Over and above the usual wear and tear items of kit like: bearings, chains/drivetrain components, what kit do you seem to break more often than what you think you should?
1. Wheels. On my gravel bike I seem to destroy wheels. Rims, spokes, even hubs have given up the ghost after only a few months of local Scottish 'gravel' and I'm not particularly rotund, but maybe I'm just so badass or - more likely - a clumsy oath.
2. Saddles. I've snapped several saddles in my time, always aluminum/alloy or titanium. I try to stick to steel rails these days. Nobody likes to have to descend with an exposed seatpost, ready to tear you a new one at any moment.
3. Tyres. Tubeless are great right up until they aren't, and you get a spray of white gunk all up your back or even worse in the eye! Just like your informative teenage years, snake-bites are a bastard. See wheels above for same probable cause.
4. Seatposts. Always the ones that are not one piece, the cheap ones that come with your bike that you're too tight to swap to save the weight of a packet of Golden Wonders. One time, the remaining sharp edge sliced my waterproof shorts, but thankfully the family jewels remained untouched.
5. Handlebars. I try to buy stronger 7000 series bars but as I'm both tight and poor, I usually leave the stock bars on until I overcook a corner and leave my bars looking like they've been touched by Uri Geller. Never been brave enough to try carbon.
6. Bartape. I can make newly installed bartape look rather worn after a single ride. Thankfully they're cheap and I find replacing the tape quite therapeutic especially when enjoyed with a single malt and a bit of The Beta Band (other refreshments and 90's indie is also perfectly acceptable)
Strangely, consumable things like brake pads, cassettes and gear cables seem to last me ages.
I forgot to add thin long fingered gloves. They last as long as a teenage holiday romance.
I'm a serial rim dinger.
I should really look into inserts.
Flat pedals. From smashing into rocks, tree stumps etc. Nylons get mangled. Alloys, it’s the bearings or axle.
bottom brackets and rear hubs. I kill them despite low mileage. front hubs last for decades!, I can get through a Xt BB in a matter of about 6 months. rear hubs tend to last about a year before properly complaining.
everything else I'm actually pretty gentle on.
2. Saddles. I've snapped several saddles in my time, always aluminum/alloy or titanium. I try to stick to steel rails these days.Does anyone even make aluminium seatrails? Cromoly, Ti, stainless, chromed steel, solid/hollow, carbon...Aluminium seems to be a pretty poor choice!
I can get through a Xt BB in a matter of about 6 months.Face and chase, i used to get through them in under a year, road or MTB. Since sorting out the bottom bracket shells, i get at least 3 years. One of my MTBs (the most abused) it's been in there 7 or 8 years.
rear hubs tend to last about a year before properly complaining.I pop my Cup and Cone hubs apart after a couple of hundred miles and pack the hubs properly, the grease load from stock is ok for general road use/light offroad. But doubling or tripling the amount of grease will allow them to run for years. (also, don't degrease the cassette/chain on the bike!)
Face and chase, i used to get through them in under a year, road or MTB. Since sorting out the bottom bracket shells, i get at least 3 years. One of my MTBs (the most abused) it's been in there 7 or 8 years
yep, albeit not all of the frames I've had, but a few of them and it's not made much difference. BITD my go to was a royce BB, that would last a good few years. Still to try a Hope BB. the PF41 I have in my lapierre seems to be doing OK, little rough driveside after a couple of years but not to the point of any play.
I pop my Cup and Cone hubs apart after a couple of hundred miles and pack the hubs properly,
my old SLX Rc hub was a dream. lasted about 10 years. Generally cartridge are better for me, choosing SKF or the like really makes a difference. Though my current do it all bike has a XT rear hub. first thing I do with new cup and cone hubs is strip and regrease with decent quality marine grease, then repeat after a year. I found standard shimano grease was either lacking at the start or would go within a few months leaving me with a very pitted hub in no time.
Sorry didnthurt, but what the hell are you doing to your bikes? Is there some underground demolition derby crit racing scene in your neck of the woods?
I mean I once had a saddle rail break, and have lost two RDs in 30 years. On my deceased road bike my saddle, seat post, bars, handlebar tape survived being ****ted by a mini. The frame and wheels were toast, but everything else went on to my turbo hack
Chain stays on aluminium bike frames, seem to fail with alarming regularity.
Never had a steel frame fail.
I have broken multiple saddle rails. Normally SDG or specialized. My get you home tip is to pinch the broken ends in the seat post clamp.
Gloves (and titanium saddle rails - which is why I haven’t had a saddle with them in over 15 years). My bikes are quite heavy because I really don’t like things breaking - I have an annoying engineer-led paranoia of low probability catastrophic failures.
Oh, and crown-steerer joints on my ebike -let’s see how an even burlier fork holds up…
Frames. Snapped about 5 of them. Rear rim destroyer also
Current generation Shimano 11/12spd derailleurs... They are made of absolute cheese, fold in half if anything touches them whilst riding, and I have snapped 6 of them in no more than 20 rides on the things...
Never broke or damaged a derailleur beyond repair in over 30yrs of riding until the current crop of Shimano derailleurs, then broke 6 of them in literally no time at all... Back on SRAM now, much more robust and up to the job, but really wouldn't mind a gearbox to be fair...
Beyond that, never really had much of a problem breaking things. Worn a few things out earlier than you might expect over the years, and have destroyed a few tyre sidewalls on tyres that weren't up to the job of being ridden hard on an Enduro bike in rocky conditions, but that's to be expected...
I don't break them but I've always struggled with keeping gears running smoothly and properly indexed. Had the most luck with my old SLX 1x10, but my current Deore 1x11 is always giving me grief. Can't really afford a new drivetrain any time soon so when it eventually wears out I'll be going SS.
Grips
Summer gloves for me too.
For a while back when tubeless road was fairly new I had a spate of sliced-up schwalbe pro-ones to the point that I eschewed road tubeless for a long time. Been back on it for the past couple of years without incident though and I havet to say the whole experience has been much better.
One ti bontrager frame
One kona unit frame
One surly ogre frame
One litespeed road bike frame
Nothing lasts forever!
Hmmm, I think I need to ride more as not much, I guess the worn bits I seem to change most are bottom brackets and gloves. Oh and I have gone through a few helmets from offs (again, I need to ride more 😁)
For some reason, cranks. Ten sets broken since 2005. This was the most dramatic-
Current generation Shimano 11/12spd derailleurs... They are made of absolute cheese, fold in half if anything touches them whilst riding.
Got to agree and the previous generations weren't great either. I've kept a XT M8000 going with two sets of new plates and it has voracious appetite for bottom jockey wheels. The cages feel like they are made of tin, even compared to something budget like Advent X which has a much more robust cage.
I used to run 1x10 with CNC Radcage mod, 11-42 range. It took a right beating, looked absolutely battered but needed the least amount of fettling. The range was a tad hard going though!