How Long Does a Bike Last and Prolonging Your Bicycle Lifespan
How long does a bike last – When you purchase a form of transportation, be it a heavy-duty vehicle or a set of roller-skates, you expect it to last years. Not a few days or a few months. In addition, if they break whilst using them, you could get seriously injured.
No one will buy these items if there is no safety guaranteed for at least a couple of years, so the manufacturers tend to focus primarily on safety features as a top-selling point.
For these safety features, we as the consumer pay a surprisingly expensive amount, but it is worth time not spending it in hospital.
As such, all forms of transportation should at least have a manufacturer’s promise of a certain amount of time. However, we are never really told exactly how long something will last.
Take pedal bikes, for example, they are sturdy items that even children will use to ride, but how long will they last?
I’ve had my bicycle for years and it still continues to work fine, while a friend of mine replaces his bicycles every year or so. Should I be doing the same? In this article, we will look at the lifespan of a bike and see how long it takes for entropy and degradation to set in.
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How Can Bikes Be Damaged?
Before we delve into a bike’s lifespan, we need to look at what can harm a bike first. Bikes can be damaged in a number of ways, and they can shorten your bike’s overall lifespan by a surprising amount. Therefore, it is best to keep a lookout for signs of the things below:
Force or Impact Damage
The most common way for a bike to be damaged is through impacts. When we say impact, we mean that the bike has hit something or been hit.
These can be anything from a cyclist riding into a lamppost they didn’t see or a cyclist being hit by a car.
Although bikes are sturdy, they are not immune to the effects of physics and if they hit something with enough force or hit something harder than themselves, they will break upon impact.
Place your bicycles on a Gravity Wall Bike Rack for proper storage and away from potential damage
Corrosion
Nature is beautiful, unpredictable, and powerful. The elements that exist on our earth are forces unto themselves and even in the modern world, we cannot stop them, only migrate and predict them.
These same powerful elements can even have an impact on your bike. Rust forms when metal oxidizes, which happens metal iron is exposed to moist air.
As such, if you leave your bike in the rain or just outside when there has been raining, you are unwittingly inviting disaster. It may take a while for rust to form, but form it will if you let it and leaving your bike in the elements will let it.
Protect your bicycle from the natural elements by storing your bicycle in a Lightweight Bike Storage Tent
Weight and Pressure
A bike is designed to hold a rider on them up to a certain weight and to spring back a certain amount when coming into impact with something. If you increase the pressure in any area on a bike to a point more than is recommended, you will damage it.
I myself have experienced this while cycling down a hillside with a heavy backpack on and going too fast, which resulted in my bike almost collapsing and me being footed with a repair bill.
As you can see, bikes can be damaged in a number of ways, but these are mostly forces that we can migrate or avoid entirely with careful cycling and proper maintenance.
So, How Long Do They Actually Last?
If cared for properly and constantly maintained, then you can expect your bicycle to last for decades. Bikes are designed to last and take a lot of heavy hits when cycling. The frames and wheels are meant to be tough and while it does have a few weak spots, this in no way should impede your vehicle.
The only parts of the bike that should need regular maintenance and replacement will be the chain, the inner and outer tubes of the wheels, and the brake pads.
This is because these parts wear over time and are the ones that are constantly in motion and in contact with the ground. It is also why these parts are the cheapest and easier to replace.
The rest of the bike should stand the test of time and you could easily get 10 and, if you are lucky, 20 years out of the vehicle.
How To Extend A Bike’s Life?
A bike is not a hard vehicle to keep or properly care for, it has a small number of parts compared to a car and is designed for more rugged conditions.
However, that doesn’t mean you should be lax in your care and there are ways to extend your bike’s lifespan:
Storage
Make sure you store your bike properly. This does not mean outside where the elements can get to it or in any damp place. Heat, moisture, and long exposure periods in direct sunlight are enemies to your bike’s longevity.
As such, the best place for a bike is a cool, dry place that has nothing that can damage the bike, either from falling on it or exposure to it. Sheds, basements, or garages are good places for this, but any free and convenient place in your house will do as well.
Maintenance
You may not like this, not many people do, but you need to inspect your bike on the regular. After every big adventure, before you relax your weary bones, give your bike a once over.
Check it for signs of wear and tear and note any of these, as they could be problems later on. Potential difficulties will always be present long before an actual concern appears. Give every part a quick check and maybe an oil to prevent future issues at least once a month.
Keep all mechanical and moving parts lubricated and greased with this PolyTube Bicycle Lubricating Grease to protect against rust and weathering
Owner’s Manuals and Internet
If you are unsure of what a problem is or how to care for your bike, give the bike’s manual a once over or check the bike on the internet and find out more about it. If you know your bike back to front, you will know when there is a concern and be able to deal with it easily.
People on the internet always have opinions on how to help with something, and a lot of these can be useful, so find some other bike enthusiasts and get their opinion.
These three things should help keep your bike happy and healthy for many years to come if you follow them.
Final Thoughts on How Long Does a Bike Last
Bikes are not a hard machine to care for. They are designed to work in terrible conditions and through the wild places, but that is not to say they are invincible. They can have difficulties and these problems will often develop over time.
Yet, if you keep an eye on these problems, you can solve them before they become an issue. If all goes well, a bike can last you a couple of decades, and you can keep cycling throughout that time.
