How long do bike components last

As shown with the pad on the right in the photo, when the bottom of the vertical gap is flush with the surface, the pad needs to be replaced. As the pad wears toward this point, you can dial out the barrel adjuster to bring it closer to the rim so your braking power doesn't diminish. Replace all four pads at once so you have an even application of force. To prevent damage to the rim, at least once a week use a small screwdriver or awl to remove embedded grit from the pads.

To ensure your brakes grab predictably and smoothly, every two weeks roughen the surface of the pad with sandpaper or a file. Cleats Replace them at the start of every year or when the wear indicator says you should. For many plastic cleats, the signal for replacement is when a color indicator or line either disappears as it's worn away, or shows through a worn surface.

Cleats used beyond their effective life span often release unexpectedly or stick in the pedal; either can cause a crash. Walking on cleats causes the worst premature wear. Housing At the change of each season of the year, inspect the cable housings and replace those that are broken, bent or cracked.

Damaged housing causes undue stress and wear on the cables necessitating more frequent replacement , detracts from shifting and braking, and, when undetected, can cause you to fruitlessly service all the other components on your bike in an effort to fix the clumsy shifting or braking.

Cables Although many cyclists think that frayed ends are merely unsightly, the weakened cable is actually more likely to break. In addition, when you're fidgeting with a barrel adjuster or cleaning your bike, you can stab your thumb on one of the tiny, rusty wires that stick out. Don't twine the strands back together and put on a new end cap; ensure structural integrity by buying and installing a new cable.

To maintain smooth operation, we recommend replacing cables once a year or whenever you spot rust. Bikes and Gear. United States. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Are Wider Tires Always Faster? Thomas MacDonald. Sign up. With your regular riding, how long does a flat pedal shoe last? Around six months Around a year Less than two years More than two years Forever and ever - a shoe's for life. Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 7. Would you trade sole grip for longevity?

No way! Maybe, just a little I'd take half the grip for twice the lifespan! I'd take my shoes made of hardened plastic if I could get them It's not the lifespan that concerns me, it's just the price. Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 0. How happy are you with the longevity of your flat pedal shoes? Very happy Generally quite happy I think it could do with improvement It's unacceptable. Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 2.

If you fitted a new drivetrain to your bike, how long could you ride before you had to consider replacing the chain? How long does a chain last for you? Around two months Around four months Between six months and a year More than a year Two or three years Chains never die. Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 5. If you were to fit a brand new drivetrain, and replaced the chain at the recommended intervals, how long until it is completely worn out?

Around six months About a year Around two years Two or three years Four or five years I would expect the drivetrain to last as long as the bike.

Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 4. How happy are you with the longevity of your drivetrain componants? You've just fitted brand-spanking-new brakes, rotors and pads to your bike. How long until you use all of the braking material? How long do your REAR brake pads last? Less than a month Between one and three months Around six months Around a year More than a year Two or three years You don't wear what you don't use fullypinned.

Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 3. Do you choose your braking compound based on wear rate? It's not a consideration - I use my preferred material irrespective of wear I think about it but ultimately I just buy whatever is there I always try and buy pads that will last a long time I use hard-wearing pads but for reasons other than longevity I just get whatever is cheapest.

Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 1. How happy are you with the longevity of your brakepads? Bikes weighing In your experience, solely from riding and not from impacts, how old is frame before it fails, or shows signs that it could fail?

Around a year Two or three years Four to six years Six to eight years I've never broken a frame When I break a frame, it's down to it's design and not its age. Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 6. Would you take a weight penalty for your frame in exchange for durability?

Responses: Faves: 0 Comments: 8. Dropper posts are directly in the firing line of mud, grit and grime. How long do you ride your dropper post before it needs to be serviced? Less than six months Between six months and a year More than a year More than two years What's a "service"? Do you think service intervals on suspension units are reasonable? Yes They're okay, but longer wouldn't hurt Service intervals don't concern me I would like it to be years instead of months inbetween I hate having to service my suspension.

When wheels break they can do so in spectacular fashion but not all failures are such blockbuster events. Dings, cracks, flat spots and spokes pulling through the eyelet can also damage a wheel beyond use. I have seen enough rim failures to feel as though they are a consumable, but this isn't a view often shared outside of racing. How long does a REAR rim last for you? I have no expectations - every new day is a blessing Between one and three months Around six months Around a year Two or three years Four or five years I expect my rim to last as along as the bike does.

