Bike repairs
 

I've only been a serious rider for two years so I don't know how often bicycles need repairs. I bought my current bike new 18 months ago and ridden it about 10,000 miles. Its a Giant hybrid and cost $450. I just put $150 worth of repairs and this is not the first time its been worked on. I was also told I would need a new Derailleur soon. Is this normal wear and tear, if so It looks to me like I might be better of just to buy a new bike every 18 months or maybe buy a higher priced bike, or do they have the same maintenance problems.
Whats your experience with maintaining your ride? I live in Western Washington where it rains a lot and I ride year round so it gets wet a lot and I suppose that has something to do with it.:rolleyes:
Thanks in advance

That sounds about par. Take a car to the shop and you'll realize just how cheap that is.

Learn to maintain your bike yourself. There are lots of books in paper and a wealth of information on the web, you can start with the mechanics forum and Sheldon Brown's website.

18 months isn't a very long time for a bike. My newest bike is at least fifteen years old, and the bikes I ride most often are 25 yrs old.

Putting fenders on a bike helps alot in keeping water and road dirt away from you and the bike. But you still have to keep the chain clean and lubed. Water also finds its way into most bearings, so you have to peplace or overhaul them fairly often.

that is not too bad. i just put a whole bunch of brand new parts on my winter bike less than 4 months ago and it is definitely in need of a tune up. the rear shock squeaks, the rear freewheel is sticking and the bearing are in need of a good re greasing and this is all the things that have happened in less than 4 month and less than 1000km. learning to do all your own maintenance can save you some money. i do all maintenance on my bikes and vehicles and saves a fair bit.

what needed to be repaired?

initially i was bringing my bikes to the shop, but honestly it's so easy to work on them yourself.

New derailleur is odd...

Definitely learn to do repairs yourself. Don't always listen to the LBS. Some of them just want your money and could care less about telling you the truth. If something is wrong, Google or search/ask here, and fix it. I have yet to come across an unfixable problem between this place and bicycletutor.com

I think whether you buy a new bike would depend on what else you have to replace. At 10,0000 miles, I would think you have to check the chain, cassette, rims, tires, brake pads and everything else that takes wear and tear. Then balance that out against the cost of a replacement ($450?).

I've been doing some of the repairs myself but today's problem needed special tools to take apart the rear end so it went to the shop. I also don't seem to have a handle on adjusting the shifter.
I've replaced all the drive components except the derailleur and front sprokets. the derailleur that's on the bike is bottom of the line and the spring is weak.
I trust the guys at the local shop, they only charge $20 an hour for labor, and that ain't much. I talked to the owner today about buying a new bike and he said just keep upgrading the parts as they break, probably a good idea.

i'm not sure what special tools you mean. you can put together an entire bike with a multitool + cassette lockring tool + bottom bracket tool.

i really would be surprised if lots of parts of breaking.
in terms of adjusting the derailleurs, check out SRAM's youtube videos - www.youtube.com/sramtech - there's one on front and rear der's. it's no mystery!

The LBS owner is giving good advice. Follow it if you like the bike overall and aren't otherwise interested in a new one.

The guys here are giving good advice too about learning to repair your bike yourself. The same $150 in tools, even at LBS prices, would get you nearly everything you'd ever need. When I started out I bought the tools I needed as I needed them.

As for the derailleur adjustment, the mechanic at my LBS took some time and showed me how to do it. The books, videos and online stuff helps, but for me it took a person working with me. I had a major "Aha!" moment, and after that, it was a snap. People are amazed when I can adjust their shifting for them, and that I can teach them how to do it themselves.

My advice would be to buy an old, higher-end bike on craigslist, then do the repairs yourself. The guys in the Bicycle Mechanics forum are amazing, and very willing to help. My '97 Specialized M2 Pro and my wife's 1987 Centurion Ironman have mostly their original parts.

Sounds awfully high to me. Not the dollar amount, which is just a few hours work in most shops, but the fact that you had to have work done several times in 18 months. Are things actually breaking, or are you paying for stuff you could easily do yourself, like lubrication and cable adjustment? I haven't taken my bikes to the shop in probably 25 years, except for wheelbuilding, so I could be out of touch on the cost. But I've probably ridden 6000 miles in the last three years (I'm just a recreational rider now, and don't keep close track), and I don't remember doing anything to the bikes beyond lube, tires and minor adjustments.
As for the rear derailleur, I've probably ridden close to 100,000 miles in the last 40 years, and I think I've only worn out one, an old Huret. I've ripped them off against rocks, bent them by getting sticks caught in the chain, damaged them in falls, but I can't remember wearing any out. That doesn't mean you don't need one, but I'd ask what was wrong.

