What can I say?

[nzspokes]

Perhaps they are made to a higher standard. That still don't last as well.
I have to buy parts more often.
In my youth the only reason anyone ever upgraded their frame was the last one was stolen.
when i bought my current one finding a bike that does not noticeably deform when I rode it was a major challenge.
Finding one rated to my ideal weight limited me to about 3-4 options. Rated to my actual weight limited me to 2 in the sub 2k range. Even then i had to exchange forks because nothing I found sub 2k cane with forks rated to higher than 90% my ideal weight.

Since then without any off road riding I have had to have pedals, crank set, chain and a few bearings replaced.

Similar level of investment 20 years ago got me a bike rated to my current weight without parts exchange... I blew 2 crank sets off road. Did significantly higher milage with no more maintenance than a bit of 3n1 on the chain at the beginning of each season and adjustment to the rear gears every 1000kms or so.

Brakes and tyres are significantly better but bikes have become far more consumable.

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There is your problem.

A good bicycle has always worked out to be a bit over a months pay, you are cheaping out.

Only riders that have "blown" cranks out are DH racers and freeriders. You need to look at your riding style.

Tyres were made of rubber in the old days and still are, stop doing epic skids. Brakes are far better than they have ever been.

[Big Dog]

2 weeks after tax wages should be adequate for a light use bike.
If its not that might be why there are less people on the road...

Even the person who sold me the bike I bought told me 2 weeks for a commuter with some light of road. 3 weeks for an of roader. 4+ for competition.
Which made me laugh. Because that was the formula I used to tell people when I worked at the bicycle shop in 90-91.
1600 + upgrades while the bike is already 50% off clearance stock is not cheap. Different paint job was over 3k.

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[rambaldi]

Now you're for it.

When cycling helmets became compulsory head injuries decreased. The zealots were thrilled, the neurosurgeons equally so.

What nobody really noticed was that the introduction of helmets also saw a significant down turn in the number of people cycling. Some as a result of not wanting to wear helmets.

Wind the clock forward to 2016 and ponder why the obesity rate has increased significantly. As the population gets into their cars for journeys less than 3 km which used to be taken by bicycle.

And look at the number of parents who drive their kids to school, instead of cycling. They will tell you that it's far too dangerous for their kids to cycle. A view partly caused by the legislation of helmets, which imply that it must be unsafe.

So now, cycling is a risk which many will not take, or allow their kids to take. When if they had managed the risk the kids would have developed a better understanding of the roads, making them safer, even in later life.

Now I'm on a roll.

I reckon compulsory helmets for sports cycling (anyone riding in excess of 25 kmh) and for under 18s. The idea of wearing a helmet when riding 400 metres to buy milk is a nonsense.

I await all the stats about most crashes being close to home etc, and all the comments about my silly views.

But I'm allowed those silly views as much as anyone is on here.

Personal responsibility. And I know ACC pays for head injuries I suffer when riding my bike but I sort of feel entitled when I'm paying ACC levies on two bikes, two cars and a trailer, which are parked in my drive when I'm out cycling.

All that said, the only time I've ridden with no helmet was uphill in the French Alps, before donning my helmet at the peak of the Galibier, Telegraphe, Alpe de HueZ etc.

It's a challenging life in the blue suit when you don't agree with the rules you are expected to enforce.

There are some good points in there, and some not so good.

Overall our transport choices have changed. Walking the kids to school took a major plummet, it wasn't just them riding. And that is all to do with more people having 2 cars, more families with both parents working and people being more wary of strangers, wanting to always keep an eye on the kids. If it was just the helmet issue then walking wouldn't have suffered as well. It might be part of the problem but isn't all of it. Walking to the shops etc. just doesn't happen as things have moved further away, the dairies have all been replaced with supermarkets (and carrying a slab of beer is always hard on a pushie )

I read a summary of a recent study showing 50% of traffic deaths in some or other state in the US was down to Motorcycle riders without helmets. Comparing that to something below 10% for those with helmets ending up kaput. This was all as part of a comparison to how things were when helmet were compulsory a couple years prior. The speeds are very different of course but there is some validity showing that having a helmet is better than not. Now how good a cycle helmet from the wharehouse actualy is?? No idea there.

