"Isn't modern bicycle technology absolutely wonderful?"šŸ˜

I don't want a plastic bike and discs are crap, oh trope alert. I'm old so am off to find some clouds to shout at :p
I was out road riding last summer (on an aluminum hardtail), got passed by a flock of carbon wonderbikes, I really don't like the sound they make. The drumming and creaking does not sound like a bike to me. Would preventing me from entering the Zone. Tioga disks can stay home too
 
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People have massive case of rose tinted glasses when it comes to cup and cone bearings. On road bikes they were great. Had a vintage set of Campy Super Record wheels and they ran amazingly. On a mtb it was different. Sealing was generally crap and even though you could re-grease them it was a giant pain fiddling with cone spanners. BITD I had the 7 speed XT hubs with the grease ports. Made maintenance easy but when they eventually needed a full strip the cups and lock nuts were seized solid on the axle. Have recently been reminded of the faff sorting out a recently acquired 3rd hand Frog bike for my son. Rear hub swinging between locked solid and rattling mess with only a few degrees difference in adjustment.
In comparison, Iā€™ve a 9 year old Hope Pro 2 still on its original bearings.
 
Well I did 35 really windy miles this morning on my 40-year old steel-framed fixed gear daily. It has modern track hubs with cartridge bearings, and a modern square taper bottom bracket again with cartridge bearings. Iā€™d just like to say a massive shout out to cartridge bearings because I changed the hub bearings after about 11k miles and the BB bearings after about 15k miles. Apart from that I never touch them. You really canā€™t ask for more than that!
 
Cup and cone bearings last a very long time if they aren't contaminated.
Mountain biking in the wet isnt great, but their worst enemy is Johnny Jetwash and Nigel the Negligent.

We see so many hubs clearly jetwashed, and the owner denies it so strongly its like False Memory Syndrome.
Cartridge bearings work until they don't then you throw them away.
Dispisable. Less hassle. Cheaper to mass produce components.
Are you seeing where I'm going?

In their own little way, cartridge bearings remind me of a thread that was v tragically locked through no fault of its ownšŸ˜¢

But of course mountain biking has much higher wear and tear than road riding.
I've got cup and cone hubs and cartridge bearing hubs 30 years ownership - the former still on original bearings, the latter have had a few replacements.
Environmental cost difference almost insignificant.
Horses for courses.

My land rover could pull trees down and tow a ton of materials.
It could cruise at 65...But I dont know if the radio worked or notšŸ¤£
 
Certain carbon fibre repairs are a whole lot easier than steel, and ti or aluminium are almost impossible.
Modern adhesives go nicely with a modern bike, when it breaks. šŸ˜‚
People always say that Aluminium is impossible to repair but if you have a welder who isn't a complete monkey it's fine. The trick is to putting as little energy as possible into it, and using a high percentage of silicone like 5% so that the weld isn't super rigid. I've had numerous frames sorted this way and every time they've lasted significantly longer than the original. That includes the half dozen sets of Intense M1 seatstays I went through (I was getting warranty replacements and selling the re-welded broken ones).

Land Rovers are a great example of rose tinted as they're absolutely horrific to drive! It was a great day at work when ours went and was replaced by something I didn't have to have the window down to steer!
I wouldn't want to have one as a daily but perversely I love driving them, you can always tell who can properly drive if they're in something like that and still hustling it down the road. I've driven a few that have been engine swapped with both a Cummins diesel, and a Chevy V8, and they're almost comical, as is the look on the faces of hot hatch drivers when no matter how hard they try they can't keep up with you. I think like bikes I bemoan things that make life easier and diminish the gap between those who have talent and those who don't. Big 50lb ebikes on modern trails take so little effort to still ride reasonably quickly compared to stuff from ten years ago, and these days even aunt Doris can go quickly in a straight line thanks to an auto diesel or even electric car where the only talent required is to mash your foot into the carpet. Very annoying when you're trying to get past them because they can't go round corners very well. 100% right on the ergonomics though, especially on the older ones with steering wheels that wouldn't have been out of place on a Scania! I do remember my dad saying he'd like a new one for up at the croft, but then LR gave him one to drive about in as a courtesy car for a few days when his Evoque was buggered and I don't think he'd even left the forecourt before he was reminded about how crap they are if you just want a car, and to scratch the itch that made him think he should get one!

One thing with sealing and mountain biking is very true that cartridge bearings are probably less wasteful in the modern age given the average person doesn't want to have to do the periodic maintenance. It was always funny reading the comments from salty Californians on my Pinkbike reviews if I mentioned the sealing was up to a seasons worth of jet washing, saying that 'you shouldn't ride mtbs in the mud because it damages the trails', or 'you shouldn't set a bad example to the kids, jet washing is bad'. Sometimes you just need to get on with it and accept the consequences. I actually find the worst thing for bearings is muc-off and other alkali cleaners as they seem to make bearings corrode significantly faster than just jet washing with water.
 
A lot of newer stuff though wears out faster, and can be awkward to repair or source parts for.
This was intertwined with the consumerism in the cycle industry.
D8mok,I would tend to disagree,I would have expected the same until a few years ago,then bought an emtb.Heavy powerful and I fully expected it to wear the chain,cassette,brakes and tyres out at a frightening rate,but here we are at 2 and a half years old on the original chain and cassette,original tyres .Now done well over 2600 miles of hard all year round abuse and the only thing I have had to replace is the front chain ring.
Still on the original chain and cassette and still shifting perfectly
Everything else is in really excellent condition and in addition the indexing never moves and nothing needs tweeking.
I honestly didnā€™t expect this ,but thatā€™s exactly how it is.
Oh yes and the suspension works perfectly and is a piece of cake to strip and service.
 
