Poor maintenance

[Neilo]

I did a Sportive yesterday, the Tour of Pembrokeshire. Lovely day, nice ride, everything is stiff today.
But the overwhelming thing that I noticed yesterday was that a large amount of the people I saw, are either unable are can't be bothered to do even simple maintenance on their bikes.
So many people came past me, I'm not that fast, with rattles, creaks, strange noises and my pet hate, when it happens to me I have to sort it straight away, ticking derailleurs.
Just an observation, not having a rant, didn't spoil my day. No noise coming from my bike, apart from the huffing and puffing of the rider.

[Stradageek]

I wonder how much is due to all the zero maintenance kit we now possess. I remember a BBC programme that picked a newbie cyclist to train for an Etape. He broke a chain at one point and complained "I have a big complex car that only goes to the garage once a year - yet I have to service this (racing) bike every two weeks!"

I also had a 20-ish year old stop outside my garage as I was 'maintaining' a bike yesterday and ask I'd look at his bike as something had broken. He brought his bike round and basically it had been trashed purely from zero maintenance. The un-oiled chain had snarled the derailleur and broken the gear hanger and the derailleur arm, and the front brake was non functional simply because the cable had dropped out of the lever. No attempt at maintenance had even been contemplated.

Fortuantely I had an old MTB going spare which I swapped for his wreck - I wonder how long the replacement will last

[DaveP]

It's the modern way, innit?
A while back I was in one of my LBS's when a burly young chap in his twenties wandered in with what looked like a fairly up market mtb wheel in his hand. It transpired that he wanted the puncture fixed, in time for the weekend...
The shop in question has what seems to be a profitable side line in bike cleaning...
Many bicycles aren't the trusty " get you to work and out with your mates at the weekend" steeds of former days. They are more like pampered pets, bought for lotsacash and spending most of their time away from home being chauffeured to choice venues at the other end of the country.

Pack extra patches and start collecting brownie points?

[ANTONISH]

I'm always bemused by this inability to fix a puncture. How would he get on if he punctured while on a ride?
I learned to fix punctures as a child soon after the second world war. Virtually everybody cycled - few had cars. It was an everyday skill.
Perhaps it should be taught in school

[MikeF]

I'm always bemused by this inability to fix a puncture. How would he get on if he punctured while on a ride?
I learned to fix punctures as a child soon after the second world war. Virtually everybody cycled - few had cars. It was an everyday skill.
Perhaps it should be taught in school

Is it taught in Bikeability??

[ANTONISH]

I'm always bemused by this inability to fix a puncture. How would he get on if he punctured while on a ride?
I learned to fix punctures as a child soon after the second world war. Virtually everybody cycled - few had cars. It was an everyday skill.
Perhaps it should be taught in school

Is it taught in Bikeability??

Dunno Mick F but I think it ought to be.

[Lance Dopestrong]

Who cares, it's their bikes. I doubt their cars are maintained any better.

[Vantage]

Who cares, it's their bikes. I doubt their cars are maintained any better.

You'll care if one crashes his/her bike into you because they couldn't adjust the brakes.
Bikes are simple machines and the very basics of maintenance should be known to it's user. They are to a very large extent, user serviceable. Unlike modern cars.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

I'm always bemused by this inability to fix a puncture. How would he get on if he punctured while on a ride?
I learned to fix punctures as a child soon after the second world war. Virtually everybody cycled - few had cars. It was an everyday skill.
Perhaps it should be taught in school

Is it taught in Bikeability??

Dunno Mick F but I think it ought to be.

I am sure "Mick F" can fix flats
But will have to find the chain first

MikeF vs Mick F

[Lance Dopestrong]

You'll care if one crashes his/her bike into you because they couldn't adjust the brakes.
Bikes are simple machines and the very basics of maintenance should be known to it's user. They are to a very large extent, user serviceable. Unlike modern cars.

In half a century of cycling it ain't happened to me yet, so you'll forgive me if I don't work up a shiver over it.

Conversely, a lot of riders on immaculately maintained machines worth many thousands often ride like prats quite comfortably without the benefit of knackered bikes to help them.

[Tiberius]

What about when you have a quick spin on someone else's bike ???.....

My mate recently bought a second hand electric assisted bike, I was desperate to have a go on it. I had a quick look at it, it all looked there or thereabouts, and off I set. Within 50 yard I had sussed that the tyres were under inflated, the mech or twist shifter needed adjustment, the headset needed a nip and the brakes needed SERIOUS attention.

I told my mate what I thought. He said that there was nothing wrong with it and that I was an over picky so and so....

Maybe I am, but one hour in my garage and that thing would have been a different bike....

[Samuel D]

A cacophony of creaks and rattles is always present wherever there are groups of bicycles.

I suspect this has always been the case, but modern bicycles are more prone to making noise and, because they’re carbon with a large internal air space, amplifying any noise manyfold compared to skinny steel frames.

New bottom bracket standards are a common culprit, but there are many sources of trouble. Look at photos 1–8 in the gallery of the Trek Madone here. How could these contraptions not make noise after a couple of years of use?

Like you, Neilo, I can’t tolerate errant noise from my bicycle and fix it immediately if it arises.

Tiberius: it would have been a different bicycle for you, with your mechanical sympathy. But your mate may have barely noticed your improvements.

It comes down to mechanical understanding. If you know that a noise is not just a noise but the sound of components destroying themselves for want of maintenance, it changes your perception of that noise.

[Vantage]

In half a century of cycling it ain't happened to me yet, so you'll forgive me if I don't work up a shiver over it.

It does happen though...

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=75362

Conversely, a lot of riders on immaculately maintained machines worth many thousands often ride like prats quite comfortably without the benefit of knackered bikes to help them.

Aren't they called roadies?

[Lance Dopestrong]

I'm an hour older. It still ain't happened to me.

[Mick F]

I am sure "Mick F" can fix flats
But will have to find the chain first

MikeF vs Mick F