Stupid modern bike

[barry2017]

On the flipside, I rode a 1991 bike yesterday on an offroad loop and most of the way round I was bemoaning the lack of decent braking, pitiful suspension afforded by the Mag20 forks and serious lack of grip put down by the 18yr old tyres... Although mechanically, it was perfect

But saying that it still works. Mildly improved performance that most people can't even benefit from anyway is provided at the expense of longevity, and there's no choice to go the other way. Surely that's the wrong way round, apart from for people that sell bikes?

 

[hamster]

I was running ISIS BBs on my modern bike until very recently when I got fed up getting about 500 miles out of them before they became rough or just failed totally. I've 'upgraded' to a HollowtechII system now so we'll see how that lasts.

ISIS etc generation were the absolute lowest point as they had the fat BB shaft and still the small BB to fit. As a result the bearings had to be pitifully small and were underspecced for the loading...hence the pathetic life.

 

[Xesh]

.....18 months after purchase I have wear in the suspension pivots :shock:

So they lasted longer than usual then.

 

[Splatter Paint]

I went out for a ride last night and noticed that oil is dribbling out of my Fox Fox :x

I'm out of the UK, currently living in Norway so I though repair would be a problem. Since I no speaka da lingo I asked my mate at work if he'd phone the Norwgian Fox Service centre (listed on Fox's website), who said ah, no point sending them to us, there's a main agent in Oslo - result! The shop is only a short walk across town from my apartment. He kindly phoned the shop and booked my forks in to them for Tuesday, what a top fella! I definitely owe him a few beers.

Stupid modern bike. :roll:

 

[carlos-g]

Don't spend money on top end Sram chain they aren't worth the extra I've got a 951? on my GT susser that I neglect and never any probs, the 990 on my P7 is looked after and has 7 powerlinks in it from repeated snappage.
I've taken to carrying a spare 951 to be on the safe side .

Isis BB's from superstar have a race ground into the axle so they can run a larger bearing than standard , a lot of trials riders use them .If they can make em last I'll never break one.

 

[dyna-ti]

Haggis was telling me the service on the fox fork he had on his hummer,cost £90 and that you do have to service them after a bloody ridiculously short time or the stop working and start leaking.

compare that to a Z1 or Z2 which many here havent serviced in years despite almost constant use

Progress :? or a way of further fleecing the dedicated cyclist

 

[terryhfs]

To make an outboard B/B last get the shell faced - some people reccomend doing it each time you replace the cups.

It is possible to replace the bearings in a Shimano outboard B/B with difficulty, or with ease if it's a Hope one.

 

[kaiser]

Thomson posts are the bawz and roholff(sp?) chains also have a good rep.

 

[Russell]

On the flipside, I rode a 1991 bike yesterday on an offroad loop and most of the way round I was bemoaning the lack of decent braking, pitiful suspension afforded by the Mag20 forks and serious lack of grip put down by the 18yr old tyres... Although mechanically, it was perfect

But saying that it still works. Mildly improved performance that most people can't even benefit from anyway is provided at the expense of longevity, and there's no choice to go the other way. Surely that's the wrong way round, apart from for people that sell bikes?

Thought I'd revisit this after my experiences at Mayhem this weekend. I rode the first two laps in daylight on a 1992 bike and my 3rd lap at night on a modern (hardtail) bike. Obviously, being tired and riding in the dark, my night lap was slower right? Nah, lap three, when I should be tiring and hampered by having to ride by moonlight was actually 2 minutes faster than my daytime rides on the retro rig, and thats over just 8 miles.

I reckon that as the only variable here is the bike (same rider, same course) its a pretty good example of the fact that modern bikes are indeed faster. If you factor in my tiredness by lap three and the lighting conditions, you can probably take off another minute or two.

Over a 30mile enduro, given the stats above, riding a modern bike would give me at least a 7.5 minute advantage over riding a retro bike. Thats not a mild improvement, its a hell of a lot.

 

[Splatter Paint]

So you're saying for the Brigton Big Dog I should leave the 1990 Fire Mountain in the shed and take the modern rig.....?



I think the downhill video posted today ( http://www.ghvideo.at/0080v1.htm ) shows just how far things have come. Each steed has thier place.

On the Fire Mountain fitted with slicks, I'm approximately 3-4 miles an hour slower than on my road bike over 100 miles. Which adds quite a lot to the journey, however it is more comfortable and with full-lenght mudguards I don't get a wet a**e!