Cycling UK Forum

hub gears Alfine 11 or rohloff need an oil change yearly Older 8 and 7 needed grease about once a year Ifyou combine with a belt you might have what you want

with regards to greasy chain etc could you not just adopt a quick maintenance procedure rather than loads of annoying jobs?

I ride a specialized allez and although i'm an engineer I'm not one for doing loads of maintenance on my bike - the frame and fork are guarenteed so thats an easy fix

Wheels - i'm going to be upgrading to Fulcrum racing 5s, nice cost and very reliable from reviews so thats one more thing less to fail

Tyres - Upgrading to continental gatorskins which have excellent longevity reviews so should reduce puntures

Groupset - I have a full tiagra groupset which whilst is a derailure system, it's quite hardy and as such have had no problems as yet.

Chain grease - once every couple of weeks I stick a towel on my frame and blast the chain with Muc-off chain cleaner and take all the crud off, re lube with wet lube and job done in all of 10 mins and no dirty grease marks on my legs, much of that "black grease" marks you find is actually dirt in the grease not the grease itself - remove the dirt, remove the black

Whilst I see what your getting at, I'm not sure you can actually get to a maintenance free bike level but maybe with research ((and helpfull forumers ) your can get to a low maintenance level

Claireysmurf wrote:I am astounded by the levels of maintenance some people give their bikes and personally I have no interest in doing anything to a bike at all.
I was looking at an offer by Evans cycles for the Trek Soho 2010 (belt drive, hub brakes, NEXUS hub gear IIRC) and that sounded great. However reviews online sound very mixed about its reliability.
I am forever getting oil on my legs from carrying my bike through the house and my levels of drivetrain dirt related anxiety are rising (1500+ miles and no attention at all...oops). The brakes on my bike (Dawes Clubman) are mediocre at best too.

Do you have any suggestions for an off the shelf bike that is durable and needs minimal servicing (I think this thread picks up on other recent ones by the way).

I am assuming 11 speed Alfine hubs have settled down now
Disc brakes - but hydraulic or cable?
Ideally belt drive
Puncture resistant
Dynamo buily in preferably
Tourer or Audax-ish

I favour bikes with a nippy feel, a gents frame (I am a big lass), low rolling resistance to the wheels/tyres. Is this an unreasonable request?

Well keep everything as simple as possible. One reason I ditched dérailleurs was because of the dirt they collect (almost immediately) and extreme difficulty in cleaning them. So hub gears are a must in this respect. Definitely NOT hydraulic brakes. Unless you're into serious offroading and want to stop on a sixpence they're far too difficult to maintain over a cable brake and much more expensive. Dynamos are not as trouble free actually as battery lights. The cap wears out on the tyre and starts slipping leaving you with on/off lighting or none at all and if they use the frame itself as the return path to the dynamo eventually one of the joints through which the current has to flow (such as where the bottle bolts to the frame) will rust or get dirty and interrupt the current flow. That's what causes bulbs to blow and the light to go on and off. Other than that what else can you do. If you want to ride and ride without maintenance I think you're on a loser. Personally I hate a dirty ill maintained bike and spend a lot of time keeping it up to spec and looking good. If it looks good it's more of a pleasure to ride and keeps up your own interest in it. Really all you can do is womanup and start doing your own maintenance or cough up and start paying your LBS.

I have to admit I love parking my nice shiny bike with all the bits nicely tuned and well oiled alongside some no hopers wreck of a machine.

Just kidding..

Ayesha wrote:oxymoron

How do you say that?
I heard a man in tweed say it ocks-zimmeron, but everything on the Internet indicates it is as you would expect, oxy-moron. Has it changed?

I do some of my own maintenance, it just feel like it is needed too frequently. Since February:

Changed saddle. Saddle then slipped repeatedly due to poor design of seat post until a ridiculous amount of torque used (mating surfaces have no grips)
Added a carrier rack (Tredz). Just lost a bolt from it, all other bolts loose (been on 3 weeks)
Gears adjusted by LBS - now indexing slightly off for downshifts on front changer
3 punctures (repaired by me)
New stem raiser added (LBS) - problems of creaking and cracking noises to be investigated. Stem raiser to handlebars worked loose a few times but noise remains. Feeling of lost motion somewhere in headset.
Brakes have never felt inspiring - need adjustment every 200 miles or so
Rear wheel trued
Chain and drivetrain wiped down and lubricated a number of times but chain not off so far


Bike has been cleaned regularly and looks very smart!