How happy are you with the strength and quality of mountain bike rims? Many brands offer a huge range of compounds and tread patterns to offer tires to suit any purpose. Solely from wear, how long does a REAR tyre last you? Less than a month Between one and three months Around six months Around a year Around two years Around three years. Our expectations don't always coincide with reality. In general, do parts last as long as you expect them to? Increasingly, people's concerns aren't solely about bang for their buck.

What is the cause for your concern about the longevity of parts? Purely monetary I think about the money but I also have environmental concerns Purely environmental I just dislike the hassle of my bike needing maintenance. Posted In: Reviews and Tech Polls. Are Bike Brands Greenwashing? We Asked An Expert views. For the suspension questions my answer would be: "make the dampers easily user serviceable and the parts widely available". Lower leg services are quick and easy, but dampers are a mixed bag of needing special tools, not being able to find service kits and having to try and hunt out instructions on random German forums.

Cannot upvote more, especially with pandemic, it is became more actual to service at home;. Just did mine and the rebuild kit was easy to find and cheap. But yes, percent agreed! Oil started leaking out the top of the damper on my lyriks. The seal is not included in any seal kit sold by Rockshox. In the end I followed a video someone had made on youtube and found the seal somewhere else with a bit of hassle.

Why not just make it available?! The semi open bath is so easy to bleed and the damper unit just unscrews so replacing seals is easy. DHhack Jan 29, at Parts for sale and step by step instructions on their website, for forks AND shocks.

Have a question, you can call and talk to someone without a computer answering and transferring you around endlessly. DHhack : it kills me that they have that green on everything DHhack : thnx for advise, next components will be def DVO. DHhack : Second you thoughts. NWBasser Jan 29, at I'd like to know too if the Grip2 is based on it. Here's calling you out on not publishing comprehensive service manuals!

NWBasser : I'm only referring to servicing here rather than performance of the damper. Vorsprung did a little video on Grip1 youtu. You can see how it self bleeds via the port similar to the DBC. And make sure you don't forget to put the dust wiper back on, I forgot and had to take it apart again, rebleed, etc. Veloscente: Have you seen this? Used it to service my X2, just some mods for an at-home setup. Thanks for the info. In my experience once the damper is blown on rockshox it is time to buy fox.

Veloscente: Being a brand based in California, I'm surprised there are no warning labels everywhere saying "this product may cause cancer". SR Suntour has great high end, easily serviceable parts. PabloMoll Jan 29, at I think Rockshox has done a pretty god job compared with FOX. Manuals are available and they are easy to read. But it's true, maybe they could design stuff in a way you would need less special tools for the job although you need that many.

They make good stuff, but don't have the advertising budgets that RS and Fox do. Veloscente: whoops DHhack : word! I've called for help with installs, service, ordering mistakes which was on me yet they sent the right spring out before I returned the wrong one and they've always been responsive and walked me through the processes.

Love their products and the service is unmatched. Grip2 is the only trully easy serviceable damper. A couple pumps and it feels perfectly bled, no more bleed machines and service tutorials are greatly details and filmed.

While Rockshox has great products just as good as Fox ie is terrible about instructions and no media about it. Good info tho. Maybe next time. I bought a bike with a dvo shock and pulled all the green ano shit and polished or painter them. That green is polarizing and I hate it too. Same reason I don't buy maxxis tires Yellow sucks.

Tmackstab Jan 29, at Take the ano parts and soak them in Easy-Off oven cleaner for 15 min. Now you have raw aluminum. I answered none of the questions because I don't want any bike industry insiders thinking that any already crap made products aren't crap. Hotwheels09 Jan 29, at Become a engineer than. Apparently they know how to do everything.

Especially bike related. MrDuck Jan 29, at Blows fox tech manuals out of the water, and requires hardly any tools the average bike enthusiast doesn't have.

You can rebuild a charger with a few adjustable wrenches if you have to. Not comparing performance or anything here, just the service alone, and it's not that it is hard on a Fox, it's just a lot easier and straightforward on RS.

Miki Jan 30, at I had a 4 year old european brand bike and I couldn't find a hanger for it anywhere. For my current bike, I make sure I have a few extras before I need them. I can't wait until the universal hangers become more common. AToyotaHilux Jan 30, at Fox is doing an absolutely awful job in terms of service part pricing and availability, especially here in Europe. Well ok let's maybe exclude the Reverb.

