need new commuter bike
Comments
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£200 is obviously mainly a labour charge. It did get me thinking though. I service my own cars and bicycles. Servicing a car has never been simpler. No grease guns. No contact breaker points or carburetors to adjust. I insist on using the best parts I can get.
For an interim service I need oil & filter plus a pollen filter. Costs £28. My local dealer wants over £230 for this service. A major service costs me £46 in parts. Local dealer wants over £290 for the service. MASSIVE labour charges.
It takes me longer to CLEAN my bicycle than it does to service my car. Changing the oil and filter is simple, adjusting your gears to perfection is quite tricky. Checking my lights and horn is simple, truing a wheel is tricky.
It seems that people are used to astronomical labour charges for car servicing but aren't used to it for bikes.0 -
martinthebandit wrote: »So rather than spend £200 (probably less if you diy) on your current bike you want to spend £300 on a new one?
You do know this is supposed to be a money saving site don't you?
I don't have the time or inclination to DIY.
I don't *want* to spend that amount, but if for 50% more than fixing up my old bike I can get a new one, then that could easily be seen as better value for money in the long run surely?
The shop I use has pretty low labour charges it was at least 100 in parts alone.0 -
The main concern I have with internal geared bikes is that if you get a flat and need to replace the tyre, getting the wheel off is a bit of a military manouevre. I can remove a rear wheel and replace a tyre in 5-10 minutes and no faff, if it's a derailleured set-up. I looked at a Youtube video on how to remove an Alfine 8-speed rear wheel and it looked way more complicated.(Nearly) dunroving0
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The main concern I have with internal geared bikes is that if you get a flat and need to replace the tyre, getting the wheel off is a bit of a military manouevre. I can remove a rear wheel and replace a tyre in 5-10 minutes and no faff, if it's a derailleured set-up. I looked at a Youtube video on how to remove an Alfine 8-speed rear wheel and it looked way more complicated.
My touring bike has a 14 speed Rohloff hub and it is not difficult to remove and refit. It does take slightly longer in that I have to release and reconnect the bayonet connection on the two gear change cables so that adds about 15 seconds to a tube change, that is more than offset by simple maintenance compared to front and rear derailleurs.0 -
I wanted to love internal hub gears but ended up hating them. I started with a Nexus 7 and then had 2 Nexus 8s. They have the following advantage.
You can change gears when stationary.
They have the following disadvantages
They weigh a ton. I had a marathon Plus tyre to avoid flats and the end result was a very heavy rear wheel.
Each gear is different. I think 5 was direct so I loved 5 but hated 4 etc
My chain had no tensioner so I had to check the tension daily. I stretched chains really quickly and was always replacing them.
You always had to check cable tension - 2 marks had to line up.
They broke very quickly. Fixing them was difficult and needed special tools.
Maintenance oil was stupidly expensive.
Replacing them needed wheel building skills which I have but people would pay a lot for a new hub and wheel build.
Taking the wheel off was fast but putting it back on was awful lining up red triangles and yellow circles.
I replaced it with a bike with Shimano Alivio/Deore gears which is much better in every way.
Rohloffs are supposed to be super reliable but are still very heavy and everything about them is expensive.0 -
My first bike had a Shimano Nexus 8 hub with a belt drive, the first hub was faulty but I had no issues with the second one despite riding it all year round. The belt needed occasionally checks but that was every few months rather than daily. I had a tough rear tyre on and thankfully never had any punctures.
Weight I did find to be an issue as it made the bike feel heavy at the back when climbing and it felt less efficient than direct gears although could be a misperception because of the weight as I know their inefficiency is small. I think they've sorted it now but one big annoyance I had was the shifter went the opposite way to the derailleur gear shifters so I would get mixed up when hopping on the mountain bike and end up in completely the wrong gear when wanting to go up a hill.
I don't use any hub geared bikes now although I don't regret getting a hub gear bike for my first three years of day to day riding, that bike did the job well.
John0 -
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Yes servicing a car is very easy. All the tricky jobs have gone. The only thing slightly tricky is a cambelt change.0
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Yes servicing a car is very easy.
Fair enough.It takes me longer to CLEAN my bicycle than it does to service my car.
There's absolutely no way in hell that servicing a car is going to be easier than cleaning a bicycle! :rotfl:
Can you elaborate on the difficulties you have? You're definitely doing something wrong!0 -
As a daily commuter I don't clean my bike often. I only clean it when cleaning will result in serious reductions in bicycle weight. I have full length SKS Chromoplastic mudguards which get caked in mud. I remove the wheels and clean them and the insides of the mudguards. I then clean the drivetrain. It's all fidly little bits. Car servicing is all quick jobs one after the other.0
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