Hope Ceramic BB cured my final painpoint. Not had any BBs that lasrted as well as the good old UN52 (I don’t hold with loose bearings :-))

Nokon cables are good too, a new inner every couple of years and they keep going strong.

I think rear shocks have bushings rather than bearings is that the bushings are doing exactly what they are supposed to do – wear out, so something simple & cheap is replaced. Takes about 20 minutes to do on my superlight and most of that is finding something to listen to on the radio.

I’d love to give Alfine a shot someday.

Look on the bright side OP, least you haven’t had the change your pivot bearings yet 🙂

So to summarise some people break stuff, some people don’t, some have stuff wear out, others have stuff last forever. I guess the lesson is that there is no such thing as a typical mountain biker. I know that my idea of mountain biking is probably substantially different to the majority. It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong, just different. For me, maps and mountains are where it’s at and I’d expect that to be harder on kit than gentle pootles along a canal or spins round trail centres.

In the last few months, I’ve worn out two bottom brackets, had to replace the bushings twice on my Turner in a five to six month period (though Greg at Turner very kindly sent me a bushing kit FOC so two big thumbs up for Greg!), snapped two 10 speed chains repeatedly to the point of them being too short to use, torn a tyre sidewall, bent two hangers, had my left hand XTR shifter seize then mysteriously start working several days later, broken two helmets, bent an XTR rear mech though I do not recall actually hitting anything to cause it, lost a significant number of studs off my properly bedded in ice tyres, broken my front rim, worn out a saddle down to the foam inner when the stitching has worn out, had my seven week old 105 STI lever seize solid on my Fargo, worn out jockey wheels etc etc etc. Come to think of it, the metal covers on my Time pedals have fallen off and my Gravity Dropper needs a factory rebuild after the cable mount detached from the post. It’s a mixture of crashes and general wearing out through use.

For me, that’s a fairly typical level of wear. The more you ride, the more things wear out.

It’s an expensive game this mountain biking malarky! 😀

I regularly strip and lubricate my bike

It’s much safer with your clothes on.

All the bottom brackets in our house have simultaneously exploded. It could be as a result of winter just ending I’m not sure, I’ve still got one left to sort and I think we’re good again. It’s generally just that and brake pads/bleeding every now and then.

We don’t really fall off or push it enough to break things.

I’d say buy more bikes, you’ll split your riding and comparatively you’ll feel like they’re lasting longer!

if you use any thing hard it’ll break sooner or later ,used to go on an odd car track day ,could soon kill the brakes and destroy tyres that would last months under normal use.
motocross bikes nearly as bad lucky not to blow up a motor during a season ,at the end of the day make an item more performance orientated ,lighter ,faster etc it will break/wear out a whole lot faster especially if it’s not looked after,i think mtb kits pretty good in general ,mechs ,hangers breaking is just bad luck.

I’m not a fanatical bike cleaner, as a general rule of thumb if it moves lube it (I’m talking bicycles here). Cleaning is good because it means that you are looking the bike over. Shimano hubs aren’t great but keep ’em clean and greased and they will last. I had a run on pro II hub bearings when the sun came out, jetwash/high pressure hose + degrease + winter storage = fail.

My 2p worth…

1 . Shimano hubs aren’t the best
2. As above
3. As above
4. Good move
5. I trust you bought a Hope BB too?
6. Chains break, which is why you should carry a chaintool, but they also benefit from a little care. Keep it clean, lubed and the gears adjusted. Buy a wear indicator tool to change your chain before you need to change the whole drivetrain.
7 . It happens, but see above.
6 . Mechs only bend if you hit them, if the wheel is very flexy, or if your gears aren’t set up. I’ve broken week old mechs, but also have others which have lasted more than 15yrs.
7. See above
8. See above
9. Tell me about it. this is why I ride a hardtail.
10. Learn to service your own bits if you can afford the time.
11. Pedal pins break if you hit them. If you smash your pedals a lot, they will fail. This is why people spend >£100 on pedals. If you are smashing your pedals, it’s a fair chance that the rest of the bike is taking a pasting too…
12. Have you told NASA or sold it to the Chinese?
13. Not a fan of Avid brakes, but not a big fan of Hope either, unless the new ones are better.
14. Make sure you bed them in properly. Don’t drag your brakes.
15. Meh.
16. Not a fan of this Fox issue… it sucks. It’s not the case for other manufacturers…
17 Good move. I’d rate Bonty hubs slightly below Shimano…
18. If you have slit outers (ie not continuous, full length outer) you can lube your cables without undoing a bolt everytime you wash your bike, which you do once a week right?

Don’t think I’ve ever broken a mech or anything like that. in 2 months of riding at Whistler bike park ansd th e surrounding area the only damage to my bike was a snapped spoke. Fork did need new seals halfway through but think they may have been on their way out anyway..