I was in the market for a winter commuter. I don't have budget constraints other than sensibility. I thought $750 would get me a nice, new commuter. I ended up with a $1000 Trek FX 7.5 with Disc because I thought the components were better than the 7.3 Disc. My 2003 aluminum with crabon fork road bike was only $1500 with Ultegra and I didn't feel like spending more on a winter bike than on my road bike. CX bikes are more expensive in general and I crossed those off my list. Now my road bike is jealous and it wants to be upgraded to a Madone 5.2.

I'll use the hybrid for commuting only and other than consumables and good cleaning from riding in wet conditions, I expect it will last for 20k miles. That's a lifetime of riding.

the numbers quoted on this thread are for fair weather flat-land commuters who live in dry areas. on average i wear out 1.5 chains, 0.5 cassettes, 1 set of tires, and three disc pads each year. the three disc pads are from exclusively using the front disc brake (using your back brake is pointless). i stopped using rim brakes because i got tired of paying $400 for new wheels every 3 years. riding in heavy rain with tons of grit and sand on the road will eat through a drive train and wheel rims like butter (no matter how anal you are).

once high end alfine components lose more weight i will kiss my externally geared drive train good bye. and good f***ing riddance.

Just one thing to add to what has been posted - if you're worried about cost per mile, the absolute best thing you can do is buy a used middle-of-the-road bike. Too cheap, and the components are not serviceable. But once you get past Tiagra/105 quality I don't think you gain anything in terms of durability. Furthermore, most of the wear items, like chains, tires, brake pads, etc are fairly cheap. Expensive things, like frames, cranks, and saddles don't really wear. Wheels are kind of an exception but I think a rim used in dry conditions should give you at least 20,000 miles. If you get a used bike for $500 and save the other $500 for service items you'll probably get like 20,000 miles out of it, at least.

Also, stay on top of your chain wear! Chains are cheap - 9-speed chains can be had for <$20. Cassettes and chain-rings are much more expensive...

I commuted 5000 miles a year, year round. I had to replace a rear rim once a year. The sand on the road would eat up the chain/cassette. 2 chains a year and 1 cassette a year. I replaced the middle chainring once in 2 years. Pads probably twice a year. Jockey wheels about once a year, never had to replace a derailleur. Have not regreased or replaced any hub bearings, need to do that. Hopefully the hub is ok.

+1
I have yet to read an owners manual for any high end bike that states that the components are more durable and will give an extended life expectancy. In fact - the exact opposite is stated. Higher end components are lighter and more expensive because the materials and engineering are more expensive . That doesn't make them more durable and in most cases makes them more fragile.

A lot of what you say is true, except the bit about the rear brake. Brake wear, like all component wear, depends largely on the conditions you ride in and where you ride.

For off-road riding, or riding on snow, ice or wet roads, the rear brake is used much more frequently, where you want to slow down and not risk a front wheel skid. I usually wear out the rear disc pads faster than the front because most of my hard braking is on steep downhills where I rely on the rear brake far more. This is on both my commute and weekend rides.

For straight line braking on dry roads, the front brake has much more stopping power and is used more frequently.

"where you want to slow down and not risk a front wheel skid."

the front brake still has more stopping power on a descent. while its true that a newbie might over modulate, once you get the hang of using your front brake you should rely on your rear brake largely for emergency situatations. this is coming from someone who has ridden down 500-600 foot descents at 30-40 mph for 300ish days a year for decades (lived on capitol hill seattle and now work on pill hill in pdx).

He was talking about rain, snow, and ice. It's very easy to lock up the front wheel, - especially on snow and ice, and that's a quick way to find yourself on the ground. I'm very careful about using my front brake in the winter. Skidding the back wheel usually doesn't cause much trouble, other than the fact that a wheel sliding on ice doesn't do much to slow you down.

I'm now wired (from years racing on and off road) to automatically shift my ass back to better balance my weight between the wheels, and allowing me to use both brakes, modulating as need be.
If I just need to scrub some speed, I'll feather the front only.

