Viewing 14 posts - 41 through 54 (of 54 total)
  • Is there an easy way to record component lifespan ?
  • Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    I can do. I’ll take a picture tonight if I must. I suspect you’re going to be underwhelmed.

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    You do realise that for a component like a pedal, distance and time are worthless measurements?

    i’m not so sure. you will have useful averaged data. whilst maybe not enough to a R&D dept – it is good enough for an end user.

    for the OP you will need to devise your own spreadsheet. but more importantly if you were to use shimano spds this wouldn’t be an issue.

    HTH

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Maybe what’s wrong with the bike industry is they don’t have tons of testers racking up huge mileage in everything from deserts to frozen lakes, as the motor industry does? Or if they do durability testing they use the wrong (or no?) mud!

    flamejob
    Free Member

    Geeked out STW member’s bike spotted last week whilst on a run to the shops

    Uploaded with ImageShack.us

    Don’t you all think it’s ironic that while people were pooh poohing* my idea of recording component lifespan last night, two other people started threads asking for advice on which chain to use.
    None of the magazines are interested in doing proper product testing when it’s easier to just reprint the manufacturers press releases, so isn’t what I’m suggesting at least a step up from anecdotal evidence ?
    So how do you advise someone on which chain to buy ?

    *I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to use this phrase for a long time.

    jemima
    Free Member

    This is not meant to be inflamatory and I’m not questioning your perception that some chains wear out quicker than others. However, I do wonder what makes the difference in wear rate between cheap and expensive chains? The basic components are all made from steel and are basically the same shape and size.

    Discuss (or not)…

    grantus
    Free Member

    Kinda pointless, other than for your own interest. Maybe the reason a mag doesn’t publish data like this as it can never be compared accurately.

    What if someone puts their bike away after a wet Thursday ride and doesn’t lube the chain for a week? Will that affect life when compared to someone who lubes after every ride?

    How much lube constitutes an adequate amount? (!)

    Like I say, interesting from your own point of view but pretty pointless to anyone else – too many variables.

    However I agree completely about magazines – bought MBR last week for the first time in years – 120 pages – 48 adverts + 3 more pages of ads advertising subscriptions to the mag. Other articles – are £2k 120mm full sussers better value than £2.5k 140mm full sussers? erm, duh?

    The only interesting article was the Killer Loop with the Hope guys and they summed up my feelings exactly – the bike industry is taking the piss out of consumers.

    It could be argued that the foreign riding article was ok if you are into going abroad but even then, despite running to 3 or 4 pages, there was actually very little substance at all in it – just padded out with phots and a paragraph on each destination/event. Not worth a f*ck – same with the ride pullouts. Two or three paragraphs on each ride (ok, the killer loop got a full description in the Hope article) but the 21 mile Loch Laggan circular basically consisted of “head out along the side of the Loch, come back again on the other side. Maybe go to Wolftrax, they are nearby and quite good.”

    I paid £4.25 for this pish.

    The last time I got this mag the route pullout section used to devote around a page to each route and more to the killer loop. This is total shyte.

    Sorry for thread hi-jack, as you were!

    For the price of two of these crap mags I could get a £7 chain which at least would be useful for a month or two and have enough money left over for a can of beer to drink while i’m installing the chain.

    P.S. entertaining thread 🙂

    richmars
    Full Member

    The basic components are all made from steel and are basically the same shape and size.

    Yes, but you can use different grades of steel, plus a coating that may make a difference.

    couldashouldawoulda
    Free Member

    grantus: re the mags:

    As for Graham – that’s your thing mate. We’re all a bit odd. It keeps things interesting between us all! And we like to laugh at others “oddities”. You just go for it!

    Lastly why tf cant I get the symbol plus to post in any posts. It just comes out as a space and yet you guys can do plus characters all the time????

    grantus
    Free Member

    To be fair, the mental enduro man article was good too IMO 😆

    numlock
    Free Member

    I’m using SportTracks 2.1 which lets me log the usage of anything. If you want a copy please let me know.

    DrDomRob
    Free Member

    Damn you,

    You have got my geeky mind into over drive.

    Watch this space!

    IdleJon
    Full Member

    Asking for advice related to riding a bike so often that you start wearing parts out within a couple of months is not.

    Didn’t you know that the riders on here only use Chris King and Thomson so nothing ever wears out or breaks? 😉

    Kinda pointless, other than for your own interest…

    Yeah, if it’s just me doing it. Even then, I would expect a chain fitted in June to last longer than one fitted in January, so the raw data would need some interpretation.
    Maybe if enough people did it over a long enough time, certain trends would emerge and we would have some semi scientific evidence of which components represent best value for money.

    As an example, any discussion about Egg Beaters will soon turn to how unreliable they are.
    All I can tell you so far is that I have regreased, but not rebuilt mine since I started logging my distance this year, so one pair has done at least 670km.

    Numlok, yes please.
    Rearrange the following;
    tiscali
    aecmilitant
    ..@
    uk
    co

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