I have this habit of wearing out a brand new (cruiser style, no hand brakes or gears, with massive fenders) bicycle every 7 to 10 months. This could be because I do absolutely no maintenance whatsoever, aside from occaisional new tries.
Six days a week my miminum daily travel is ten miles. I average fifteen or twenty, and my rarely reached upper limits are forty.
What can I do to prolong the life of my bikes? What should I have been doing from the beginning? What is normal maintenance, and what do my extreme uses require? My bikes have all cost between $175 - $300 from local bike shops. The problems I have are extreme difficulty peddling, sometimes with a metal-upon-metal grinding sound or loud clicking.
One bike could not go a half mile without locking up completely.
Two of them, including my current bike, have had trouble keeping the chain on. It has been popping off at really bad/dangerous times about once a week. I used to jump curbs, but that did break alot of spokes resulting in bent rims, so I'm careful about that.
I give them away to people who don't have any trouble fixing them, so the problem must be simple, right?
So how do I lube the chain? Can I check out the bearings myself, or does that bike shop have to do that? Yes servicing your bike is the answer.
It is good to learn early that one must pay attention to the things we rely on for our livelihoods.
How to get this done depends on your situation.
Decent amount of money, not much time?
buy a second bike, lube/clean your chain regularly, take your bike to shop every few months, use spare bike while in shop.
Got time but not much money: Learn the basics of bike service for your type bike, do your own service. Buy a good service book, find a mechanic with a supportive attitude.
Neither much time or money: lube the chain, get a clunker to use while good bike being tinkered with.
Learn to recognize the symptoms of a bike needing service, set aside 1/2 hour a week to do basics.
If you are buying your bike from a good local bike shop, they should be able to show you the basics of what to do to make the bike (they sold you) more reliable.. otherwise you need to find a new local bike shop. just make sure you cross your legs well yeah you need to take time to keep your bike oiled and chain,check the brakes just like a car of if not you will be walking I take my bike completely apart once a year and regrease
all the bearings. This includes taking the rear end assembly
apart, and the cone berings in the front rims. I wore mine out too, but I was jumping curbs instead of stopping & picking the bike up. I kept the chain lubricated and carried a hand pump at all times. Chubby Cruiser says:
Chubbys Cruisers Bike Maintenance
We're often asked how frequently bicycles should be serviced. It's a difficult question to answer because it depends on how and where it's ridden as well as its condition. Assuming your Beach Cruiser Bicycle is in good working order and that you ride sensibly (i.e. don't abuse your bike) and not in nasty weather a lot (muddy and snowy rides accelerate wear), the following guidelines will keep your two-wheeler running trouble free for years. If you are close to the ocean, the salt in the air will corrode components much more quickly. If at ALL possible, store your bicycle indoors With a cruiser bike, there really is nothing for you to do other than lubing the chain regularly, about every 150 miles. Normally you would have a bike shop work on the bearings once a year, but your bikes are not lasting that long.
What is wearing out? Is it the frame or the components? If it's the frame, you'd probably save money by buying a better bike that would last longer. Inexpensive bikes from WalMart or Toys R US are made from mild steel frames that are heavy but don't last long.
At even 100 miles a week, your components should last much longer than 7 to 10 months unless they are WalMart junk.
The next time your bike wears out, take it to a bike shop and ask them what has worn out and why. You'll then know what to look for, enabling you to buy a better bike next time. There are two things that seem to be causing your problems;
1) Bottom brackets. These are the bearing assemblies that the cranks turn around on. On bikes in your price range the stock ones are pretty low end. The next time you break one, take the bike to a shop and ask about replacing it with something more heavy duty. Buying a whole new bike with an equally bad part isn't a good solution.
2) Chain stretch. Chains don't actually stretch, but as the pivot points wear the chain gets longer. On a single speed bike this will cause the chain to get loose and skip off of the gears. Check the chain tension every month or so and adjust as needed:
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto... rule of thumb #1
lube after every ride
air up before every ride
Then you can do what the others say 7 to 10 months... Yikes!!!!!
A cruiser bike doesn't need a ton of maintenance to last a year. If you keep the tires pumped up and lube the chain (both weekly) the rest should be fine for much longer. Bearings should last far longer than 10 months unless you ride in rivers.
EDIT: if your chain is falling off, it's probably too loose. On a new bike the chain will stretch a little. A fixed gear chain should have a little bit of play but not be sagging a lot. This is fixed by loosening the rear wheel, siding it back and re-tightening the axle nuts making sure the wheel is aligned in the frame. | 