RustyKipper
100 W
Hey all,
I hit 15,000 miles today in 3 years Woohoo!
Here is what it took:
9 chains (they are badly stretched after 3 months, these are difficult to keep lubricated as it often rains so the oil gets washed out and road grit gets washed in)
6 cassettes (wear)
4 chain wheels (wear)
1 bottom bracket (failed)
2 sets of pedals
2 rear mech (1 wore out, I shook loose and jumped into spokes)
1 front mech (seized from mud and salt)
1 stand (shook to pieces)
1 frame (cracked frame)
2 forks (1 x snapped)
2 saddles (1 x broke, 1 broke hitting a pot hole that caused injury)
1 computers (stopped reading)
6 tyres (mixture of wear and perforations from metal swarf, glass and sharp broken car springs, tried a big apple and had a puncture within 2 miles)
2 wheels (mainly for motor upgrades)
1 motor (first one died at about 7000 miles from bearing failure and water ingress)
2 controllers (1 died from motor failure, 1 x upgrade for motor)
10 inner tubes (3 x 3.5 mm thick alpine downhill indestructible tubes)
5 gear cables (snapped)
3 gear shifters (broken)
3 throttles (snapped)
3 mirrors (1 x snapped, 1 x lens shaken out from rough road surface)
5 brake discs (1 x warped, 1 x cracked, others wore out)
9 brake pads (1 pair lasted 1 week!)
1 battery packs (1 x retired through old age and became unreliable)
3 padded under pants (wore out and not due to soiling)
2 Gortex jackets (Gortex is only a temporary coating that wears off within a few months)
2 helmets (landed on head twice)
Injuries:
Brocken nose (glasses steamed up in forest and didn’t see the tree)
Broken cheekbone (Car pulled out, went over handlebars)
Broken collarbone (twice, 1 x car pulled out, 1 x swerved to miss pothole and hit kerb)
Broken finger (ahem…slid into tree)
Broken wrist (car pulled out, went over handle bars)
Damaged urethra (pothole)
The bike is a bit like grand dads broom in that just about everything has been replaced except for the handlebars, bell, water bottle holder and rear mudguard.
Total cost is about £2288, the equivalent cost of fuel (LPG) if I were to drive to work…..£1680, however the drive to and from work is appalling and there is only limited parking at available.
This is not your regular commute, a lot of it is fairly hard core mountain biking involving traversing a colliery spoil heap with a terrifying 50 foot muddy tree root decent, fields, meadows, forests and single tracks. Many times the bike has been completely stuck in 8 inches of mud or so clogged that its ground to a halt and I’ve had to snap a twig off a tree to dig the mud out of the front wheel and gears. Due to some roads not being maintained the bike also gets shaken to bits, most fasteners are either heavily thread locked or wire locked, even so I’ve have brakes and wheels shake loose, think riding over a cattle grid for several miles every day! also taking speed bumps at 30 mph leads to some pretty impressive jumps.
Other interesting points;
In the summer this bike is charged from 100% solar
In 15000 miles I have climbed 111 miles! I guess that's equivalent of riding up mount Everest 20 times!
I hit 15,000 miles today in 3 years Woohoo!
Here is what it took:
9 chains (they are badly stretched after 3 months, these are difficult to keep lubricated as it often rains so the oil gets washed out and road grit gets washed in)
6 cassettes (wear)
4 chain wheels (wear)
1 bottom bracket (failed)
2 sets of pedals
2 rear mech (1 wore out, I shook loose and jumped into spokes)
1 front mech (seized from mud and salt)
1 stand (shook to pieces)
1 frame (cracked frame)
2 forks (1 x snapped)
2 saddles (1 x broke, 1 broke hitting a pot hole that caused injury)
1 computers (stopped reading)
6 tyres (mixture of wear and perforations from metal swarf, glass and sharp broken car springs, tried a big apple and had a puncture within 2 miles)
2 wheels (mainly for motor upgrades)
1 motor (first one died at about 7000 miles from bearing failure and water ingress)
2 controllers (1 died from motor failure, 1 x upgrade for motor)
10 inner tubes (3 x 3.5 mm thick alpine downhill indestructible tubes)
5 gear cables (snapped)
3 gear shifters (broken)
3 throttles (snapped)
3 mirrors (1 x snapped, 1 x lens shaken out from rough road surface)
5 brake discs (1 x warped, 1 x cracked, others wore out)
9 brake pads (1 pair lasted 1 week!)
1 battery packs (1 x retired through old age and became unreliable)
3 padded under pants (wore out and not due to soiling)
2 Gortex jackets (Gortex is only a temporary coating that wears off within a few months)
2 helmets (landed on head twice)
Injuries:
Brocken nose (glasses steamed up in forest and didn’t see the tree)
Broken cheekbone (Car pulled out, went over handlebars)
Broken collarbone (twice, 1 x car pulled out, 1 x swerved to miss pothole and hit kerb)
Broken finger (ahem…slid into tree)
Broken wrist (car pulled out, went over handle bars)
Damaged urethra (pothole)
The bike is a bit like grand dads broom in that just about everything has been replaced except for the handlebars, bell, water bottle holder and rear mudguard.
Total cost is about £2288, the equivalent cost of fuel (LPG) if I were to drive to work…..£1680, however the drive to and from work is appalling and there is only limited parking at available.
This is not your regular commute, a lot of it is fairly hard core mountain biking involving traversing a colliery spoil heap with a terrifying 50 foot muddy tree root decent, fields, meadows, forests and single tracks. Many times the bike has been completely stuck in 8 inches of mud or so clogged that its ground to a halt and I’ve had to snap a twig off a tree to dig the mud out of the front wheel and gears. Due to some roads not being maintained the bike also gets shaken to bits, most fasteners are either heavily thread locked or wire locked, even so I’ve have brakes and wheels shake loose, think riding over a cattle grid for several miles every day! also taking speed bumps at 30 mph leads to some pretty impressive jumps.
Other interesting points;
In the summer this bike is charged from 100% solar
In 15000 miles I have climbed 111 miles! I guess that's equivalent of riding up mount Everest 20 times!