People always say that Aluminium is impossible to repair but if you have a welder who isn't a complete monkey it's fine. The trick is to putting as little energy as possible into it, and using a high percentage of silicone like 5% so that the weld isn't super rigid. I've had numerous frames sorted this way and every time they've lasted significantly longer than the original. That includes the half dozen sets of Intense M1 seatstays I went through (I was getting warranty replacements and selling the re-welded broken ones).


I wouldn't want to have one as a daily but perversely I love driving them, you can always tell who can properly drive if they're in something like that and still hustling it down the road. I've driven a few that have been engine swapped with both a Cummins diesel, and a Chevy V8, and they're almost comical, as is the look on the faces of hot hatch drivers when no matter how hard they try they can't keep up with you. I think like bikes I bemoan things that make life easier and diminish the gap between those who have talent and those who don't. Big 50lb ebikes on modern trails take so little effort to still ride reasonably quickly compared to stuff from ten years ago, and these days even aunt Doris can go quickly in a straight line thanks to an auto diesel or even electric car where the only talent required is to mash your foot into the carpet. Very annoying when you're trying to get past them because they can't go round corners very well. 100% right on the ergonomics though, especially on the older ones with steering wheels that wouldn't have been out of place on a Scania! I do remember my dad saying he'd like a new one for up at the croft, but then LR gave him one to drive about in as a courtesy car for a few days when his Evoque was buggered and I don't think he'd even left the forecourt before he was reminded about how crap they are if you just want a car, and to scratch the itch that made him think he should get one!

One thing with sealing and mountain biking is very true that cartridge bearings are probably less wasteful in the modern age given the average person doesn't want to have to do the periodic maintenance. It was always funny reading the comments from salty Californians on my Pinkbike reviews if I mentioned the sealing was up to a seasons worth of jet washing, saying that 'you shouldn't ride mtbs in the mud because it damages the trails', or 'you shouldn't set a bad example to the kids, jet washing is bad'. Sometimes you just need to get on with it and accept the consequences. I actually find the worst thing for bearings is muc-off and other alkali cleaners as they seem to make bearings corrode significantly faster than just jet washing with water.

Agreed on the detergents/cleaners 100%. I'm not exactly fastidious about cleaning my bikes (although I'm OK with lubing them at least!) but when they need a wash generally I'll let them dry out, then brush the worst off before a good rinse with plain water. I don't jetwash usually but not against it when they're filthy.

Wouldn't want a modern car at all, for all they're technically better & safer they're just too bland and uninvolving. Much prefer our 30yr old Xantia diesel auto as a daily/workhorse & there's a nice petrol 306 for fun drives. Do all we need with ease & comfort, just with so much more character. Speaking of loony landies, I've seen a series one with a tuned Merc 6 banger (OM606 maybe?) that rips donuts & 4wd cyclones like nothing & the driver can really hustle that thing on B roads too, think it's even still on cart springs & steering box! :eek:
 
here we are at 2 and a half years old on the original chain and cassette,original tyres .Now done well over 2600 miles of hard all year round abuse and the only thing I have had to replace is the front chain ring.
Still on the original chain and cassette and still shifting perfectly
25 years ago we'd see Sturmey 3speed bikes coming in that were on the original chain and sprockets at 10,000+ miles, gears still "indexing" despite running in what looked like blood and treacle. šŸ¤©
 
Agreed on the detergents/cleaners 100%. I'm not exactly fastidious about cleaning my bikes (although I'm OK with lubing them at least!) but when they need a wash generally I'll let them dry out, then brush the worst off before a good rinse with plain water. I don't jetwash usually but not against it when they're filthy.

Wouldn't want a modern car at all, for all they're technically better & safer they're just too bland and uninvolving. Much prefer our 30yr old Xantia diesel auto as a daily/workhorse & there's a nice petrol 306 for fun drives. Do all we need with ease & comfort, just with so much more character. Speaking of loony landies, I've seen a series one with a tuned Merc 6 banger (OM606 maybe?) that rips donuts & 4wd cyclones like nothing & the driver can really hustle that thing on B roads too, think it's even still on cart springs & steering box! :eek:
I've actually got a wee Worx pressure washer which I use after most rides for cleaning up. It's pretty effective to have in the back if the car and doesn't seem to have enough pressure to damage bearings - still on the original frame/wheel/headset bearings after 7k-ish km. I'd say that's impressive given how hard it gets ridden and the conditions we end up riding in a lot.

Don't get me wrong on modern cars, they can be great, but most aren't. I mean love or loathe them, the X5 in 40d form is bloody amazing as a family car that can smash out 3000 miles in 48hrs while towing the race car in the trailer at 75-90mph (sorry, 60mph officer) and still getting 25mpg. But it doesn't have soul. There was a guy over in Germany who swapped an E46 M3 engine into a Disco 2 and went rallying in it which was amazing (and definitely has soul!), and there are some guys converting old defenders to run the 3.0d M57 from BMW. That engine is good for 400bhp on stock internals as it's the same engine ostensibly as the N57 in the 40d and my 335d. I actually saw an old Citroen BX a few days ago and it made me smile more than anything new has in a long time!
 
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