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Since I've just finished my second season of guiding in the Alps, thought I'd post up a wee list of kit that has just kept working (and stuff that hasn't).
[b]Best of the best:[/b]
Hayes 9 brakes.
Powerful, easy to work on, great pad life. Mine have goodridge hoses and I run them with original Hayes sintered pads as much as possible. Mine must be 4 years old now (had them before I moved out here) and they actually came from the classifieds on here so may be even older! Damaged them in crashes a couple of times over the 2 years, otherwise zero problems. Both times they were easy to fix myself and parts were cheap.
DT Swiss 5.1 rims.
These seem to get a slagging on here. Mine have been brilliant. I dinged the rear once during my first season due to pilot error. Straightened that out with an adjustable spanner and had no hassles since. Run them tubeless using the DT Swiss rimstrips and UST tyres.
Maxxis High-Rollers (2.5" Super-tacky UST DH version)
God's own front tyre.
Shimano Hone Cranks
Also coming on for 4 years old and still going strong. Think I replaced the bearings once last year, not at all this year.
Time Z Control pedals
7 years, no maintenance, no play, no problems. Ultimate reliability. (I swapped to flats a year ago though).
EA30 bars, Thomson stem, Thomson posts, Hope QR seat collar
Yup, everything's still where it should be. Every bike should have a Hope QR seatpost clamp!
[b]Great but minor problems or not them long enough to say[/b]
Orange Alpine 160 Frame. Love it, and not expecting any problems.
Santa Cruz Heckler (06 model) frame. Loved this frame, but I did eventually snap it in July. Can't complain, it had done a season and a half of top-notch service out here plus a year or so back in the UK.
Hope ProII hubs. Great, not even had to replace the bearings yet, but I did snap a rear axle (replaced super-fast by Hope, awesome service!). Freehub springs have gone too, but that's fair enough. Started with QR both ends, now 20mm front, 12mm rear.
RockShox Lyrik U-turn
Fitted at the start of this season. Been really pleased with them, no hassles at all. Small amount of oil leakage through the Mission Control damper, but not a big deal.
[b]Shockers:[/b]
Shimano QR axles - break way too easily
Avid Juicy 5's - good brakes when they work, but too prone to heat problems and pad replacement is a bad joke (especially compared to Hayes).
Aside from the bike, big shout-outs go to: Fox Sidewinder gloves, Oakley bike shorts, Giro helmets and my trusty Canon Powershot S50 which has survived far too many crashes, drops and soakings.
Hope XC hubs
Another vote for Time pedals here (as per pedal thread earlier)
Endura MT500 Thermastat Biblongs - 12+ years and going strong
SRAM gripshifters are one of the most reliable components I have ever had.
Thomson seat pins, King Headsets, Turner 5 Spot Frame, Hope XC Hubs are pretty reliable too as are Hope Mono M4's first generation (black and gold), Rockshox Pikes are pretty good too considering.
royce ti bb and middle burn rs7 cranks
also polaris wind proof 15 years old and still good
Ultegra groupset on my roadbike has been going strong since 2001.
Any Burton snowboard gear, especially anything from their Ak range.
2003 - 2005 marzocchi, it just works...and works...and works...
Oh, and my fox hi frequency shorts from 1998, still working and looking good(ish)...
A deore rear mech - Brother is now using his which has been contunually used for around 5 years.
My Shimao Shoes - so old, but love them. Had them about 6 years
2nd season in the alps. pah! You've not tested a bike to destruction until you've been on our Thursday night beer pootles 🙂
Bomb proof stuff what keeps going forever:
Shimano XT rear mechs
Hope Hubs
Santa Cruz frames
Magura forks
Oh... and clothing-wise:
Pearl Izumi shoes
Anything by Sombrio. The gloves seem absolutely indestuctable
Only things I've found are 321 rims and a Raceface Deus Headset. Unfortunately the Deus went with my Enduro.
Yeah, XT rear mechs probably deserve a shout-out - as do XT front mechs.
"pad replacement is a bad joke (especially compared to Hayes)."
You need to simply ditch the pad retention spring thing on the back. Just rely on the pad seperation spring/spider to push the pads onto the raised part of the piston. Then they're a doddle
Shimano Saint Brakes: Had them for about 4 years. They have been absolutely brilliant.
Hope Bulb hubs: Gods own hub, to go with his tyres above.
Sun Singletrack Rims: As above
XT Shifters - 2001
Hope XC hubs, one full bearing change rear, originals on front - 2001
Organic - I'm with you on Burton Kit. I have 2 top end AK jackets - one is 6 years old and still in one nice, stylish yet functional piece having been on umpteen trips and out in endless rain/wind/snow. The other is 16months old and still like brand new.
