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Bought a Trigger around Sept/Oct last year when that PSA Trigger thread was still very new.
Changed a fair bit of it and always maintained it but never too fussy about it being clean and shiny.
After a pretty mucky weekend which made everything the same browny grey I was forced to give it a proper wash yesterday. Got a fair few scratches, marks, chips and dings on rims, mech, crank arms and frame.
Nothing you wouldn't expect to have and it'd still in VGC - it's a tool to do a job and when you're throwing yourself down hills at a fair old pace I guess it's inevitable. My bike no longer feels 'new' - I'll have to get it dusty and less clean this weekend 😉
It's odd I bought a new mountain bike last September and instantly didn't give a toss about scratching or scraping it so long as it's mechanically sound / looked after. It's a bike for chucking down hillsides.
Not to say I mistreat the bike (quite the opposite) but it just doesn't occur to me to worry about it.
That new bike honeymoon usually lasts a ride for me....it goes something like
Ride 1 - new shiny thing
Ride 2 - need to fiddle with that to make it better
Ride 3 - notice flaming great scuff
Ride 4 - its a bike i ride bikes ....
Once you've cleaned it, I bet it still looks pretty good from a few metres.
Yeah, bikes, especially MTB's are for riding. Much as its disappointing when you find that first scratch, bikes are for riding, not for looking at.
I wouldn't worry about it. After a few rides, my triggers back wheel looked like Janet street porter had chewed on it, after all the rock/stone strikes.
Now close up, it is a bit ropey, still doesn't detract away from the fact it is my favourite bike i have owned.....great up and down.
I chipped the paint and put some heel rub on during the first ride. The signal it's fine to throw at the floor
I do both. Ride them hard, but fairly fastidiously polish out any scratches, touch up chips, or protect heel rub with heli tape. The key thing for me is keeping that new bike feeling - for years - if at all possible. I can't afford a new bike, that's why! All my bikes have been lovingly built up from s/h parts in excellent condition - and I like to try to keep them that way.
Simple things like renewing the grips can be a cheap way of achieving this.
The 'New' bike thing lasts until there's another 'New' bike to take up the feeling. It never goes away in other words 8)
First thing I do with any new bike is deliberately put a scratch/chip in it somewhere. Last bike I tapped with a spanner while still in the LBS 😀
Other than that little ritual they get looked after in storage and transportation, helitaped etc. Any marks from rides/crashes etc are just memories.
Until the the first wash which is about the time you hear a 'tik-tik' in the bottom bracket and then notice the rusty spots on chain/QR lever spindles/...
Depends what you mean by new bike feeling
If you mean being precious about it that lasts up until the first stop on the first ride when I look at the bike and it is clearly no longer new
But as above the new/latest feeling lasts until another bike comes along
I clean mine fastidiously and keep it in top condition - so mine pretty much look and feel like new all the time.
Anything that gets worn gets changed.
I like the "new" feeling so I'm happy to put effort into keeping it that way.
When I don't feel like putting the effort in I will get another bike.
Not long I hope, since I got the new bike it's been sitting in the corner unridden and unloved, massive attack of buyer's remorse!
I just need to (literally) get back in the saddle after a year or two of endless injuries has sort of put me off riding, hopefully it'll be all mud and scrapes soon enough! 8)
I'm still fiercely protective of my 'new' road bike I built up in October. Less for MTBs I reckon - they pick up scratches etc far quicker.
For some reason it varies from bike to bike for me - FS bikes I tend to not care about too much TBH, but I'm quite precious about my black On One Scandal for some reason, don't know why but it really bothers me when it gets a mark on it. Bought a BFE frame this year that & I really don't give a sh!t about that getting chips or dents on it.
About three months so far.
Actually managed to keep it in the house for about six weeks as 'the garage was full'.
It's still the most beautiful thing I've ever owned and will remain so until I sling it down the road, when it will transform itself into a bike.
I like to keep my bikes clean with everything running smoothly, but could care less about scratches. They are badges of honour in my book.
I still think of my Stumpjumper FSR as my 'new' bike.
I bought it in Jan 2010.... 😆
Weirdly I bought a road bike in around 2013, but I've never really thought of it as my 'new bike' - very much just a tool for the job.
I bought my latest MTB over 2 years ago and I still get that 'new bike buzz' when I open the shed and see it hanging there.
Still get the buzz when I am out riding it also. Once a month or so it gets a clean, as in trying to get it back to showroom condition, clean.
I guess this may be that I really got it right with this bike, she's a keeper where my last bike I was never that comfy with it and it got a big scratch on the cross bar early on.
New bike feeling normally lasts a ride or two for me, I then aspire to the 'old bike feeling' where I've had enough miles and experience with it that it's like an old friend, this can happen quickly or never depending on the bike.
I've put ~3000 miles on my 'new' tourer/commuter/gravel/just a bike and in my head it's still newish as it's only a year old.
I've done a bit under 900 miles on my 'new' audax bike and already it feels like an old friend despite only being 8 months old.
My carbon XC race bike is nearly 4 years old now, but for some reason it's still new in my head, I don't feel I've fully learnt all it's nuances yet despite it being my most raced bike, you'd think it would be like an old friend by now but it isn't, it still feels new to me.
Can't explain it really!
When the bike is right the new glow never goes.
The first few pedal strokes will always bring a smile. However, if the bike is not right, the glow goes after the first failed upgrade 😆
For me after the first ride when I realise the new bike is not going to transform me into a riding god and then the realisation sets in that for the next 12 - 18 months I'll be paying the thing off. But then in 12 - 18 months time the desire for a new bike kicks in again. It's a vicious circle.