When is it time to retire a bike instead or repairing it?
If the forks fall off. Or in my case if you attempt to go somewhere but your bike isn’t there anymore for whatever reason. Back to Craigslist.
If you mean when to get rid of a bike, that’s when the frame breaks.
If you mean when do you upgrade, then that’s just if some new tech or style has become more appealing.
I have eFatbike with cracked frame that I’m about to try fixing by welding. People say it wont work but I don’t exactly have anything to lose here either so I’ll give it a try at some point.
You have life and limb to lose. If you know your shit about welding, by all means go ahead. But I do not, so a cracked frame is a dealbreaker for me.
I said eFat, not a downhill bike. If the weld fails I’ll just need to push it back home like I did the last time.
If the frame is cracked or is showing fatigue. Other than that replaces cables and bearing, repack lube, etc. Unless you want a newer style of bike/frame.
I think my grandfather had the same commuter bike for 50-60 years
I used to do track racing years ago. You always knew who was about to buy a new track frame by the loud cracking noise their bottom bracket shell made as it broke away from the seat tube when they started a kilo (1000m time trial). It was always some sprinter with enormous quadriceps muscles.
In my opinion, never.
Personally, I’m pretty sentimental about my bike (also a beater, but single speed) and want to keep it going almost no matter what. I think only the frame has remained the same throughout, and at times, I’ve definitely spent more than the bike is worth to fix it up.
I know that with cars, there’s a definite cliff edge where it becomes prohibitively expensive to maintain compared to a new one. But I feel like that’s not really true with bikes, perhaps because there are just fewer parts to replace, and it’s less invasive to strip out any given part?
I suppose it depends on a few things. Do you have any sentimental attachments to it, and is there anything you would change about the bike if you were buying a new one? Do you think you can get a better one for $200?
I’ve been cycling for 45 years and have only ever retired one bike. Theft or catastrophic damage took care of the rest.
That particular bike had a steel frame and an aluminum seat post that became permanently fused and much of the the bottom bracket barrel was rusted out so I had to let it go. A couple of salty winters in Calgary killed it.
I have a single speed that is almost twenty years old. I’ve easily spent six times the original price in replacement parts. It’s such a low-key ridiculously good bike. If the frame geometry is good for you then keep it ticking over.
I’m really bad at letting go of bikes, but I’m also bloody good at getting new ones. That means I have around 12 fully working bikes in my garage, and could likely build up a couple more from the various bits and pieces I can bring myself to let go of.
That might sound shallow, consumerist or like I have no restraint or discipline, but it’s actually quite the opposite. I form really strong bonds with every bike i’ve ever had, and I can’t bring myself to sell them or move them on.
A bicycle is something really special in the human experience, it is transport, it is sport, it is recreation, it provides a moving meditation, health benefits, it save money, it’s the most energy efficient form of movement know in the animal kingdom. They allow a freedom and self actualisation that almost nothing else in adult life can.
They transcend categorisation and provide more to the person that rides them than anything I can type can describe.
They’re also just fucking fun.
Keep the bike, but don’t let it stop you from getting a new bike. Turn this one into a commuter, a pub bike, a bike for special occasionally rides, poach parts off it for other bikes, eventually hand the frame on the wall of your garage so you can remember all the great times you shared.
I have a beater bike that I use for errands around town. It has three internal gears, one handlebar brake, and is easy to repair. The tyres, tubes, rims, fenders all need to be replaced/repaired. I bought the bike for $200 years ago, but the parts are going to be about another $200.
If the frame’s still good, why not? Depending on what new bike you choose, it might even be a step down. Especially in regards to repairability, i.e. proprietary parts.
Also the environmental aspect of it; it took a lot of energy to make that frame, the longer it’s in use the better.
Would you get a better bike for the $200 you need to invest? If not, keep it. A bike is not an investment, a bike more like monthly ticket for public transport. You have to put a bit of money into it to have ready at your convenience. The ROI is being able to ride a bike when you need to.
I mean, “invest”… is that the right word? if ROI is something important to you, maybe look elsewhere for buying stuff? I can get a whole bike for like half of your upgrade budget, and the items listed for a quarter. what I’m trying to say, buying and fixing things on my rig amounts to pocket change so I’m never concerned about getting a good run for money.
If it’s beyond repair or if you don’t like riding it anymore. The only thing that’s still original on my bike is the frame itself. Everything else needed to be renewed in the last 15 years.
I sold the touring bike that I commuted to work on for 23 years when the frame started feeling really whippy, especially going uphill out of the saddle. Metal does fatigue over time, even steel.
Also, it was a mid-80s bike with a 6 speed freewheel and those were getting harder to find.
In 2004 I bought a bike with an aluminum frame and carbon fiber fork, handlebars and seat post. It was 24 speed and perfectly sized for me. It cost me $1400 at the time. I kept that bike in pristine condition and had it for 20 years. I would pull the drive train apart and clean it, replace the gears when there was too much wear. I fixed all my own flats, changed my breaks. Only thing I didn’t do was overhaul it myself to replace the bearings. If that bike hadn’t been stolen, I’d still be riding it.
My bike is like Triggers broom. Same bike for 20years, but I’ve now changed every part and component including the frame.
