Tuesday 26 October 2010

Grandfather's axe

The old bike is starting to resemble grandfather's axe. I looked at it this week and the only original components that I can identify are the seat and the frame.

  • Two front wheel rebuilds
  • Forks and handlebars replaced after crash
  • Two rear wheel rebuilds
  • New pedals (wore the old ones out)
  • New drive train (several times over)
  • New bearings on just about everything
  • Three bike computers (funnily enough, computers exposed to lots of rain do have a tendency to die after a while)
  • Multiple cable changes
  • New brake calipers
  • Multiple layers of handlebar tape and changes of hoods
  • Several bike pumps
I've now spent more on replacement parts than I spent on the original bike. Still, considering it's done over 20,000km, that's not bad. At the last service, I worked out that if I had paid another thousand bucks, I could have had a brand new bike.

I have also discovered why from time to time, the wheel rims explode. Because the brake pads grip the rim to slow you down, over time, they wear away at the rim. I've worn my rims down so much from braking, they get to the point where they can't handle the pressure any more and they go boom.

3 comments:

Richard_H said...

BOAB
RE. rims and brake pads. I know I've cursed the UCI on a couple of times, pulling up on a steep hill when it's a bit wet, for not allowing disk brakes on road bikes.... I have to say, that's the biggest change from a MTB to a roadie is the way you grasp the brake levers on a road bike.

I had a big service the other week too. The bike was getting a bit creaky. Made things run a wee bit sweeter.

Boy on a bike said...

My bike could be renamed "Whispering death" after the rebuild. Previously, it was louder than AC/DC live in concert.

Richard_H said...

Ahh, the sound of bearings properly coated in grease, in tight housings.