Your candidates for long-lived components

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Some recent threads have got me to thinking about parts that give phenomenal service life and last a very long time, even in severe service. Such things not only last...they continue to work well throughout their lifetimes and are almost unimprovable.

Here's a starter list based on my experience:

SADDLES:
- Brooks B.17

HEADSETS:
Tapered roller-bearing models by:
-Stronglight (France)
-Galli (Italy)
-Saavedra (Argentina)

HUBS:
-Phil Wood

BB:
-Phil Wood

PEDALS:
-Phil Wood
-SunTour Superbe Pro

SPOKES/nipples:
-Wheelsmith
-DT Swiss

SHIFTERS:
-Shimano Bar-end shifters (Dura-Ace)

BOTTLE CAGES:
-CatEye nylon

PUMPS:
(Frame-fit)
-Silca Impero
-Zefal HP, HPX-series
(Mini)
-Crank Bros original PowerPump

COMPUTERS:
-CatEye Enduro
- PlanetBike Protege 9

BRAKE PADS:
-Mathauser/Kool-Stop salmon

FREEWHEELS:
-SunTour New Winner w/adjustable cones and rebuildable ratchet springs
-Regina

MUDGUARDS:
-SKS
-PlanetBike
-Gilles Berthoud
-Honjo

This is just a beginning, but should get you started. What parts/brands have you found to be particularly long-lived and reliable?

Best,

Dan.

[jags]

great idea Dan.well let me think hopefully my thorn sherpa.
shimano  dura ace groupset.
kool stop salmon .
fizik alanti saddle
fizik bartape excellent.
ortlieb panniers sorry not bike stuff but worth the mention.
dura ace 9 speed chain
my XT groupset so far is brilliant .
can i mention my assos bibs and
corrine dennis cycle ware .
ok i'll stop now  bound to be loads i missed.

[rualexander]

Blackburn Expedition rear rack - 20 years old, around 30,000 miles of loaded touring.
Karrimor Bardale handlebar bag - 20 years old

[il padrone]

BB
Shimano UN-72 square taper cartridge

Headset
Shimano M-series cartridge 1 1/8" headset

Rear Derailleur
Shimano Deore DX (still working fine 20 years on)

Tyres
Vittoria Randonneur Cross
Schwalbe Marathon XR

[Relayer]

TRANSMISSION
Campagnolo Mirage 8-speed, Veloce triple front mech & Ergo shifters (as everyone knows, Campagnolo wears IN, not out)

HUBS
Campagnolo Athena hubs

HEADSET
Campagnolo

TYRES
Continental Top Touring Tyre 700 x 32 (the original and best ones, I still have a pair brand new and unused 'in stock')

LUGGAGE
Carradice Nelson Longflap saddlebag

BAR TAPE
Brooks leather bar tape (still relatively new to me but looks as though it will last forever)

[Andre Jute]

Here are some classics that became classics by longevity, each superior in conception, design, materials and serviceability to everything else available in its class:

ROHLOFF HUB GEARBOX
Comes with an effectively unlimited guarantee as long as you change the oil once a year; no one has yet worn out a Rohloff box.

BROOKS LEATHER SADDLE, ANY
Shapes to the owner over the years, should be buried with him.

SHIMANO DEORE COMPONENTS
Common as dirt, not quite as cheap, soldiers on forever. In some components you really do not need anything better than Deore because it is impossible to conceive of a bike that will outlast the component.

LEDS
The first proper, useful bike lights -- and they last forever!

SKS RENNKOMPRESSOR
Best field and garage pump, wooden handled still but otherwise modern, infinitely rebuildable, moves a lot of air fast, will pump to 16 bars (!) if you have the shoulder for it, the choice of all the best racing teams.

ZEFAL HPX FRAME PUMP
The classic, infinitely rebuildable, actually pumps air (which cannot be said for many of its trendy successors).

MAGURA HYDRAULIC RIM BRAKES
Superior to disc brakes in action, truly fit and forget, no service required, ever, and light on brake blocks and rims, thus cheap to run. Gets my vote for the Best Bike Brakes in the World.

SCHWALBE TYRES
An amazing tyre company, they brought back the balloon with the Big Apple, and their Marathon Plus is almost a generic thornproof tyre. Heavy on science, all their touring and fat tyres last unconscionable distances. Also a maker of fashionable tyres for the trendies. Not expensive when you consider how long their tyres last. If I were forced to make a personal choice of their most outstanding tyre, it would be the 60mm Big Apple Liteskin, with the Ultraleicht Type 19A racing tube: huge volume of air for comfort, very low rolling resistance, nowhere near as heavy as one would expect, a wonderfully secure tyre at speed for both comfort and directional stability, lasts forever, folds for touring, the "racing" tube is for practical purposes as tough as the normal one -- exotic yet ultra-practical: it somehow sums up Schwalbe.

