Built-in longevity

I’ll bet we’ve all got a few purchases that defy the tendency towards built-in obsolescence.

If I had to choose 1 item as an example, it’d be these wireless headphones:

Bluetooth Pure Fitness BT-500

Had them for ages, worn them in all weathers, keep recharging, and no sign of giving up.

You can choose one thing. What’s yours?

My Gaggia Classic

rohloff hubs

I have a Morrow rag wool beanie that was purchased when I was 17. I’m 48 next year and the hat is still like new. The company is no more and the hat has been worn pretty much every winter and is the warmest hat I’ve ever owned.

Tools… got loads from over the years.

Or tech a 1gb flash drive.

The brake pads on my first bike with disc brakes, they lasted forever.

Nokia phones pre smart. Last for a week, plus.

2012 MacBook Pro. The last to be made with a unibody and DVD drive. Hewn from solid aluminium. The Mercedes 340 of the lap book world.

Our Volvo V70, 2004, 209k miles. Thought was given in its design for future maintenance and servicing.

To state the obvious, the Dualit toaster. Ours is 17 years old and still on the original elements. I’m led to believe that 17 is still young compared to some Dualit owners on here.

My Panasonic Clock Radio – got to be 30+ years old!

My Rega Planar 2. Nearly 40 years old, has survived around 10 house moves, a few trips overseas in shipping containers and a fair bit of neglect. Still looks great and works brilliantly.

Just had to replace my Samsung fridge – after >15 years service I don’t feel too bad about it.

Just had to replace my Samsung fridge – after >15 years service I don’t feel too bad about it.

Did you manage to get it out ok?

Kitchen Aid mixer. Solid, simple design aimed at repairing it. Ours is 26 years old now, I’ve stripped, cleaned and regreased it once and we’ve worn through two electrical bushes (which take 30 seconds each to replace).

A Deore level 9 or 10 X2, hybrid or touring bike. A thing of durability, ease of repair and comfortable miles.

My original Lumicycle Halogen lamps are still going strong and because of Lumicycle’s modular design and backwards compatibility they happily connect up to my modern Lumicycle Li-ion battery pack.

They drain the battery in about 45 minutes mind you, although that’s kind of a blessing as by that time I’ll have hit every tree on the trail as I can’t see bugger all the lamps are so dim. Still makes me smile that they’re hanging in there after all these years though.

Gives me a wee bit of hope. 🙂

My snap on ratchet screwdriver, gifted to me for xmas 1992, i stripped and lightly greased the moving parts shortly after that, but it’s not had a thing since.

no way could I even guess how many times it’s been used, but a lot, I’ve moved house 13 times since I’ve had it.

another Dualit toaster that is well over 20 years old. I’ve an original X-acto knife holder bought in rummage sale by my Dad in I think about 1980-something on a trip to the US – I think it was already a decade or so old by that point,  granted it’s not got much in the way of moving parts, but equally, it just the one thing very well…

I am also going for Polartec Pro with the ‘woven’ outer surface. I have a couple of them which have outlasted all other fleeces. Just much harder wearing and yet somehow stay cosy…

Hilleberg tents.

Kitchen Aid mixer. Solid, simple design aimed at repairing it.

I’m pretty sure that can’t be said for newer models I’m afraid – they changed to plastic gears and apparently no longer lasts anything like as well.

As the Dualit toaster has already been mentioned I’ll go with my Hobart N50 mixer.

It’s basically a KA mixer but on a huge dose of steroids complete with bigger motor and steel gears (made by the same company originally before KA was split away from Hobart).

I bought mine about 8 years ago for £250 and the same era mixers are now being offered for £1500 (£3500 new!!).

It will outlive me and probably whichever of my daughters inherits it!!

My tiny little Sony MP3 player, their take on the iPod way back when.

Solid state, clicky buttons, metal casing. Had it 15 years easily and it’s been on every camping/bikepacking/hostel trip I’ve ever done. Has also accompanied me on virtually every turbo session I’ve ever done, wrapped in a sandwich bag in my back pocket to protect it from sweat.

Battery lasts forever, simple drag and drop filing system. So good at what it does that it has never occurred to me to use my phone for music.

I’ve got a Technics SL-1500 turntable that is still going strong after 52 years.  I had to get it serviced last year, but that was the first time in a couple of decades…

Triggers broom?

More seriously, I have some Time Atac pedals that are well over 20 years old and still going strong…

Chris King hubs – they need nothing.  Sure you can maintain them, but even if you don’t, they’re amazingly resilient.  My oldest set is 20y old this year.  Never needed a bearing, a seal, nothing – they been frozen, submerged, sat still for over a year, kept in a leaky shed – they’re still as good as the set I built 2 weeks ago and crucially, they still fit.  They started as 100/135 QR, became 100*15 and 135*12 and then 142*12 and are now 100*12 and 142*12 and on a gravel bike.    Magic things.

Deore XT M737 rear mech – bomb proof.

DT 240s

Got a 19yr old SS one that despite having been stored for several years in a sieve of a garage on the West of Scotland (and lost it’s paint through the resulting corrosion), it’s still going strong and on it’s original bearings.

My favourite nesting screwdriver set. My grandfather got it during his apprenticeship around 1895. Not much to go wrong with steel and knurled brass.

Did you manage to get it out ok?

lol, did think about posting on that thread. Also measured and remeasured and remeasured the fridge before ordering a new one 🙂

The electric kettle in my kitchen is the one I got when I went to uni in 1997.

It’s a bit battered but it still works perfectly after near-daily use for all that time.

Some great replies here – 30 years, 50 years, 100+ years…!

Longevity https://imgur.com/a/s1ukYDD

I have a number of +100 yearold cameras that work perfectly. This is about 95ish and tiny with god knows how many microscopic moving parts.

most of my outdoor kit is 20th century. Paddling Dry top had its first WW outing on the Dee( llangollen ) rafting last weekend , noticed  my helmet sticker for Mike Jones rally of 1989. Do these things have a shelf life?   tents ’79 and ’86 and so on god i feel old …

Got a 25 year old rear Hope Bulb hub on a Mavic d521 rim that has been on many bikes and currently resides on my rigid mtb. It’s done anything from the Mega to a 160 ish mile charity ride last year. I don’t recall ever changing the bearings, just greased from time to time. The centre lock disc carrier comes loose occasionally and that’s about it.

Probably the only older ‘thing’ I regularly use is my car which is 38 and I’ve owned it for 14 of those years.

My grandfather clock has been in the family since the 18th century.

Outdoor kit in regular use – a 90s Berghauls Cyclops Roc.

Bikes – my number 1 tourer is a 2008 Long Haul Trucker

I’ve got a broom which was my grandad’s

It’s over 100 years old and has had 15 new heads and 7 new handles. However the brackets which hold the head to the handles are original.

Do I get a medal?

I’ve got a broom which was my grandad’s

It’s over 100 years old and has had 15 new heads and 7 new handles. However the brackets which hold the head to the handles are original.

Do I get a medal?

Yes, silver. For the second person to make the triggers broom joke in the thread.