I assume this is a fairly typical example of a modern bike ownership experience and looking at the accounts of others I guess it is a pretty good experience over 1500+ miles but I can't help thinking it could be better. Part of the problem has been replacement parts (one LBS, Tredz, me) not being fitted right first time or needing twiddling afterwards

Claireysmurf wrote:I do some of my own maintenance, it just feel like it is needed too frequently. Since February:

Changed saddle. Saddle then slipped repeatedly due to poor design of seat post until a ridiculous amount of torque used (mating surfaces have no grips)
Added a carrier rack (Tredz). Just lost a bolt from it, all other bolts loose (been on 3 weeks)
Gears adjusted by LBS - now indexing slightly off for downshifts on front changer
3 punctures (repaired by me)
New stem raiser added (LBS) - problems of creaking and cracking noises to be investigated. Stem raiser to handlebars worked loose a few times but noise remains. Feeling of lost motion somewhere in headset.
Brakes have never felt inspiring - need adjustment every 200 miles or so
Rear wheel trued
Chain and drivetrain wiped down and lubricated a number of times but chain not off so far


Bike has been cleaned regularly and looks very smart!

I assume this is a fairly typical example of a modern bike ownership experience and looking at the accounts of others I guess it is a pretty good experience over 1500+ miles but I can't help thinking it could be better. Part of the problem has been replacement parts (one LBS, Tredz, me) not being fitted right first time or needing twiddling afterwards

I'm surprised you've had to do that much. Your wheels should not need retruing for thousands of miles unless you're habitually using very bad roads or have rims that are too lightweight or maybe broken or badly adjusted spokes. Likewise your brakes needing taking up after two hundred miles doesnt sound right. What's the state of your rims? The only way to clean a chain is to take it off put it in a tub of spirits overnight and clean it using an old toothbrush. Wiping off the dirt does hardy anything in terms of increased efficiency. Why you've had trouble with the saddle and seatpost I dont know. Mine is a simple round clamp and it doesnt slip. If the bolts worked loose from your new carrier they werent done up tight enough in the first place. Congrats on the punctures. You could use the Marathon 'plus' tyres that have a kevlar belt that is puncture proof. I dont know how true that is but I've had a pair that so far havent punctured in 2000m. But they are heavier. Your headset needs investigating by your LBS. Something is definitely wrong there.

ukdodger wrote: The only way to clean a chain is to take it off put it in a tub of spirits overnight and clean it using an old toothbrush. Wiping off the dirt does hardy anything in terms of increased efficiency.

Oh yeah!

Is that statistically proven or just your personal preference?

Since getting a Tout Terrain Metropolitan in September it has certainly met my requirements for an almost zero maintenance 365 days a year commuter. Review here: http://www.combingmyhair.com/?p=1075

However, it wouldn't do for audaxing as it is way too heavy. I think the combination of hub gear, belt drive, dynamo lights and disc brakes is the right one - just not aware of anyone building this combination into a lighter frame just yet.

ukdodger wrote:Dynamos are not as trouble free actually as battery lights. The cap wears out on the tyre and starts slipping leaving you with on/off lighting or none at all and if they use the frame itself as the return path to the dynamo eventually one of the joints through which the current has to flow (such as where the bottle bolts to the frame) will rust or get dirty and interrupt the current flow. That's what causes bulbs to blow and the light to go on and off.

Nowdays none of that is true...
Hub dynamos have no cap to wear out the tyre, they cannot slip.
Dual wired lights are the norm.
Voltage regulation circuits mean than lamp failures are rare - even rarer with LEDs...

