I did a quick calc the other day, how much I have spent maintaining my gravel bike over it's 6 year life. I built it for £1700 in 2020 but I reckon I've spent over £2k maintaining it, this is purely materials costs only as I do the labour myself. This came as a surprise to me as I thought it would be closer to £1k. I suppose circa £300 per year ain't bad for a bike that does several thousand KMs per year in all weathers.
Breakdown below:
| Wheels - Superstar components | 1 |
| Bontrager wheelset (used) | 1 |
| Hunt wheelset | 1 |
| Wheel tape, valves and latex | 1 |
| Replacement gear shifter | 1 |
| Hope brake calipers (F&R) | 1 |
| Bottom bracket | 8 |
| Disc brake rotors | 4 |
| Headset bearings | 1 |
| Chains | 10 |
| Chainrings | 2 |
| Cassette | 2 |
| Gear cable | 2 |
| Jockey wheels | 3 |
| Mech hanger | 2 |
| Brake pads | 6 |
| Pedals | 1 |
| Bartape | 3 |
| Tyres | 6 |
How much does your bike cost you per year?
10 chains and 8 bottom brackets in 6 years? This must be used in all weathers including volcanic eruption by the sounds of it.
A Marin Gestalt X11 that I got in January 2022. I've replaced the original wheels with Hopes, and replaced the drivetrain once, putting GRX 810 on it. Probably change brake pads once every 6 months, roughly and tyres maybe once a year or slightly less. (I remember three changes of tyres.) Two BBs iirc. It has done 8200 miles in those four years, all through the year, often commuting, often carrying loads for bikepacking, etc, and probably cost me less than £1k - I rarely pay RRP.
10 chains and 8 bottom brackets in 6 years? This must be used in all weathers including volcanic eruption by the sounds of it.
Also three additional wheelsets and two mech hangers? My original bar-tape is looking a little tatty, but three in 6 years? What are you doing to this bike? Genuine Q - what actual mileage have you done on it?
I guess the hope calipers are an upgrade, rather than a straight maintenance item?
Thanks for reminding me that chain waxing is worth it. And also that cheap does not mean good value.
Why would anyone do this?
This is my partner's account, isn't it?
I cannot remember the last time I needed parts buying. Literally years ago.
My good bike has a rohloff. Still on the original chain after 8 000 miles. I did put new brake pads in a couple of years ago I do have two sets of tyres both of which are getting worn. Its all hope tho so sealed bearings and has not been heavily used
Road bike - built up of loads of old parts dating back to the 30s 🙂 It had new tyres a couple of years ago. 3 spd SA hub. The chains been on there years. thousands of miles of usage, rear tyre is getting worn and will need replacing this year
e bike - probably had the most usage. Chain and cassette is still the original but now badly worn. Brake pads are worn. spent precisely zero on it in several years but its going to need a couple of hundred spent soon
using IGH, putoline on chains and hope brakes with sintered pads means very long life. I haven't replaced a BB, headset or wheel bearings for many years ( high quality sealed bearings), chains last many thousands of miles, ditto brake pads.
What the hell are you doing wrong to get through 3 wheel sets, all them BB’s and chains ??
Also by the time I wear jockey wheels out, I may as well just buy a new mech, that’s possibly once every 10 years. Jockey wheels are expensive compared to mechs
6 years and 45k km on my gravel commuter:
2 full drivetrain refreshes £450
2 disc rotors £50
8 tyres £280
4 additional chains £80
3 sets of pads £35
2 lots of bar tape £30
1 handlebar £50
£975 or ~£160/y. Sounds about right to me.
Upgrading stuff is not the same as maintaining stuff. I get that chains wear out but that must be serious miles, and 3 sets of wheels, did they break or did you fancy new ones?
I don't think that's too bad for a high milage road/gravel bike, apart from the wheels which sound more like upgrades.
If it's one bike ridden all year rather than an n+1 then <12months isn't bad for a BB. I only ever used to get ~2years in the Peak from a UN72 and we all know external BB's aren't as good for longevity.
Callipers can/do fail, especially it seems with road salt. I've seen flat-mount callipers with scarily corroded bolts and callipers.
Chains though, just get into hot waxing. I actually suspect that waxed chains last so long they wear the cassette out before the tool says so. I've had skipping issues at <0.5% that required a full drivetrain, but its after years & 1000's of miles.
