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When I lived in the US, every bikeshop I ever visited was awesome, and my home bikeshop knew me by name. If anything was wrong they could fix it on the spot, an

When I lived in the US, every bikeshop I ever visited was awesome, and my home bikeshop knew me by name. If anything was wrong they could fix it on the spot, and.major work was usually ready next day. Now I live in the bike friendly country Denmark, and the bike shops clearly have unlimited customers with no need to stand out. On a recent ride I was 70 kilometers from home and had my second flat. I could see the back tire was done for, so figured I'd find the local bikeshop to replace the tire and tube at the same time. After over an hour walk, showing up in full cycling gear 70km from home, they offer to change my tire for pickup two days later. It's a 10 minute job with the right machine, but my hands can't stretch a fresh tire over the wheel. I wound up buying a tube and changing it myself out the front of their shop, which set a good expectation for the level of service one could expect. Not that it mattered ... again, unlimited customers. As a customer, I spend at least $2k a year on my bike in service and parts, and never complained or ordered online. Now I buy what I can online.

secondcoming 6y ago
Spending $2k per year maintaining a bicycle is absurd. Could you not just buy a new bike every year (keep the saddle)? That's obviously a waste, so buy some tools online and DIY. The hardest part about bicycle DIY is bleeding hydraulic disk brakes if you have them, but even then that only needs to be done max twice per year.
- 0xfaded 6y ago
  I conciously decided that I didn't want to do my own bike maintenance, I do enough stuff as it is. Every three months I replace the tires, breaks and chain, and have the bike shop do a complete tune up and clean. My last service cost about $400. Then there's inner tubes, clothing, handle bar tape, other replacements, etc that also add up. My bike is my primary form of transport, and I average about 8000km per year. That's not far off what people put on a car.
  - secondcoming 6y ago
    If you're happy doing that then fine. I will add though that replacing a chain every 3 months only makes sense if you're a pro. Make sure you also replace the cassette and chainrings at the same time or else you'll just wear your new chain down very quickly. They should all be replaced at the same time. If your cassette and chainrings aren't worn then your chain isn't either. A chain-splitting tool costs about $20. Entire brakes or just the pads? I hope it's just the pads.
    - 0xfaded 6y ago
      No I appreciate the advice, and at risk of turning HN into a bike forum, I have to ask, how long do you run a chain for? I was told that frequently replacing the chain prevents the cassette from wearing down because you replace the chain before it becomes too stretched and mismatched to the cassette.
      - secondcoming 6y ago
        It really depends, there are cheap tools that can measure chain stretch. A decent chain should last a year or more unless you're climbing up the Alps every day. The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. Check their teeth. A sign of a worn chain can be gears slipping. It takes some really intense power to wear out a bicycle chain every 3 months. Cassettes aren't that expensive unless you're going for elite titanium ones. But if you're at that level you should have your own tools in case something breaks on your 100km regular ride!
        andor 6y ago
        The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. That's not true. If you change the chain early enough, cassette and chainrings will last for a couple of chains. If you ride with a worn chain, the other components wear at an accelerated rate.
        6y ago

secondcoming 6y ago

Spending $2k per year maintaining a bicycle is absurd. Could you not just buy a new bike every year (keep the saddle)? That's obviously a waste, so buy some tools online and DIY. The hardest part about bicycle DIY is bleeding hydraulic disk brakes if you have them, but even then that only needs to be done max twice per year.

0xfaded 6y ago
I conciously decided that I didn't want to do my own bike maintenance, I do enough stuff as it is. Every three months I replace the tires, breaks and chain, and have the bike shop do a complete tune up and clean. My last service cost about $400. Then there's inner tubes, clothing, handle bar tape, other replacements, etc that also add up. My bike is my primary form of transport, and I average about 8000km per year. That's not far off what people put on a car.
- secondcoming 6y ago
  If you're happy doing that then fine. I will add though that replacing a chain every 3 months only makes sense if you're a pro. Make sure you also replace the cassette and chainrings at the same time or else you'll just wear your new chain down very quickly. They should all be replaced at the same time. If your cassette and chainrings aren't worn then your chain isn't either. A chain-splitting tool costs about $20. Entire brakes or just the pads? I hope it's just the pads.
  - 0xfaded 6y ago
    No I appreciate the advice, and at risk of turning HN into a bike forum, I have to ask, how long do you run a chain for? I was told that frequently replacing the chain prevents the cassette from wearing down because you replace the chain before it becomes too stretched and mismatched to the cassette.
    - secondcoming 6y ago
      It really depends, there are cheap tools that can measure chain stretch. A decent chain should last a year or more unless you're climbing up the Alps every day. The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. Check their teeth. A sign of a worn chain can be gears slipping. It takes some really intense power to wear out a bicycle chain every 3 months. Cassettes aren't that expensive unless you're going for elite titanium ones. But if you're at that level you should have your own tools in case something breaks on your 100km regular ride!
      - andor 6y ago
        The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. That's not true. If you change the chain early enough, cassette and chainrings will last for a couple of chains. If you ride with a worn chain, the other components wear at an accelerated rate.
        6y ago