Repair or Replace?

[andy400]

I have a Raleigh bike with 21 Shimano gears and thumb selector thingies. I quite like this bike, not least because I've had for almost half my life - bought it at 16, I'm now 33.

Unfortunately the gears have sometimes started slipping and occasionally not selecting properly. To my mind, this ought to be easy to fix, but someone has already suggested that it would be cheaper to buy a new bike. Any thoughts?

[CC07 PEU]

If you're willing to spend £200 or upwards on a new bike then yes, it'd be best to just buy a whole new bike.

You probably could get the whole lot fixed on the Raleigh for about £100 using cheap parts plus labour but is it really worth fixing something up that wasn't really very good quality in the first place?

[andy400]

CC07 PEU said:

wasn't really very good quality in the first place?

Are you dissing my bike?

That's fighting talk, that is.

[CC07 PEU]

andy400 said:

CC07 PEU said:

wasn't really very good quality in the first place?

Are you dissing my bike?

That's fighting talk, that is.

Well, I meant to say "probably wasn't very good quality in the first place"... Really, I can't think of that many Raleigh MTBs that were ever particularly good or of a high specification.

[deevlash]

Depending on how much you want to spend you can get a whole new groupset for signifigcantly less than £200. You could have trouble getting parts to fit though, lots of things will have changed since you bought your bike such as sealed bottom brackets ets which could be a problem getting a crankset to fit.

[mat205125]

You would be far better off with a new £200 bike than spending any money on your Raleigh. Technology moves pretty fast in the bike world, even if the basic principles remain the same ... cars are the same. They still have 4 wheels and a few seats to sit in, but a bargain basement entry level new model will be a lot better than a 17 year old tired model ... especially a model that was pretty basic at the time anyway.

[mk1fan]

Carrera Vulcan seems to be the budget mtb of 2007. You can get one for £230 odd in Halfords / Bike Hut.

[andy400]

CC07 PEU said:

andy400 said:

CC07 PEU said:

wasn't really very good quality in the first place?

Are you dissing my bike?

That's fighting talk, that is.

Well, I meant to say "probably wasn't very good quality in the first place"... Really, I can't think of that many Raleigh MTBs that were ever particularly good or of a high specification.

Can't be that bad, shirley? It's still going strong(ish) after fifteen years of average use but way-below-average care and maintenance. I know little about such things, but would have thought that to be fairly reasonable evidence of fairly reasonable quality. Or something....

[CC07 PEU]

andy400 said:

CC07 PEU said:

andy400 said:

CC07 PEU said:

wasn't really very good quality in the first place?

Are you dissing my bike?

That's fighting talk, that is.

Well, I meant to say "probably wasn't very good quality in the first place"... Really, I can't think of that many Raleigh MTBs that were ever particularly good or of a high specification.

Can't be that bad, shirley? It's still going strong(ish) after fifteen years of average use but way-below-average care and maintenance. I know little about such things, but would have thought that to be fairly reasonable evidence of fairly reasonable quality. Or something....

When people talk about quality bikes, they're not talking about whether the bike is still all bolted together after 15 years, it's more about the specification of the components. Better quality bikes are made of lighter, stronger materials, the components will function better than cheaper ones after extended use, especially in muddy conditions, the parts will be easier to maintain or replace, they will have a better quality finish etc etc.

[jmorgan]

Scuse me, first post in here. Just bought a new hybrid from Evans rather than try to upgrade my ancient Dawes drop handle thingy. Best move. The gears I can fix, the brakes (centre pull, no larfing at the back) could be upgraded somewhat but I found that a new package was just a lot easier. I must admit that I found the new fandangled clicky things that move the gears a lot easier than the shifters on the down tube....

[deckster]

Gears slipping on a bike of that vintage will just be a case of a new cassette and chain, around 20 quid if you can fit them yourself. Absolutely no point in buying a whole new bike!

[andy400]

CC07 PEU said:

andy400 said:

CC07 PEU said:

andy400 said:

CC07 PEU said:

wasn't really very good quality in the first place?

Are you dissing my bike?

That's fighting talk, that is.

Well, I meant to say "probably wasn't very good quality in the first place"... Really, I can't think of that many Raleigh MTBs that were ever particularly good or of a high specification.

Can't be that bad, shirley? It's still going strong(ish) after fifteen years of average use but way-below-average care and maintenance. I know little about such things, but would have thought that to be fairly reasonable evidence of fairly reasonable quality. Or something....

When people talk about quality bikes, they're not talking about whether the bike is still all bolted together after 15 years, it's more about the specification of the components. Better quality bikes are made of lighter, stronger materials, the components will function better than cheaper ones after extended use, especially in muddy conditions, the parts will be easier to maintain or replace, they will have a better quality finish etc etc.

Shows what the f I know!