The Reverb is piece of garbage, with a stupid design premise. I'll gladly take most cheap droppers over the Reverb. Because how crazy things have been lately I've had my Fox X2 out for 2 months because it badly needed service and self maintenance for that shock is just isn't practical. I'm pretty confident doing my own service in general, and the savings that wins me makes keeping parts longer definitely worth it.

AToyotaHilux : Definitely agree with the service part pricing. If I wouldn't have ordered my tools off ebay, the vice clamps alone would have been like bucks for the FOX brand, absolutely insane pricing for a block of metal. Same with all the other tools needed. PabloMoll : I think Rockshox have better serviceability compared with Fox but Fox seems to be a smidge better in the performance sector.

Still, Rockshox forks I've ridden have performed superb, set and forget. DHhack : Your're right, I've always just gotten stuff secondhand and, as a college kid, not had the budget to get stuff retuned.

Especially when I can get a Rockshox fork and have it work right outta the box. FuzzyL Jan 30, at Ah, forget serviceability, just make the shocks last as long as the ones in my motorbike, or even the ones in my car.

FuzzyL : if they made bikes suspension components to last that long, they wouldn't be lightweight at all. MTBKyan Jan 30, at DHhack Jan 30, at At just over ready to ride and moderately aggressive buying something I can tune, if needed, is very important.

FuzzyL : who wants to ride a road bike with suspension? I know someone who takes them off, strips them, then re-anodises them they annoy him that much! Waylonwaylonwaylon Jan 31, at SeanC1 Jan 31, at Their website has videos for every type of fork and service, you can order the parts you need off of it, and if you call their phone number a real person will pick up and help answer your questions.

NWBasser : agreed, they make some nice forks, too! SeanC1 : From my experience with the coil sr suntour forks like the xcm and xcr and all those you would find on a typical "walmart" bike, I've assumed that their suspension products were just garbage.

They actually make decent air forks? They have more experience than RockShox or Fox in many ways. What grungy no good fool down voted this? NWBasser Feb 1, at Their bottom end fork are crap, but their top end ones are quite nice. They shouldn't be judged by their low-end offerings. I put an Auron on my wife's bike and it's excellent.

I just did a full rebuild on my Pike. Manual was really well written and the only special tool required was a bleed kit. Ordered parts and kit through my LBS Not sure what the big deal is on this forum! When I want to replace piston rings I need a ton of special tools, and I can't find service kits on the shelf at my local shop". FuzzyL Feb 2, at TheR Jan 29, at If the average comment section to any given product release or review were to be believed, everyone is snapping their frames every couple of months, and the rare times those frames are holding together, we're riding broken seat posts while braking with flames shooting out from our calipers and bits of tires disintegrating onto the trail as we roll.

Interesting to see the general reasonableness of the responses to the polls above belie the general insanity of the comment section. Or maybe my riding style goes toward smooth rather than smash. I don't race or try for Strava times, but I do ride a lot of slow speed techy lines. Are these supposed to not be slow speed techy lines? Either way, I like the way I ride feels, and it saves me money and shop time. Now go break some shit.

Trying to go faster. Trying to get better in the turns. Maybe I should just get a bell and some steamers. I had a good laugh at this. So true. I agree with dcaf too. I am riding an arguably cross country bike on some pretty gnarly stuff and don't seem to consume parts like others. I'm thinking it has to do a bit with rider weight.

I'm not the heaviest guy. I also think I ride reasonably smooth. I think that comes from a childhood of riding cheap crappy hardtail bikes though. You learn to soak up hits pretty quick if the alternative means bent cranks and bars that won't get replaced until you grow out of the bike.

Now we just need Taj to do a drawing of this. I'm lbs and ride harder and much more frequently than my lb buddy. Guess who breaks more parts? Not the stringbean. I sometimes preface my comments with, "it could be I'm just not rad enough But as a rule, I just don't break parts. Parts have broken, for sure. A lot of derailleur hangers, and I beat up my back wheel pretty good.

But by and large, I don't consistently break parts to say that any part in particular is a problem. GZMS Jan 29, at I think i ride pretty smooth, and trails arent very rough.. I'm two bills and the guy I ride with is He not only goes over stuff without leaving a mark, he constantly reminds me that he doesn't know what it's like to have stuff wear out. I'm a big dude and there are things I destroy. Like hubs, I can't ride most hubs.

