Not sure if I'll ride it again but will probably get it back on the road and pass it along to someone else (with full disclosure on its history).

Anything made in China that's available elsewhere is also available here. In terms of bikes, though, there's an even cheaper level of crap (probably even cheaper than anything you'd find in a Walmart in the US) that's also available.

Imported stuff is available too, but it's nowhere near as easy to find, and you can expect to pay through the nose for it.

As to the OP: I've had my Giant for 7 months and have put on 5300km. In that time I've replaced the brake pads (front and rear) once, had a failed freehub (though I think this must have been a defective part, not normal wear and tear) replaced the rear tire once (bead started separating from the tire) had the hand grips wear quite substantially (though not enough to replace yet), had a rear derailleur cable snap at the shifter housing, and had so many spokes break on the rear wheel that I had to buy a new set of wheels to deal with the problem. I also tend to clean/lube the chain once every 1/2 weeks (depends on how often it rains) because of all the grit that's on Shanghai streets. I as yet have had no problems with the cranks, bottom bracket, or derailleurs, but when it's time to replace them, I will be upgrading rather than simply buying the same stuff that's on there now.

My primary commuter has served me through the past two winters and every bit of crappy weather in between... over an estimated 10,000 km I have topped up the tyres, lubed the chain, and this spring converted the drive over from the 3 speed IGH to an 18 speed derailleur drive when I retired it from winter duty.

I overhaul the serviceable bearings once a year, the cartridge bottom bracket went in well over 15,000 km ago and is still fine.

It is a 1988 Kuwahara Shasta that was a $750.00 bike 23 years ago, I bought it as a used frame and fork and built it up as a fixed gear for one winter, ran it as an IGH for two and the 18 speed set up has been performing flawlessly.

I have been running the pedals (Deore XT quills) on this bike and others for 5 years and overhauled them when I bought them used.

It is a well made bike and I have always used high quality parts... nothing has ever broken.

Clean the chain a couple times and wipe down the bike with a rag, that's pretty much all I need to do!

Clean bike and chain. Lube what I'm supposed to lube. Adjusted cables after the newness settled in. About 1500 miles. 2011 Giant Defy 2 set up for commuting.

i tend to replace with slightly improved but still cheap parts. the reason that i ride such a cheap bike is because of the high level of theft round these parts. it almost broke my heart last time my bike was stolen

i actually really like working on my bike, i've learned to fix most problems just from having a bike that breaks all the time. i don't think that i would have been brave enough to do maintenance on a high end bike but now i have plenty of experience.

i'm actually going to upgrade for christmas i think. i'm looking at a merida or a giant moutain bike, still cheap but a noticable improvement is quality and performance. can't wait!

i see that you ride a fcr3500. i saw one in the giant shop for just under 3000 yuan last week. looks really nice, especially like that fork but i took one look at the skinny wheels and just couldn't see it surviving the potholes and other crap that i meet on my commute.

how do you find it? is it tougher than it looks??

How much more money do you want to spend on replacing broken parts before you decide to up the ante on a bike that cost more? You probably already spent $50 on worn out parts.

I'm not trying to bust your bubble, but a $50 Chinese bike won't last long, and using a bike like that for commuting is asking to arrive to work late due to breakdowns, and how long will a boss tolerate that?

More expensive? You can get a really nice bike from Bikes Direct.com without being expensive, see: https://www.bikesdirect.com/ Look at the sale priced bikes then click on the road tab if none of those are to your liking. Touring bikes are great for commuting on as are Cyclocross and Hybrids so look at those too, but any road bike will work. But you don't need an outrageously expensive bike to commute on, but at Bikes Direct a bike in the range of $450 to $600 will get you a nice commuter bike.

