dynodonn 

You must not work urban stop and go traffic, do not ride during the winter, and ride only on flat ground. I wipe down, lube, and check my bicycle chain at least once or twice a month during the winter, and less during the summer, with the chain usually ending up being replaced once a year or less.
I now carry a chain breaker after having to make a long walk home with 60lbs of cargo aboard due to chain breakage. Brake pads basically get the same treatment, my rims are too expensive to get torn up by trying to get the last ounce of use out the brake pads.

Oh, I like to make a fashion statement with my bike, so it gets cleaned regularly.

RaleighSport

Perhaps you can help me then, I have my first true fixed gear now (non conversion), when I set it up I was able to tension the chain to my liking with minimal slack and I was rewarded with zero drivetrain noise, the chain has slacked a bit now and makes a bit of noise so I retensioned it and lubed it up but the last two attempts I was unable to get the chain as tense as I would like so there's some noise.. how do you get yours to set well? I'd really love to have it permanently in place until the chain wears out as my carbon fiber saddle should be here soon.

wolfchild

There are few different reasons for experiencing a chain slack on a fixie.
Everytime you ride the chain stretches a little and you will end up with a bit of slack, it all depends how much and how hard you ride. I need to tension my chain once per month.
Also make sure to keep the axle nuts real tight. I also recommend using chain tugs, they make chain tensioning a lot easier and prevent wheel slippage, in case the axle nuts are not tight enough.

RaleighSport

I actually solved the current issue, and I'm definitely going to look into getting a set of chaintugs so thank you very much for the suggestion! One more quick question and it's just a preference one, brakes or no for fixies on the street?

Dahon.Steve

LOL!

I'm almost the same because the bus and train are my transportation vehicles. They are maintained by the city so my bikes are for enjoyment.

I'll admit, when I used to commute by bike, it took alot of work to keep it running because it was a folder. If I had to do it again, I would have purchased a new mountain bike with slick wheels because an old bike in bad condition wears out fast.

I still think there's alot of unnecessary replacing of parts just for the sake of having new ones. I see people constantly thowing out OEM tires, brake pads and saddles off new bikes on this forum all the time. I like to wear out tires till they start balding from over use. I feel the same way about brake pads and saddles. (unless the saddle is horrible!)

Regardless, my bikes are only used one or twice a week in the sun with no rain or bad weather. I guess that's why they look so good!

wolfchild

For your own safety you should definetly have at least a front brake. Personally I have both front and rear.
90% of the time I stop and slow down by resisting the pedals, without using brakes, but I keep them on for emergency/panic stops. Skid stopping looks "cool" but it wears out the tires very fast and it takes much longer to skid stop in an emergency then in does using a brake.

gerv 

A set of rims that are maintained well should last at least 15-20 k miles unless you are doing a lot of riding in poor conditions. Front wheel even more.

I'd be checking the rims ever quarter for cracks around the spoke nipple and excessive wear on the brake surface (if a rim brake...). And, of course, truing the wheels once or twice a year.

No point replacing it if it isn't broke.

Smallwheels

I replace things when they wear out. I add oil or grease when needed. Today I replaced a chain. The rear wheel needs work but I just don't feel like messing with it now. It also needs a new rear tire. Next weekend I might get around to changing the tire and adjusting the spoke tension. I might even replace the rear brake pads. I keep some extras in my tool box. Bicycle maintenance is not a priority for me and never will be. Things wear out and get old. I can live with it.

When things go really bad I either get a new ride or rebuild the whole thing at once. One time a top tube disconnected from the head tube. That happened when a chain came off on a coaster brake bicycle and I ran into a wall. A friends dad welded it together for me.

Low end parts last a long time because they are heavy duty. Steel sprockets last a long time compared to alloy ones. I do wish belt drives would get into the marketplace at cheaper rates. I hate having greasy hands, especially if I must do something to the chain on the way to work or the grocery store.

dynodonn 

Most OEM tires, wheels, saddles, and brake pads are junk to begin with, but I don't throw them away, since they can be and have been used to help build or repair guest bikes that are used on a limited basis. I don't like to wait until components or tires are so worn that they become a liability on a commute... no fun trying to either repair a flat tire from being too thin on the tread, a broken chain that's well past it's prime or having a bad set of brakes, all during a winter storm.

bragi

That is one beautiful bike...

bragi

I replace the rims every 18 months or so because they just wear out, honest. It's not that uncommon in Seattle. It's wet nine months a year, grit sticks to things, there are steep hills everywhere, which means you're applying a lot of pressure on the brakes all day long, and, if you ride a lot, the result is that you burn through rims like they're made of butter. In an ideal world, I'd clean my rims after every wet ride (i.e., most rides), but I'm working 12-13 hours a day, so the best I can manage is about once a week. I've considered getting a bike with disc brakes, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the bike I currently own (2008 LHT), and I'll be dead and long buried before that thing ever wears out...

wahoonc

One reason I prefer drum/roller brakes... weather proof. Also if the rim gets bit out of true it is a non issue. Sturmey-Archer makes a drum brake hub that takes cassettes. If I lived somewhere like Seattle drum brakes would be my first choice. I use roller brakes on my city bike, tour bikes still run canti's.