Pretty much anything but dts fall apart hydras have had to be serviced twice this year, bearings and a damaged pawl. That said, I don't break rims. I ride solid rims built carefully and well previously Dt welded, now wer1.

I also don't kill tires funnily enough. I have a buddy who goons through stuff heels down, and at lb needs double down plus inserts, or full double ply to make it through a half season without killing his sidewall. I've also killed a few frames, but that's just a function of riding hard or a crappy nail.

They always die while I'm climbing. It's infuriating. I twice popped the axle on a hope. My two cents. I don't kill them quickly either, but we ride more local xc and hiking trails. I used to kill multiple hubs a year until I got a Hope. Love that hub. BenTheSwabian Jan 31, at People still have ridicuolous ideas about those. I'm putting about 8.

Regular and thorough maintenance will do that for your. Turns out your things last a lot longer if you're nice to them. The majority of people are NOT breaking things, and don't really need all these changes in standards. It's just a way for brands to offer something new and exciting?

SeanC1 : all of this things are incremental improvements, that makes bikes better and better, to purchase or not - that is consumer option. Based on the answers y'all complain way too much on here for how happy you are with your parts. And why is everyone saying they are happy with the durability of every part?

OldDert Jan 29, at And its clearly fine? Unless you're one of the three hundo pound club boys snapping frames all day. BiNARYBiKE : why not to be happy, majority parts of intermediate level works well for multiple seasons of riding, sure wear and tear have less life, so it is expected, u change tires on ur car ones in while, and in case u race u change them quite often Any commuter bike tire will last huge amount of miles, high performance grippy dh tire 5 days. Swangarten Feb 1, at Swangarten : I think you're completely mistaken.

Pinkbike is clearly a massive source of information for the industry. Why do you think thy try to get us take these polls? Swangarten Feb 3, at If you get married and have kids they will last a whole lot longer RonSauce Jan 29, at Mattgc Jan 29, at Timescales are mostly meaninglessness from one rider to another, mileage is what really counts.

MDRipper Jan 29, at Offrhodes Jan 29, at MDRipper : This is very important to help understand the answers above. How often do people do the simple things of cleaning your bike, lubing the chain, and even check the lube in your freewheel? Minor upkeep can make a huge difference. Naero Jan 29, at I'd disagree, I think hours ridden would tell much more but who really logs that accurately? Also, spreading your activities over different bikes will also distort any signals.

However, overall you just need a big enough sample size to see trends. It's not science, after all. Our miles, trails, elevations are all different. Our selection of bike vs terrain is different. Our years are all the same.

Time makes the most sense. I'd like that to be combo'd with 'are you a masochist that slays winter trails in the pissing rain and gets back to the carpark with no legibility of the bikes colour, shape or tire choice'.

Miles to elevation ratios. You can do 50 miles with little climbing that is a cake walk compared to 10 miles with a ton of steep climbs. Miles are mostly meaningless. Cased jumps and big rocks are what really count. Conditions and maintenance. Salted roads can kill a lot of stuff. Altron Jan 30, at Rider weight is a big factor. Riding style too. Some people need new rims all the time. But then road miles barely touch anything but tyres, likewise "traditional" cross country, especially in climates that are drier than what I can see out of my window right now!

A friend got 30, miles out of a road bottom bracket KoenigKalle Jan 29, at Replacing cassettes, chainrings and pulleys has become crazy expensive. Doesn't matter if Road or Mountain Bike - drivetrain is the biggest cost factor, by far. Steel chainring. Is a Normatec really worth it? Affordable Recovery Boots from Amazon. Ventum Official Ventum Owners Thread. Ok Fishes, here is the interview we were all waiting for!! August Fish thread 10k swim training.

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View Results. Login required to started new threads Login required to post replies. How long do Ultegra components last on road bike? Quote Reply. Post 1 of 31 views. If these are well cared for, how long should one expect to get out these?

How many miles or years? Re: How long do Ultegra components last on road bike? Post 2 of 31 views. Well maintained, with regular replacement of chain, pullys, chain rings the things that wear , it will last years and years! Steve Fleck stevefleck Blog. Post 3 of 31 views. My road bike is Ultegra from , still works great.

There are wear parts like chainrings, but the shifters and derailleurs should last virtually forever. Just clean then occasionally and keep them lubed.

Post 4 of 31 views. My Trek with Ultrega is still going strong with minimal mantainence. Most likely you will be tired of the bike before you wear out your components.