There's a neat low maintenance Windsor Kensington 8 on sale for $450. Low maintenance because it uses a 8 speed internal gear hub instead of an external derailleur and gears. It also has a steel frame which will last a very long time, comes with a rear and a small front rack which would be great for commuting and even weekend touring trips. See: https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...ensington8.htm

yeah im upgrading soon.

i think its important to point out that $50 is alot more here in china that it is in the US and my bike would sell for more overseas as it is made for export. and in terms or replacement parts, cost me about $10 or so this yearas its just not that expensive to replace stuff here. i thinks its worth it for all of the experience that my bike has given me.

and yes i have been late for work once. fortuanatley it usually breaks down on the way home

here is the $50 bike if you're curious

Stock wheels were crap, especially the rear, but other than that it's been holding up pretty well even on the pretty bumpy roads here in Shanghai. I've since upgraded to Shimano RS510 wheels, which have held up much better than the stock wheels even though they are 16/20 spoke counts with 28mm tires.

I didn't look at your location, didn't realize you were in China!! Having never heard of the brand of bike you're riding on it "seems" like the frame is stout enough, (note, I said seems). Having never shopped in China for bikes I'm not sure how to advise you because I don't know what the offerings are over there. Like you said $50 is a lot of money in China, so you could probably get a really nice bike for $200 there. Problem is due to the cost of things there wages are usually proportionate with wages, thus $200 may be difficult to obtain for a lot of people there, but I also don't know your income level either.

Sorry, I just can't advise now, other then try looking for a bike you think is higher quality for a price you can afford. I do know this, you can't keep having breakdowns, even though you've been lucky up to now the breakdowns have been on the way home, next time it may not.

I'm one of those type with the garage shop that everyone brings their bike to for repair. Glad to do it but when I get the low cost ones it's is a bit disappointing because I inevitably find pitted bearing cones, deformed rims, dangerously crappy brakes, etc. And, since the tolerances are so sloppy, clean repacked bearings don't stay that way very long. Steel is normally very ductile which deforms leading to I'll fitting components. Rims tend to be single-walled making them very susceptible to distortion. Makes me angry that certain bike companies scheme to get unsuspecting or unknowledgabe people to buy these tanks. I always advise to get a good used bike and overhaul. We have a saying in Spanish - Lo barato questa caro (cheap stuff is expensive).

FWIW: I bought a used Trek for about the price of a Dept store bike. So far it has worked out just fine for me. Your mileage may vary.

Good morning

I do a 17 mile each way commute 5 days a week, this is about 1,00km per month and since I started about 6 months ago I have bought;

I pair of wheels - £100 (Shimano Sora and Weinmann DP-18)
5 Tyres - £75 (Schwalbe Blizzard Sport, Continental Ultra Sport)
5-10 Inner tubes - £20 - £40, (I have lost track, as I used to hit a deep pot-hole that meant a snake bite puncture that I had difficulty successfully patching) (Continental, Specialized, Halfords)
3 Chains - £40 (Shimano)
3 Cassettes - £65 (Shimano HG50)
2 Rear mechs - £75 (Shimano 105)
1 Pair of downtube shifters £25 (Shimano)
1 Outer chain ring £15
Miscellaneous brake and gear cables and outers £30
2 Sets of brake blocks £15
Totalling £480

As a guide this years Specialized Sectuer costs £650 https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/Product/...cycle-2012.asp

Three cassettes/chains and two rear mechs sound a lot, but one chain broke, taking the rear mech and a couple of teeth off the cassette.

However I am expecting a lot of life out of many of these components as they replace worn out bits on an early 1990’s non indexed 7 speed, 531 framed beauty with mostly Shimano 600 (pre Ultegra)/500 bits.

Bye

Ian

That seems like a lot of repairs for about 3,750 miles in American terms if what you said of 1,000km per month. You should not have to replace anything except tires. So maybe the miles, or kilometers you wrote I misunderstood? Sounds like you're rough on your bike. There is no reason to be breaking teeth on cassettes, replacing all those derailleurs etc. The only repair you should have had if you started commuting on a used bike would have been tires, one chain, one cassette and one chain ring. There's no reason to replace tubes like you do if you patch the flats which would have saved you at least $50 in tubes.

I have a bike with over 150,000 miles on it and the only stuff I had to replace was usual wear items like tires and tube, brake blocks, chains and freewheels, one set of chain rings, rims last about 35,000 to 40,000 miles, and cables...that's it.