Bicycle Maintenance Log
Recently, I’ve been experiencing a multitude of parts failures on my main commuter bike. Thinking back, a number of the parts were purchased new about ten years ago and it got me thinking what the lifespan of typical bicycle parts is. I searched around the internet for a while and couldn’t find any sites discussing the relative lifespan of various parts, so I decided to start collecting my own data. Since I was going to the effort to create such a log, I decided I might as well share it, who knows, perhaps you are curious about this as well.
| Date | Bike | Total Mileage | Part | Mileage Since Last Maintenance or Replacement of This Part |
Comments |
| 6/26/08 | surly | 9,340.6 | Added bell to handlebars | ||
| 6/20/2008 | surly | 9,214.7 | tire | ??? | Flat in front tire, replaced tube. It had obviously been a while since my last flat on the front, the tube was literally glued to the inside of the tire. |
| 6/16/2008 | surly | 9,167.4 | chain | 186.9 | Lubed chain, washed entire bike, thorough cleaning of the drivetrain |
| 6/1/2008 | surly | 8,980.5 | chain | 140.8 | Lubed chain |
| 5/3/2008 | surly | 8,839.7 | chain | 168.8 | Lubed chain |
| 3/2/2008 | surly | 8,670.9 | chain | 249.6 | Lubed chain |
| 1/9/2008 | surly | 8,661.5 | tire | 426 | Flat in rear tire, patched tube |
| 11/30/2007 | surly | 8,421.3 | chain | 155.0 | Lubed chain |
| 11/30/2007 | surly | 8,421.3 | handlebars | ??? | Replaced standard road handlebars with mustache bars. The old road bars had a few deep nicks near the center of the bar and the right drop was bent out of shape. I’m trying out the mustache bars for a different feel. |
| 11/11/2007 | surly | 8,266.3 | chain | 188.2 | Lubed chain |
| 11/7/2007 | surly | 8,235.5 | tire | ??? | Flat in rear tire, patched tube |
| 10/27/2007 | surly | 8,078.1 | chain | 327.9 | Lubed chain |
| 11/7/2007 | surly | 7,750.2 | chain | ??? | Lubed chain |
| 9/23/2007 | surly | 7,750.2 | brakes | ??? | Replaced both front and rear brake pads |
| 9/17/2007 | surly | 7,685.1 | chain | ??? | I broke a link during last Wednesday’s commute and finally had a chance to replace it. |
| 9/8/2007 | surly | 7,599.9 | seat | ??? | Replaced worn out seat with a second hand, lightly used, loaner WTB seat. The old seat was a stock one used by Schwinn. The seat cover was splitting in two places and the foam padding had been falling out for a while. Eventually, it began to create hot spots and encouraging me to swap it out. |
A couple of notes about the data…
- I only started accurately recording bike mileage in December of 2004. Before this date, I’d only be guessing at previous mileage and I chose not to make guesses. Therefore, the total mileage lists how many miles the bike has on it since December of 2004.
- Whenever possible, I’ll list the number of miles the part being replaced was used for.