Buy as one vs build - on a budget

[SkipdiverJohn]

I'm not convinced a lot of people keep anything for a long time. How many threads have you read where someone has, say, a 2016 or 2017 model bike and is already contemplating what their next one should be? Either people get bored very quickly these days, are really obsessed about image, or they are buying very badly suited machines. I know people who regularly buy new cars and keep swapping them for no other reason than they are no longer the latest model year. It's a very good strategy if you want to give the Taxman loads of your dosh and be perpetually skint and in debt on the finance!

 

[Blue Hills]

I get the logic of losing out on depreciation and VAT, but who sells a bike after one ride usually?

Yes, mistakes are made on badly fitting bikes, but generally people keep them for a very long time.

There are a fair few pristine technically second hand bikes around bp - see the two Hewitts I saw without really looking - no more second hand than my new hardly ridden one is. I have a 90s Ridgeback that had clearly spent 20 years going nowhere. It isn't unknown for tourers to go on sale after hardly being ridden - folks' plans change - visions of touring the world put off (for 20 years) because of a new relationship, baby etc.

 

[bpsmith]

There are a fair few pristine technically second hand bikes around bp - see the two Hewitts I saw without really looking - no more second hand than my new hardly ridden one is. I have a 90s Ridgeback that had clearly spent 20 years going nowhere. It isn't unknown for tourers to go on sale after hardly being ridden - folks' plans change - visions of touring the world put off (for 20 years) because of a new relationship, baby etc.

Ok. I accept that some people make mistakes and do they would have been better off with a nearly new example and hence lose less money.

In general terms though, for someone who has done their due diligence and actually uses the bike regularly once purchased, the depreciation as soon as rubber hits tarmac argument doesn’t really work.

Just trying to say that it doesn’t really fit me or many other people who pick the right bike and intend on keeping it for quite some time.

 

[Blue Hills]

Wasn't criticising you bp

Confession - got back into cycling 20 years ago when i bought a great ridgeback steel bike.

After maybe a year I seriously considered buying a dawes, as it had v brakes rather than cantis. The thought of swapping the things myself didn't occur to me.

Can't remember if i intended to sell/dispose of the hardly ridden ridgeback, but it is possible.

By the by, i should have bought the dawes (steel, still good) and kept the ridgeback.

I just in the end, stuck with the ridgeback - it now sits alongside its dorian grey partner/clone.

 

[bpsmith]

Wasn't criticising you bp

Genuinely didn’t think you were. Wasn’t intending to make it sound that way with my response.

 

[Blue Hills]

By the by, I see a very lightly used Trek 520 has just been posted up for sale.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Loved UN55s but would never go back after moving to HT2. the difference in weight alone is astounding.

[Can] you . . . tell the difference in weight when riding the bike?

I actually did notice the difference.

I did this sum and the difference between a square taper BB (UN55) and chainset (a Spa one), and an HT2 BB and chainset (105) was about 140g (actual weights for the Spa one, Shimano quoted weights for the 105 compact): is this 'astounding' or does your maths differ? How did the difference manifest itself? Did the HT2 one 'roll better'?

 

[FishFright]

I did this sum and the difference between a square taper BB (UN55) and chainset (a Spa one), and an HT2 BB and chainset (105) was about 140g (actual weights for the Spa one, Shimano quoted weights for the 105 compact): is this 'astounding' or does your maths differ? How did the difference manifest itself? Did the HT2 one 'roll better'?

This is my favourite "There was also a noticeable difference in pedal to power ratio too"

 

[Threevok]

I did this sum and the difference between a square taper BB (UN55) and chainset (a Spa one), and an HT2 BB and chainset (105) was about 140g (actual weights for the Spa one, Shimano quoted weights for the 105 compact): is this 'astounding' or does your maths differ? How did the difference manifest itself? Did the HT2 one 'roll better'?

Depends on easily pleased you are - 140g is a big difference to some, although I was talking about the difference in the weight of the BB's themselves

Although they don't last as long (standard HT2) they roll smoother, are cheaper and a lot easier to replace

 

[Blue Hills]

At the risk of a divert threevok, you did say that you could tell the difference when on the bike, not just in your hand/on the atomic scales.

And I also have to ask, how are they cheaper?

You say that they don't last as long, which confirms my worst suspicions.

If so, they are going to have to be very very cheap indeed to be cheapER.

In fact a major problem with a square taper is that they are so reliable one is likely to forget about the things, not regrease the threads every year or two as you should and then find they have got stuck.

I have a 20 year old bike that is only on its second one.

And I have lost some weight recently - definitely more than 140g.

 

[Threevok]

Weight was noticeably different in the hand - stiffness in the crankset (especially on climbs) was the most noticable difference

Your standard HT2 is around £7-£8 each which is close to the third of the price, but I have found they only last a third as long.

I can't speak for the ones with replaceable stainless or ceramic bearings though. They probably do last longer but the prices are stupid - especially ceramic

 

[Blue Hills]

Fair do's if that's your experience.

 

[Blue Hills]

though can't help noting this, as highlighted in another thread:

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Shimano-Bottom-Bracket-BBUN55_50477.htm?sku=186587&utm

 

[Threevok]

A bargain.

Although next month you may find they are normal price again and the £11.99 HT2 one on there now will be £7 again