I think we need to look also at Didnthurt's parallel thread about bike bits that we break - similar story over there too.
I have replaced RD x1, chainx3, chain ring and cassette x1, BB x2, headset bearings x2, rear wheel bearings x2, pads x4 in 5000km of all weathers including claggy Sussex clay. All wear and tear, except NX RD that harikiri'd itself into the spokes.
Reckon that's max £300
Chains though, just get into hot waxing
I'd rather just buy chains tbh
its really not much effort. Use a cheap slow cooker, sluice the old wax off with boiling water, dunk and leave for while.
do more than one chain at a time while the wax is hot. Simples.
its really not much effort. Use a cheap slow cooker, sluice the old wax off with boiling water, dunk and leave for while.
do more than one chain at a time while the wax is hot. Simples.
I've never really found (with Putoline) a temperature where it seems to not leave a mess on the outside and I worry I've either overheated it at some point and boiled the good bits out or underheated it and it hasn't gone in properly.
I did run it for a while but I just didn't seem to get the fabled long life and it just seemed to attract filth. Maybe I'd have been better with proper bicycle hot wax.
Yes! Proper hot wax is a world away from putoline
Yes! Proper hot wax is a world away from putoline
sounds to me like a lot more faff and not as good from discussions on here
🤣
its really not much effort. Use a cheap slow cooker, sluice the old wax off with boiling water, dunk and leave for while.
do more than one chain at a time while the wax is hot. Simples.
You've made it sound like far more effort than lubing a chain every couple of rides and ordering a new one online when it's worn out TBF 🤣
How much does your bike cost you per year?
I have a separate account with a fortnightly budget that amounts to approximately 600GBP/year. That covers two mtbs riding a combined 4-5000km/yr. I do all my own maintenance, apart from suspension services (beyond lowers).
... And it's never enough 🙄
I reckon i get through a lot more tyres than anything else.
I can’t see hotwaxing would work for me… I just use loads of squirt applied often and it keeps the chain clean and chains last longer using squirt than anything else I have found.
Wax (Silca) vs lube (Viking Juice) has made no difference to my chain wear and I’d say waxing is a little bit more faff for the commuter, but no more oily legs and mess.
I change chains regularly as I run multiple wheelsets and don’t want inconsistent drivetrain performance. I ride quite hard at 240-300w average (power meter) so the drivetrain is worked equally hard.
In 45k km+ riding all year round, minimum 3 days a week for 2 hours a day in all conditions, I’ve not had to replace a single bearing in anything - not wheels, headset or BB. Chris King for the win.
I reckon on £250 parts and labour each for the 3 bikes that get used a lot, and £100 for the other two. Don't do anything beyond replacing chains myself, got a good local mechanic for most stuff and an LBS for anything he can't do.
New chain and lower headset bearing each spring (£25) is the only thing I actually need. The beauty of riding a brakeless fixed gear.
However, I spend loads each year just changing things that don't really need changing just because I like to...
but I reckon I've spent over £2k maintaining it,My highest mileage bike that i still use (something like 5-6000 km a year, average) is 15-16 years old, and at last check i'd spent about £1800 on actual maintenance (everything from chains and brake pads to partial driveline replacements and new/rebuilt wheels). And about £3-400 making adjustments to suit it's use (Racks, bigger tyres, lower gears, new pedal system). Obviously some overlap.
My lowest mileage bike has probably had that in upgrades in the last 2-3 years. And about £30 in maintenance. Can't maintain stuff that you take off half way through it's useful life and move to another bike...
At the other end of the spectrum, when i was paying for my own kit and racing on and off road i was spending about £3-4k a year just in wear parts and replacements.
Maintenance is fine if you do it yourself. If it’s used nearly every day in all weathers it’s to be expected. My gravel bike is my first choice 99% of rides. So far I have ridden 24 days this month, February, and just getting ready for ride 25. Only one ride on my road bike as the gravel trails are so much nicer.
The Revolt is not even 2 years old. I’ve gone through a lot of chains, 12 speed flat top, probably about 8, 2 sets of tyres and a set of brake pads per chain change. Somehow the timing is always about the same.
Just now I’m gathering parts for a March refresh. New tyres, chain, jockey wheels and big chainring plus cassette. Will probably need new front brake pads. Not sure about the BB, it seems fine will check it when I have the chainset off. It’s still on the original headset.