MTB stuff (prepares to be laughed at):
- Shimano M435 disc hubs have lasted me ages and ages! oh
- and my DX pedals which are now 2 bikes and 7 years old, never serviced, still smooth, amazing (grubs are a bit knackered now though!).
Sidi Dominators.
Shimano XT shifters.
Mavic 717s
MZ All Mountain 2 (2006)
Heckler (2006)
shimano UN52 square taper bottom bracket
it just WON'T break and I want a Royce 🙁
Every bike should have a Hope QR seatpost clamp!
You've got to be joking, they're rubbish. The Salsa flip-lock's the only one I've ever used that works 100% of the time, others can't be done up tight enough and as for the Hope one... it just breaks before you can get it anywhere near tight enough!
+1 for Thommo post and stem, XT mechs, 2004 Marzocchi
Also Easton EA50 riser bars, FSA XL2 headsets, Bel Air saddles, Shimano QRs, Ground Effect baggies... all knockout kit for reasonable wedge
Shockers: Anything from USE, Pace sus forks
Hayes nines, and Zocchi MXcomps 🙂
Oh and i've just replaced my sidi ghosts from 1999, and only because the cleat has siezed in and worn out, and replacement cleat plates appear to be unobtainable...
+1 for Shimano square-taper BBs.
Me to on shimano square taper BBs, I'm still running a un-72 fron the last millenia with my rs7's
it just breaks before you can get it anywhere near tight enough!
you must be incredibly ham-fisted: I've had them on my last three bikes and haven't broken a single one.
+1 hayes 9 but eventually the resevoir bladder splits then you are buggered
hope bulb rear now 4 years old with no maintenance. I say 4 years, that is how long I have owned it as I got it 2nd hand. No idea how old it is. Changed the bearings on the front this year.
wi freewheel 4th winter in all kinds of shit only now looking like it needs a service
z150s and mx comps
Hayes 9s here. four years old, never bled and still working very well.
Anything Thomson will probably out live me.
I'd have agreed with the Hope pro 2 hubs up until 3 weeks ago when my rear hub just exploded/shattered while in the granny ring pushing hard.
+ One for the un72 still have mine and RS7s must be at least 8 years old.
it just breaks before you can get it anywhere near tight enough!you must be incredibly ham-fisted: I've had them on my last three bikes and haven't broken a single one.
Second that, no idea what you're doing to them! Mine has been on 3 different frames and is nearly 10 years old. It's been slip free on every frame/post combination, is smooth as you like and hasn't broken.
thats good news llama.
my On-one (when it arrives) is having z150s, Hayes nines, hobe bulb hubs and Shimano Sqtp bottom bracket.... and M520 pedals come to think of it.
Pig Headsets?
Buffalo wind shirt - 16 years
XTR rear mech - 8 years
Trek lobster gloves - 15 years
Endura Hummvee shorts - 6 years
DX thumbies - 16 years
LX rapidfires - 6 years
it just breaks before you can get it anywhere near tight enough!
thirded on the Hope seat clamp, as tight as a tight thing & still going strong after many years
I don't know what you're doing with them
Salsa seat clamps are ace too!
And endura freeride shorts.
Anything by Sombrio. The gloves seem absolutely indestuctable
Damn I broke both of mine just putting them on! I think Canadians must have tiny hands...
Waterproof shorts are still going strong though.
With the amount of new shiny products in MTB I'm worried that it's getting more like PCs - huge amount of products going obsolete way before they wear out.
Cheaper Sram mechs - I've got a three and a half year old SX-5 mech that's still going strong.
Mavic rims - both my heavier (EX721) and lighter (XC717) going straight and true despite gung ho approaches.
Marzocchi forks of the pre-Taiwan era. I have two pairs of 2006 forks both performing flawlessly with no maintenance at all.
Another UN52 bottom bracket and deore square taper crankset - three years old again.
If you bear the weight truvativ howitzer bb - mines 4 years old, been in four frames two of which were unfaced and has absolutely no play in it.
Hope QR seat clamp - both of mine support my 95kg bulk nicely.
FSA Pig - forgotten hold old but still on original bearings with minmal fettling. I think anything that gets in is just ground to dust by the huge lower bearings!
ran hayes 9s on dh bike for two years. Never needed bleeding, as solid as when i bought them new. And the levers/master cylinder are a doddle to repair
Time pedals - 8 yrs and counting
Hope XC Hubs - likewise.