I know some parts of your post were TiC

I have to take issue with the advice to avoid hydraulic disc brakes. My commuter has discs and other than a new front pad have required zero maintenance in over 6000 miles. I recently bled my mtb discs, after 5 years of mucky off road use, which was pretty straightforward too. They are cheap as chips too, if you cannot be bothered bleeding them after 5 years, a quality set can be found for under £100...

I have had a couple of moments commuting where the power of discs has been handy, although the rear disc is superfluous on a road bike and I would likely choose a coaster rear/disc front for my next bike.

Oh and biologic freedrive an alternative to belt drive for keeping oil at bay? Personally I found that just going to hub gear more or less eliminated oil stains as the chain doesn't flap around when you're carrying the bike.

johnb wrote:

ukdodger wrote: The only way to clean a chain is to take it off put it in a tub of spirits overnight and clean it using an old toothbrush. Wiping off the dirt does hardy anything in terms of increased efficiency.

Oh yeah!

Is that statistically proven or just your personal preference?

yeah seems a bit much, I don't see how i'm not increasing efficiency with my current cleaning routine. it may not be as good as taking it off and dunking as you suggest but I can DEFINATELY tell the difference

johnb wrote:

ukdodger wrote: The only way to clean a chain is to take it off put it in a tub of spirits overnight and clean it using an old toothbrush. Wiping off the dirt does hardy anything in terms of increased efficiency.

Oh yeah!

Is that statistically proven or just your personal preference?

Ok what's your's?

[XAP]Bob wrote:

ukdodger wrote:Dynamos are not as trouble free actually as battery lights. The cap wears out on the tyre and starts slipping leaving you with on/off lighting or none at all and if they use the frame itself as the return path to the dynamo eventually one of the joints through which the current has to flow (such as where the bottle bolts to the frame) will rust or get dirty and interrupt the current flow. That's what causes bulbs to blow and the light to go on and off.

Nowdays none of that is true...
Hub dynamos have no cap to wear out the tyre, they cannot slip.
Dual wired lights are the norm.
Voltage regulation circuits mean than lamp failures are rare - even rarer with LEDs...

I know some parts of your post were TiC

Of course hub dynamos dont. I'm talking about bottles. But hub dynamos do though increase rolling resistance because the magnets are permanently engaged. You can release a bottle. Voltage reg circuits work to a point and dual wiring isnt the norm.

Hudson1984 wrote:

johnb wrote:

ukdodger wrote: The only way to clean a chain is to take it off put it in a tub of spirits overnight and clean it using an old toothbrush. Wiping off the dirt does hardy anything in terms of increased efficiency.

Oh yeah!

Is that statistically proven or just your personal preference?

yeah seems a bit much, I don't see how i'm not increasing efficiency with my current cleaning routine. it may not be as good as taking it off and dunking as you suggest but I can DEFINATELY tell the difference

That's right. It's a question of how thoroughly you want to do your cleaning.

ukdodger wrote:

[XAP]Bob wrote:

ukdodger wrote:Dynamos are not as trouble free actually as battery lights. The cap wears out on the tyre and starts slipping leaving you with on/off lighting or none at all and if they use the frame itself as the return path to the dynamo eventually one of the joints through which the current has to flow (such as where the bottle bolts to the frame) will rust or get dirty and interrupt the current flow. That's what causes bulbs to blow and the light to go on and off.

Nowdays none of that is true...
Hub dynamos have no cap to wear out the tyre, they cannot slip.
Dual wired lights are the norm.
Voltage regulation circuits mean than lamp failures are rare - even rarer with LEDs...

I know some parts of your post were TiC

Of course hub dynamos dont. I'm talking about bottles. But hub dynamos do though increase rolling resistance because the magnets are permanently engaged. You can release a bottle. Voltage reg circuits work to a point and dual wiring isnt the norm.

But you failed to specify that you were only talking about one type of dynamo. There are hubs that can be disengaged, but I'm not sure why - the resistance is equivalent to about a 1 in 1000 or 1 in 1500 hill i.e. none.
Voltage regulation circuits and LEDs work very well - I've not heard of a (prematurely) failed dynamo light recently, have you?

The reason I'd suggest that dual wiring is the norm is that it came delivered as standard with every piece of lighting kit I looked at.