4 ms·

The two main commuter cyclists in my office have belt-drive bikes, so bicycle technology hasn't completely ossified. They also have disk brakes, and seeing how

by galago 11y ago

The two main commuter cyclists in my office have belt-drive bikes, so bicycle technology hasn't completely ossified. They also have disk brakes, and seeing how this is wintertime in New England, they're also rocking studded tires. I don't have this, but I'm a fair-weather cyclist. Its like electric cars--people don't notice how its been slowly moving forward.

JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Oh every 10 years you need a new bike, because there're no parts any more for your old one. It changes pretty fast!
- sharkweek 11y ago
  As an avid cyclist, I have tried to convince my wife that I need a new type of bike every two years, or at least some ridiculously expensive and certainly unnecessary upgrade. Right now I can't take my eyes off of those SRAM Red eTAP. n+1, after all
  - fmela 11y ago
    The real equation is s-1, where s is the number of bikes that will make your spouse kick you out. :)
- stinos 11y ago
  Too general, this highly depends on what type/brand/price range of bicycle you buy. My first 'grown up' cycle is now 23 years old and I can get any parts I need to service it in the local bike shop. Thinking of it, it seems that proven parts just keep existing while the crap gets sorted out during the years. In some subgenres this goes faster and the process is still heavily ongoing I have the impression - take bmx for instance: what you can get now for a similar amount of money is lighter but as strong or stronger and longer lasting.
  - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
    Ok, so you can't get cost-effective parts. Cheaper to buy a new bike, than keep buying hard-to-find expensive parts. Anyway, the subject was, how fast bikes change. That's unrelated to how clever we are at finding old parts - the fact is, new bike parts are invented every year.
- justincormack 11y ago
  No, you can get most parts for bikes since 1940 or so I think - I was looking at a 1945 bike recently and the shop had spare parts. Some stuff needs to be adapted a little, and more parts will stop being available soon alas.
- jdietrich 11y ago
  That's absolutely not true. Parts can become somewhat harder to find, but it's very rare for them to go out of production entirely. Specialists like Harris Cyclery or SJS Cycles can easily find you a tire or freewheel for a 1950s bicycle.

by galago 11y ago

JoeAltmaier 11y ago

Oh every 10 years you need a new bike, because there're no parts any more for your old one. It changes pretty fast!

sharkweek 11y ago
As an avid cyclist, I have tried to convince my wife that I need a new type of bike every two years, or at least some ridiculously expensive and certainly unnecessary upgrade. Right now I can't take my eyes off of those SRAM Red eTAP. n+1, after all
- fmela 11y ago
  The real equation is s-1, where s is the number of bikes that will make your spouse kick you out. :)
stinos 11y ago
Too general, this highly depends on what type/brand/price range of bicycle you buy. My first 'grown up' cycle is now 23 years old and I can get any parts I need to service it in the local bike shop. Thinking of it, it seems that proven parts just keep existing while the crap gets sorted out during the years. In some subgenres this goes faster and the process is still heavily ongoing I have the impression - take bmx for instance: what you can get now for a similar amount of money is lighter but as strong or stronger and longer lasting.
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Ok, so you can't get cost-effective parts. Cheaper to buy a new bike, than keep buying hard-to-find expensive parts. Anyway, the subject was, how fast bikes change. That's unrelated to how clever we are at finding old parts - the fact is, new bike parts are invented every year.
justincormack 11y ago
No, you can get most parts for bikes since 1940 or so I think - I was looking at a 1945 bike recently and the shop had spare parts. Some stuff needs to be adapted a little, and more parts will stop being available soon alas.
jdietrich 11y ago
That's absolutely not true. Parts can become somewhat harder to find, but it's very rare for them to go out of production entirely. Specialists like Harris Cyclery or SJS Cycles can easily find you a tire or freewheel for a 1950s bicycle.