Someone else brought up the weight of the push bike in an accident vs. a motorcycle or car. Depending on the type of accident having more weight actually helps with safety. Take a light push bike vs. say a motorcycle. If the pushie combo is heavier then there is more energy in the collision but the energy will be distributed to the motorcyle more. If you crash into a wall or truck or something obviously then the difference in mass on the push bike side is going to be minimal but there is a reason why there aren't seat belts on most NZ buses (I believe parts of the US has them for schools etc. so they are out there) a bus is assumed to have so much mass that if it were in a crash it would just go through the obstacle rather than suddenly stopping, throwing everyone forward.

[pritch]

My bike suits me I guess. It didn't cost $2,000 but it wasn't far off. It's supposed to have an aluminium frame & forks but the bloody thing seems to weigh a ton. So much so that I went over it with a magnet - the magnet didn't stick so maybe they're telling the truth.

The MotoGP riders whiz around on their Pinarello Dogma series racers etc and good for them. I'd look bloody silly on one of those, besides which it might snap and stab me in the arse. The old steel frames look really elegant now, compared to the swoopy designs currently in vogue.

There is a percentage of the population refer to cyclists as "road lice". If such a lowly creature holds them up for even a few seconds they lose their cool. (Well, actually they probably never had much "cool" to start with.) Some of these prats post videos of their rant at a cyclist blissfully unaware the the cyclist is completely in the right. I've long felt there should be a psychometric component to driver testing because there are a lot of potential nutjobs out there with only a tenuous grasp on reality.

[RDJ]

I've long felt there should be a psychometric component to driver testing because there are a lot of potential nutjobs out there with only a tenuous grasp on reality.

Half the population is crazier than average

[Gremlin]

Half the population is crazier than average

And probably 3/4 of the population say they're sane (which puts at least some in the super crazy category)

[Big Dog]

And probably 3/4 of the population say they're sane (which puts at least some in the super crazy category)

I read somewhere that believing you are insane is confirmation you are not.
So I guess it follows the opposite is true.
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[J.A.W.]

And probably 3/4 of the population say they're sane (which puts at least some in the super crazy category)

Now now.. no need to get mean.. ( if you know what I mean)..


Having fairly recently returned to push-biking, the sense of vulnerability aspect is huge - compared to a motorcycle..

I am even wary enough to take to the footpath - when busy roundabouts appear a tad daunting..

[nzspokes]

2 weeks after tax wages should be adequate for a light use bike.
.

Cheap, light, strong. Pick 2. Buying cheap and expecting great will never work.

[varminter]

A few years ago to help out the wife (she was running a team of door to door surveyors) I helped out on one for Transport NZ as it was. Among the many questions was one about dislikes, by far and away the most hated were push bike riders with all the usual comments like 'they don't pay road tax, acc etc, I don't think anything has changed. Here in Rotorua the council have put in cycle friendly pathways, you should hear the complaints about that, I feel considerably safer on the motorbike and get more respect.

[J.A.W.]

I read somewhere that believing you are insane is confirmation you are not.
So I guess it follows the opposite is true.

Yeah the premise of "Catch 22"..

In my experience, I'd reckon its fair enough to put it like this..

The sane can act out madness at will, but the truly insane won't/can't maintain a sane act very long, if at all..

[Ocean1]

Cheap, light, strong. Pick 2. Buying cheap and expecting great will never work.

There is, at best a tenuous link between the price tag on any given product and it's cost to market.

Sure, you're not usually going to buy the best at the lowest price. But neither is paying the highest price ever any guarantee of high quality.

I suspect bikes are like most things; Between the poles of human factor constants like performance and longevity expectations on one hand and constantly improving materials and design and increased production numbers on the other there's room for some pretty good deals.

It's just a matter of identifying them. A task made all the more difficult by the reduction in general population technical literacy and increasing product sophistication. Which is no excuse to start simply believing the advertising spiel. You might as well consult an aromatherapist.

[Big Dog]

Cheap, light, strong. Pick 2. Buying cheap and expecting great will never work.

Light use as in only used for commuting.

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[Moi]

Half the population is crazier than average

I have a piece of paper, issued by a government department [remember them?] that reads: "This is to certify..."

I guess that means I'm allowed to be...

[RDJ]

if there is a man alone in a forest who says he is sane, and no woman can hear him say it, is he crazy?