Congratulations on riding the crap out of that bike. Things wear out a lot faster when you ride the bike.

You guys have convinced me to get a bike repair manual and do the work myself. I think the deal with the derailleur is that its not a good one and not worth repairing. The only thing wrong with it is the spring is weak and doesn't put enough tension on the chain. It can be fixed but I think upgrading is a good idea.
Everything has a learning curve, last week I bought a new chain and replaced the two sprockets on the derailleur. After putting it back together the chain was jumping on the rear sprocket. I couldn't figure out why so I took it to the shop. They explained to me that the rear sprockets were worn out and the old chain also being worn matched, the new chain didn't so it skipped. Worn sprockets had never entered my mind, so now I know what to look for. Well I was gonna go for a ride, but its starting to snow.

I rode 8,000 miles last year, the OP rode 10,000 miles in a year and a half.

I replaced the rear derailleur a while back. One of the little idler sprockets was worn, which after adjusting everything, would let the rear start auto-shifting again. On that derailleur, that is not a replaceable part. I've replaced the rear wheel twice and had miscellaneous tweaks and adjustments, replaced brake pads, etc.

It does sound like you have an honest bike shop to work with. Get a bike repair manual, get a junk bike or 2 to practice working on. Online repair videos help, too.
Riding in foul weather a lot & not maintaining the bike's drive system , is probably why it is worn. I would replace the worn parts with decent, but not too expensive parts , & ride it , again. Keep the bike clean & maintain it better.

Incorrect maintenance was part of the problem, I had been pressure washing my chain and sprockets at the coin operated car wash. the shop owner told me not to wash the sprockets because that forced water into the rear hub and shortened its life. He also recommended shifting to both small sprockets after riding to release tension on the derailleur spring.

Although I don't use a car wash sprayer, I spray with a hose -- I just don't spray from the side of the bike. That is, after a ride I stand behind the bike, and spray with a strong stream, then go to the front and do the same.

If you bought a bike, for $450 and had it serviced twice for $150 each time and got 10000 miles out of it that works out to: $750/10000mi = 7.5 cents per mile. That sounds like you are getting pretty good use from your bike. Keep riding it. Sometimes slightly more expensive moving parts like derailleurs and bottom brackets last for more miles of riding before wearing out, but if you got 10000 miles out of the original derailleurs, get the same derailleurs again when those wear out.

High pressure water really isn't good for anything when it comes to cleaning without forcing water into the bearings, or even stripping the wax from the finish.

The riding conditions here are not ideal at this time of year. Western Washington winters are a mix of rain snow and wind. They sand the roads when it snows and don't do much of a road shoulder cleanup. All that and gets into the chain and sprockets, one ride and my bike looks like hell, that can't be good for it either, so I will keep pressure washing but will be more careful how I do it. It's supposed to be nice today changing to rain snow mix tomorrow, cold with snow on Thursday and Friday. This is not normal for here, the snow chance is usually over by the end of January, Damn is this winter ever going to end, I'm thinking about moving to someplace warmer.

Like other mentioned, learn to do the simple stuff yourself and you'll save $$$$. The only special tools I l have are for the rear cassette removal, bottom bracket adjustment, crankset remover, and chain breaker ('rivet popper'). Altogether they probably cost around $100 and have paid for themselves many times over. Sand and snow? Just lightly hose it off with a garden hose, then a quick wipe down with a rag instead of pressure washing - that's what I do with my MTB.

Since you mention living in Western Washington, is there an REI or Performance Bike Shop near you? Both run a basic bike maintenance clinic a few times a year. Sign up for one of those and it'll give you a great start on basic maintenance/repair.

Doing repairs yourself are cheaper- but keep the LBS as backup for when thing do not go as planned. I am mechanically minded and only a few jobs on the bike I do not want to tackle so the LBS does them. But If I want advice the shop is always there.

And on upgrading--- I always use XT parts on my mountain bikes and that includes the Tandem that breaks parts just by looking at them. I do a hard ride each year and it is stripped to bare frame and rebuilt checking all parts as I go and replacing as necessary. I used to replace the RD every year but one year went up a grade to XTR. Following year and the XTR RD did not need replacing- Nor the next year. It lasted 3 years before I replaced it- but at the cost of XTR- I went back to XT.

A bike manual isn't a bad idea, but the Park Tools and SheldonBrown websites have tons of how-to information. I'd look these over first. There really aren't very many maintenance operations to be performed on a bicycle

I would wash it with the bike tilted to the right [ chain ] side, where water would be less apt to be forced in the hub & crank. I can see the foul weather up there being tough on the bike. BUT, I wouldn't complain about spending some money on a $ 450 bike that had been ridden so much ! You have gotten your money's worth out of that bike & she will appreciate the repairs, etc.