Andre Jute

[Danneaux]

What great additions! I'm hoping this thread will eventually provide a user-based go-to list for equipping an entire bike for greatest reliability. As a quick scan shows, the most reliable components aren't always the most expensive, and long-lasting components are generally the cheapest in the long run, thanks to their lower maintenance and replacement costs.

Keep 'em coming!

Best,

Dan.

[JWestland]

I can second the Schwalbe tires, I use them for commuting and they last a long, long time.

Also, SA 3 speed hub gears not very advanced, but they last for yoinks.

Any clipless pedal suggestions?

[Andre Jute]

Any clipless pedal suggestions?

Dunno. I ride in street shoes on vintage Philiips block rubber pedals. But that does remind me of a good and long-lasting component I left off my list:

VP191 SEALED BEARING BLOCK PEDALS
You may know this classic under a dozen other names, because Victor Pedals have made it for just everyone with the money and the sense to ask for it. But under the unimaginative VP191 name, or some transparent own-brand name, you will find this silky-smooth pedal on at least half of the top-class comfort and commuting bikes sold in Europe: it is the quintessential Euro-elite pedal. And it is cheap, currently about €20 retail, so the OEM very likely feel no pain (Trek used to give away a pair of VP191 to anyone who complained about the cheaper pedals they fitted on some of their top bikes to squeeze out a bit of extra margin...). Note the size though; it's one downside is that the VP191 is a bit on the small side for those with large feet.

[JWestland]

From what I read online Shimano SPD clipless pedals are near indestructible...if you are not a weight weenie, they are the ones to go for. The mountainbike ones can get bashed against rocks, caked in mud etc, and they will still go.

You can get parts for them so if they part fail, eg if it's just the spring or balls you will still be able to get parts to fix just that.

I got a pair of XTR 970 pedals on my Thorn easy to find entry, smooth clip-in

A reassuring *click* too. I haven't tried to break them yet

[brummie]

My XTR SPD pedals are still going strong 5-6 yrs old...

[martinf]

Longest-lasting stuff I still have in service:

Reynolds 531 light touring frame and forks by Woodrup of Leeds - 35 years, 75,000 kms
Brooks B66 Champion saddle - 24 years, 60,000 kms
Deore XT 4 finger brake levers for cantilevers - 55,000 kms
Brooks B17 saddle - 35 years, 46,000 kms
Steel Tange Prestige flat handlebar, 46,000 kms
Sturmey Archer S5/2 five-speed hub gear, 45,000 kms
Mikashima (old name for MKS) steel/alloy quill pedals (acquired on a second-hand bike in 1979), 43,000 kms
Stronglight X needle bearing headset, 42,000 kms
TA 150 mm Cyclotouriste cranks, 41,000 kms
Sturmey Archer 3 speed gear trigger, 40,000 kms

[Danneaux]

Ah, Martin,

Those are such classic components, I am not surprised they have lasted so very, very well. Well-designed things really do last almost forever, and for good reason: Good engineering is behind them, and the design makes them pretty, too. Unfortunately, we seem to be living in a fashion-driven world, and for many, it is not enough that things last a long time; they get bored with them long before they wear out!

I've lost count of the number of friends and acquaintances who discarded (!) perfectly good working parts (!!) simply because they were no longer as trendy (!!!) as the (ofttimes less pretty and shorter-lived) parts that replaced them. I managed to inherit a lovely pair of pearl-anodized Sunshine (Sanshin) Pro-Am hubs whose cup-race and cone finishes put Campagnolo's Nuovo Record of that era to shame. Why did I get them? The owner replaced them with a pair of SunTour's lower-level hubs that were finished in white epoxy and better matched his mid-'80s Miami Vice-themed ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Vice ) pink-and-aqua paint scheme. Of course, those hubs lasted about two seasons, and then he moved on to something else. Those Pro-Ams worked well for me over the next decade with never a hitch or quibble.  I had a pair of those same Mikashima pedals, and always liked them better than they Kyokuto (KK) counterparts of the same era. Much better race and cone quality and the pedal dust caps were an example of casting art. The kind of thing I actually felt a little guilty standing on.

When replacement cones and such became unavailable, I switched to sealed-bearing equivalents, and still won't part with my SunTour Superbe sealed quill pedals. With replaceable deep-groove Conrad-design outer locator bearings and very broad needle bearings dead-center in the forged and hand-polished x-body and replaceable cages, they'll last forever -- or near-'nuff to it.

Best,

Dan.

[NZPeterG]

Well

1st Rohloff Speedhub #47043 over 7year's of hard MTBing, just charge the oil once each year.
      km's ? no idea (load's) sold because it was a pain with having a nuted axle,  Just got a new one
 
2nd Time Atac pedals over 14 year's old and just up dated with new Look MTB pedals

3rd Hope ti Hub's over 20year's old and still going like new!

4th Phil wood BB only had to replace bearing's 2 x so far   kill in river crossing's MTB racing  

5th Brooks any for the love to my bum  

Pete....................