Aaron

I-Like-To-Bike

I prefer coaster brake IGH hubs for the same reasons; never needed to replace a rim, ever.

Sixty Fiver

I understood this right off... my wife's primary commuter would get new rims every 10,000 miles when she lived in Portland due to to rim wear as this kind of environment will cut a rim's life in half and this got better when we changed her brakes to Kool Stops. The original Tektro had a pretty good reputation for eating up rims.

Drum / coaster brakes have their pluses but they are not going to offer the same stopping power as rim brakes or disc brakes and disc brakes also require regular service.

Besides SA, there are not a lot of cassette options that come with a rear drum brake and some folks like a lot of range for those aforementikoned hills. I have one of these SA cassette / drum hubs I have been planning to use although the right project has not presented itself yet and I have a front drum hub to mate with that.

As it is, I don't do nearly as much to my bikes as people would think save for making sure the tyre pressure is adequate as once they have been built and properly set up they don't need much save fore regular maintenance.

Sixty Fiver

If a rim goes out of true it is an issue... although it may not interfere with braking it does speak to an issue with the wheel.

I-Like-To-Bike

I beg to differ about stopping power if the bike is ever used in a wet, snowy, slushy, or freezing environment. You being from Portland should recognize that fact.

I-Like-To-Bike

I don't think range is so important for handling steep hills in a city environment as much as having a low enough low gear. Any IGH can be set up with a very low gear with the proper selection of rear sprocket.

That always was the problem with so many ten speeds that were sold when derailler equipped bikes were first heavily promoted in U. S., the lowest gear was still too dang high for the average cyclist to handle steep hills. I understand that still may be a problem with many derailler equipped bikes sold to the public.

Sixty Fiver

I am from Canuckistan but spend a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest where snow is pretty uncommon... the water is usually liquid.

You make a good point in that hub brakes can offer better stopping power under some circumstances but I deal with wet, slushy, snowy, and colder than most people and rim brakes have always served me quite well.

There has been a lot of movement toward equipping bicycles with disc and hub brakes in the PNW as you get maximum stopping power out of discs and can preserve your rims which may only last a season if you are a high mileage commuter. For some a coaster brake might be limiting on it's own (I have always run a front brake with these) and hub brakes strength is that they offer decent stopping power on a consistent basis and have a long service life but don't match rim / disc brakes.

If it is just wet, rim brakes provide a lot of stopping power and there will be some degradation at extremely cold temperatures for some set ups... enclosed brakes are best when you have to deal with weather that cycles quickly between warmer and wetter and then colder and freezing.

Horses for courses, as they say.

Folks who ride fast in all conditions might be able to deal with rim wear because they need more braking performance than drum / coaster brakes provide... lots of these folks transition to disc brakes which are becoming pretty ubiquitous on a lot of entry level bicycles now.

wahoonc

I don't find the drum/roller brakes to be limiting at all, there are some crappy ones out there on the market (Shimano IM-F41) that have "limiters" built in to keep you from locking the wheel. I use Shimano roller brakes on my big city bike, fully loaded I am pushing 350# rolling weight. But then again I rode on chrome steel rims with cheap brake pads for years...

Aaron

gerv 

I never realized moisture would eat up a rim like that.

I do know that winter bikes (that pick up a lot of road salt) end up grooving pretty quickly.

Maybe I should move to salmon colored Kool Stops on my winter beater. I have a set on both summer commuters and the pads last a really long time.

Sixty Fiver

In Portland it is a nearly constant mix of water and grit that eats rims... winters here are generally much colder and rim wear is not nearly as bad when things stay below freezing.

bragi

Do you have any suggestions for cantilever brakes besides Tektro? I've never been happy with them; they're very fussy on a daily basis, and changing brake pads is a major production involving a half dozen nested washers, or whatever they are, and God help you if you get them out of order...

Sixty Fiver

I find Tektro brakes to be generally quite good, I am just not a fan of the brake pad material they were using and have always preferred Kool Stops since they were called Matthauser.

Shimano makes nice cantis in the CX50 and CX70 (105 and Ultegra level)... and the prices are reasonable.

bragi

I'll check these out; thank you...

Roody

It's usually below freezing here, but they treat the roads with a blend of salt and sand that totally chews up a bike.