Bicycle Wheels Made In China

[geared]

4 minutes ago, Top Cats Hat said:

To be fair, that is a design thing. If you want a smart phone with all the bells and whistles, there is no room for a plastic encased battery and its fixtures and fittings.

Yea but it's the most relatable example I could come up with, the concept happens alot with car parts.

What you used to be able to rebuild you now just throw away and fit new.

 

It's partly cost driven as well, why pay someone an hours wage (plus parts costs) to rebuild something that can be bought new for 20 quid?

Edited September 3, 2019 by geared

[Top Cats Hat]

1 minute ago, geared said:

Yea but it's the most relatable example I could come up with, the concept happens alot with car parts.

A better example would be Flymos.

 

I was given a knackered Flymo Compact 330 which is one of Flymos’s most popular hover mowers. As I suspected, the carbon brushes had worn out. I looked on line to find a pair of aftermarket ones but no one seemed to do them. I swallowed my pride and went into Broadfield Mowers on the London Road to buy a set of genuine Flymo brushes only to be told that Flymo didn’t do the brushes and I would have to buy a new motor for £71 + VAT. Given that the entire mover can be bought for £85 (including VAT) I can’t see them selling many motors.

 

 

[woolyhead]

Yes, Geared. As you say, back in the day you could dismantle something, replace the worn part and it'd work like new.  Today you can throw parts away and fit all new bits. Except that throwing a bicycle wheel away and buying a new one is expensive. And reaming out a bearing cup is quite an unusual thing to do. Could you do it?

[Janus]

It feels good when a item can be repaired and not thrown away. Sometimes we have to let go and move on. To put things in perspective, I bought two road bikes. Not top end stuff, but half decent aluminium with carbon fork. The wheels that were fitted to both bikes are Mavic Aksium. I could probably buy a brand new bottom of the range bike from Halfords for the price of  a pair these wheels at replacement cost without tyres.  

 

[Bargepole23]

On 04/09/2019 at 17:03, Janus said:

It feels good when a item can be repaired and not thrown away. Sometimes we have to let go and move on. To put things in perspective, I bought two road bikes. Not top end stuff, but half decent aluminium with carbon fork. The wheels that were fitted to both bikes are Mavic Aksium. I could probably buy a brand new bottom of the range bike from Halfords for the price of  a pair these wheels at replacement cost without tyres.  

 

Horrible wheels tho.....