To my mind this is just expected if you ride most days in all weather conditions. On a turbo nothing seems to wear out. So all you Swift or Rouvy riders going on about a chain lasting you a year it’s not comparable.
I’m at about a chain and cassette every 1000 miles on my off-road commuting e-bike, new chainring every other time, jockey wheels maybe every fourth time. And brake pads as required. Tyres last quite a while. Grips do me a few years. Saddle is original (in its 8th year!) but I do stand up a lot. Mech or dropper cable occasionally. I have a feeling a wheel bearing got changed once (my LBS does it) but I think that’s it, the bearings just go on and on. Thinking I might service my Vaults, might have added grease at some time but I really can’t remember… Hope refurbed the brakes last year.
That’s about 8500 miles of daily commuting in all weathers, off-road for a good chunk of the route, usually covered in mud (particularly this winter!) only washed if I need to take it to my LBS, so probably less than once a year.
(I’ve tried Putoline, and Squirt, but they can’t handle the amount of mud and leaves and grass and rain. Wet lube seems the least bad solution. But riding a steep commute on a full power ebike when you’re an impatient single-speeder is always going to be hard on a drivetrain!)
Ah, the fork! That’s been the biggest cost. 160mm Lyrik creaked and failed damper after 3 years. Crown-steerer joint creaked again 3 years later. The next time it happened I bought a 170mm Fox 38, which is holding up for now…
If I drove a car like this it would never survive (jump, jump, drop, berm, huck, slide, etc)! Bottomed out my 170mm fork and the front tyre on the rim (DONK!!!) doing an ill-advised huck on the way in yesterday…
So based on that (assuming my last post appears!) I’d recommend cleaning and lubing your chain for max drivetrain life, and not washing the rest of your bike, especially with a hose or, god forbid, a jet washer, if you want your bearings to last.
(I forgot to add the sealant - that must add up!)
So based on that (assuming my last post appears!) I’d recommend cleaning and lubing your chain for max drivetrain life, and not washing the rest of your bike, especially with a hose or, god forbid, a jet washer, if you want your bearings to last.
Plus IGH if you want real good chain life and low replacement costs
According to Strava, it's done 12,820km. Probably a few more kms that I've not recorded.
This is all weathers all year round, off-road in the local Scottish slop as well as been used on a fair few 100km+ rides and has even been used at about 10 cx races, maybe a few more.
Not sure if that's a lot for a lightweight aluminium cx bike.
For context, this is what my bike typically looks like after a ride. The last four were after a cx race where there were a couple of snapped chains, so pretty tough going. 
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One of the many life answers I'm happy to stay oblivious to is "how much does your bike cost to run?" 😀
TBH I'm frugal by nature and always seek out bargains, so I'm happy that I'm minimising costs where possible. I keep tabs on when I replace components but that's as much as I want to know...
Chains though, just get into hot waxing
I'd rather just buy chains tbh
Been there, done that, gone back to chains and normal lubing. Bought all the kit and started with MSW with topping up with Ceramic Speed UFO, but simply not durable enough for my riding. But I was keen to try for myself.
Hot waxing is too much faff for me (and my bike 😄) but then some people love to faff about. If it works for some then so be it.
Bought my Cotic Escapade frame in October 2016. It's used as a commuter, tourer and gets some off road stuff. It's running Tiagra 3x10 4700 series and Mavic Open Sport wheels on XT hubs. It's done around 6000km in Scotland in all conditions. I do have a spare set of wheels though with studded tyres for when it's icy. they get used for maybe around 30 commutes a year.
In that time the running costs are, ermm, some bar tape, a couple of inner tubes, two tyres and I changed the brakes from BB7's to TRY HYRDS because the rear brake is mounted on the chainstay and where it sticks out my heel was catching. That's it.
The chain went past 0.75% after a year but I just keep running it and it changes fine, it's now about 3% elongated. I've never cleaned it, just add more lube when it looks dry. I do chip the dried stuff off the jockey wheels occasionally. Never opened the hubs and they are still totally smooth, all cables as originally installed. Original BB still smooth. Headset still fine and it's so long since I built it I have no idea what it it. Probably FSA.
I do need new brake pads though.
That chain sounds about ready to 'pop!'