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Murica (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 3 days ago (27 children)

I do my own bicycle and auto repair, and the bicycle is way easier. Maintenance is:

clean chain every so often (500 miles or start of the season) - get a chain cleaner tool thing ($10-20) and 50/50 Simple Green ($10 will last many years) and water, and then rinse, dry, and lube ($10 lasts years) - total process, 10 min?
replace chain - $20 or so, plus a tool for $10 or so; do every 2k miles or so
replace brake pads - $10-20
tires ($50 for a fancy fire) and tubes ($10) - replace tires when bald, tubes when flat (or patch them), and get some tire levers ($5-10) to make it easier

For tools, you need a wrench set, and probably only like 2-3 sizes.

My yearly maintenance costs for all of our bikes (1 adult, two kids) combined is about $50. If that. You could also go to your local bike shop instead for about double that.

[–] Betty_Boopie 6 points 3 days ago (11 children)

A quick tip on bike chains; if you are using lubricant you should never use heavy degreaser on the chain. The factory oil is the best lubricant and normal lubes don't penetrate between links enough.

However, if you are going to degrease you chains, you should use paraffin wax instead of lube. I have an 11 speed chain with 3000+ miles and it's only showing around 1% stretch. I don't even use fancy bike specific wax, just food grade gulf wax. Another plus is the whole drive train is dry; doesn't get your hands dirty if you need to remove a wheel, cassette, or derailleur.

Admittedly waxing the chain is a pain in the ass, but some of my chains are like $70 a pop so getting as much life from them is more important.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Wax can flake off leaving that space unprotected. You have to check it more regularly than a lubed chain and dry it off after rain. It's not uncommon for a waxed chain to rust. But a big pro is cleanness of the chain and you won't get greasy hands.

Personally I keep using (eco-friendly) lube. Yes the chain gets dirty fast but I don't care. :D

[–] Betty_Boopie 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The roller links are what you want lubricated and protected, and wax stays in those places much better than liquid lubes. While some chunks will flake off there is a thin layer left behind, I ride near the ocean pretty frequently and had worse rust problems when I was using lube. Ofc whatever works for you is the best practice but wax has been very easy for me. I track my rides, after about 150 miles I re-wax the chain. I've never found that I have to check it more often, but I also ride steel frames so I don't ride in the rain anyways.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don’t ride in the rain

That's probably the difference between us. I ride all-year all-weather.

[–] Betty_Boopie 2 points 3 days ago

Also shows a big difference in location between us. I only have like 2 weeks out of the year that I have to break out the indoor rollers because of rain.

Hope you stay safe though, I wish everyone could have the benefit of coastal desert weather.

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