I've seldom seen a thread that meshed so well with what I think I know, and then taught me a thing or two like this one. Well done.

One the lessons I've learned from cyclocross racing that applies to commuting is that there are definitely times when the rear brake is the way to go. If the rear wheel slides, you can usually still keep the bike upright. If the front wheel slides, you're almost always going down.

It's true that in the conditions we usually see it's rare. Descending steep hills around a turn in the rain is a situation that comes to mind where I'll prefer the rear brake.

really? a crank set lasts 30,000-35,000 miles? Geebus. I've only got about 5,000 miles in on my Andel (Surly CC). I would like to replace it at some point, but at this rate, it'll be another 6 years before I can say I've worn it out and deserve an upgrade.

Some randomness:

- Someone mentioned BB lasting basically forever. Some might, probably higher end cartridge type, but some of the newer proprietary BB[whatever] bearings and especially recently popular outboard bearings will go within a year or two. Upshot is that they are still not too expensive to replace.

- If you're running integrated drop-bar brake/shift levers, make it a habit to replace cable and housing every 2-3 years. Tight spooling within the shifters exacerbate cable wear and breakage and the last thing you want to do is break a cable inside the shifter... This was more a problem with older Shimano systems where the shift cables exited the sides of the hoods toward the centerline of the bike, like current Tiagra; unsure if the same problem exists with under the bar routed systems. In any case, with Shimano and SRAM brake/shift levers (road), there is a definite lifespan -- could be 3-5 years, could be one, could be a decade -- they are non-rebuildable for the most part, and expensive, so consider shifter style when considering purchase.

The most important thing is to ride - everything else is just dressing.

Brake before you bank!

Probably depends more on the component quality and how the rider loads the bearings. I replaced an FSA last year that developed play after only 600kms. But at that point, since a higher quality BB wasn't available for that crankset - I swapped out the crankset as well.

Maybe I'm not silly for sticking with my octalink stuff then. I've gotten 7 years and 10k out of my Octalink 105 BB and it still has zero play. I'm hesitant to move to the 5700 stuff with the outboard bearings since putting the bearings on the outside of the bb shell seems...wrong. Also lots of people complain that they only get ~18 months out of the bearings.

Also I don't see how you'd wear out a crank. Chainrings and bb, yes, but how does a crank wear?

I have definitely found that 'wear it out and get what I want with the replacement' is a really bad strategy for just about every bicycle component. At least if I actually want to get the upgrade in a human time horizon.

I was looking at a Masi CX uno but my thoughts are starting to go away from drop bars. The local lbs has me very interested in the Scott Metrix 20. Since i know little to nothing about bikes and their components it's not hard to sell me on one or the other. That's why I'm here inquiring. I may just end up putting togething my own bike from frame up. But where to start on that one?!

Don't you find it refreshing that some products are still that way, though?

My take is that it gives you the license to buy a product that makes you happier, now.

I gotta say, I'm more with JP here than most of the other posts. Paying $1500 (or $1000, IMHO) for a commuter bike gets you lighter weight, not additional reliability, over a $600 bike, and to me, when you're loaded down with 20 pounds of clothes, food, and a laptop in your bags for your commute, saving 3 or 4 pounds on the bike itself seems a bit pointless. If you're not commuting on dirt trails, don't habitually jump curbs, have fenders if you encounter rain regularly, properly inflate your tires once a week, clean your chain once a month, and clean everything else every two months, a $600 bike should last you many, MANY years.

Heck, a $250 quality used bike will too with the same maintenance schedule and any worn parts replaced when you buy it.

Tires and brake pads will be annual wear items. Replace the chain when shifting gets rough, rather than preventatively. Replace the cassette every other chain.

I realize I am backing the unpopular, minority opinion here. So be it. ;-)

-Warr

Or longer. I've got 115,000 miles on my current crank. The large ring started skipping at 60,000 but I flipped it over to get another 30,000 miles out of it. The small ring gets used less and is still original. I also had to replace the BB spindle and balls when they got pitted.

If you want a different crank go ahead and upgrade, but don't count on needing to do so very soon.