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They don't last? At least aluminum frames last quite some time. That you have ti replace a component over the years is normal. IMHO.
by sgsag33 4y ago
They don't last? At least aluminum frames last quite some time. That you have ti replace a component over the years is normal. IMHO.
- oriolid 4y agoFirst, people don't know that bicycle components are replaceable and fairly standardized. Second, replacing a few worn out parts with decent quality replacements costs more than a new bike-shaped object.
- gus_massa 4y agoIt depends on the country. Here in Argentina you never send a bike to the scrap yard. First you try to fix it yourself, then go to the local bike shop that is 5 blocks (1/2 mile) away. When it's too old you give it to your nephew. And when it's really old or has a massive problem it may be cannibalized and the remainders send to a scrap yard.
- acdha 4y agoI guess experiences vary: I’ve never heard that – in fact, people who bought cheap Walmart bikes were surprised when they learned that a part was non-standard and hard to replace.
- jacknews 4y agoMy experience with the cheap bikes is that literally every component is garbage, and if one fails, it's not long before something else does. The frames can sometimes be fairly durable, but I've had plenty of mount points shear off and stuff like that, even if the frame doesn't outright fail. The other problem is that the entire design is often just kitsch 'fashion' and 'disposable', and even if you could fix it/upcycle it economically, it's so heavily 'styled' as to make it undesirable.
- tecleandor 4y agoI don't think in general the problem is not that they don't last, but they are destroyed. See the problem created by the "shared bikes" : https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/03/bike-share-oversupply-in-china-huge-piles-of-abandoned-and-broken-bicycles/556268/ https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/03/bike-share-oversup...