3 pairs of underpants that must be about 7 yrs old, threadbare but still supportive (unlike the wife's opinion of them!).
Scarpa leather walking boots - 19 yrs old
Marin Pine Mountain - 19 yrs old.
NAD CD Player, Dennon Amp, Mission Speakers - 19 yrs old
Karrimore Jag 75 rucksack - 21 yrs old.
Fourthed on the hope seat clamp - never had a problem with them
Hope XC rear hub - on it's second bike, guessing must be 6 years old never done anything to it.
Shimano flat clipless pedals (the old red ones - dx??) must be at least 6 years old
FSA Orbit extreme headset similar age to above.
Worst bit - Race Fce ISIS BB made of cheese!
I am not good on this kind of thread as I only wear stuff out such as pedals and seatpost...
(mr mc posting)
old Marz stuff- '99Z3 still in regular use on its third owner, with nothing but regular oil changes (still on orginal seals and bushes!).
old old Shimano stuff; M-C's 1994 Kona's shimano thumbies still work perfectly (and with an 8spd block due to shimano brain-farting and putting 7 indexes on a 7 speed shifter).
1998/99 Camelback Mule still my main riding daysack, had a new bladder or two but thats fair enough.
1998 Diadora Chilis finally just been replaced after hitting a rock and tearing the side (only just kept my little toe).
Old Fox stuff is a different league to new stuff. My 2000 Sidewinders are still going strong modified as short finger gloves (having torn the finger ends), but their newer "replacements" are far more fragile and shed armour (glued not stitched on now cut cost no doubt) and come unstitched in one season.
Put me down as another who bemoans expensive ISIS, and now external BBs not lasting anywhere near as long as the far cheaper old square-taper stuff...
Bit of a codger theme going on, older stuff [i]was[/i] better, or at least more durable.
Best of the best:
Hayes 9 brakes.
WHAT? sorry, I've seen too many break, had a few bad sets myself. Those brakes are a lesson in how not to build a reliable brake!
hayes brakes - indestructable, and despite a deliberate attempt to boil them they were faultless! The pads turned a funny colour before the lever even began to creep out!
Hope QR's should be consigned to the great parts bin in the sky, they neither look good or work well.
Shimano QR's rock, but the hub design does seem to eat axels (although better than the freewheels it replced)
Zocchi forks, I still miss my 2001 z1's and z4 air's. But magura stuff feels almost as good 🙂
Surly 1x1
BB7
Hope seatpost QR's have a tiny sweet spot between too loose and the post slips and too tight and you can't get the bugger closed. Find the sweet spot and you're fine. Otherwise, you stuck. Therefore, crap IMHO.
Endura MT500 jerseys - I've got two from circa 1994 and are still used regularly (used one today). Apart from fading a little, these things are bomb-proof
Another vote for: XT shifters (never had to replace them and I run stuff into the ground)
XT cranks
Hope hubs
Magura Louise FR brakes
Those comments above re:Mavic rims probably stem from the skill of the wheelbuilder. I had some terrible problems with early Mavic rims but that was before I started to use Paul Hewitt...
Hayes 9s just keep on working. Only problem has been a slightly sticky piston which was easily fixed.
Fox rp3
mavic 717/xt
Race Face Turbine square taper cranks
Deore rear mechs and old 525 Deore hydraulic discs (7 years hard labour, only ever changed the pads), Orange Sub 5
BurtonAK - yes, fantastic stuff
Nike ACG - the top end jackets and pants are fantastic
Chris King SS hubs
Shimano deore brakes
Embers marino
I can't believe people are getting so long (6-7 years???!!!) out of Time pedals without servicing them! Mine always develop play in less than a year or so. I (briefly!) used Crank Bros as a result which were gash so am going to try Shimano again. First impressions are good as they're much easier to strip down than Time pedals.
Good reliable kit I've had: EA70 handlebars. High roller tyres. 719 rims (I was dinging 717's a bit much). Reba forks.
Surly stainless rings are great. DT Revolution spokes are ace on my own builds. M540 pedals doing very well.
But I disagree on UN52's, they last me about 6 months, and WI freewheels only a year before the teeth are very pointy. I like my PC850 chains although still need to change them every 3 months or so.
Hope QR Seat Clamp (new style) was poo, I broke it because it didn't actually hold onto the post in the first place.
Hope hubs, Chris King headset, XT kit (especially shifters), & my 8 year old Santa Cruz Superlight frame which has coped thousands of miles and still on only its second set of bearings. Not reliable........Race Face ISIS BB......just what was going on here....
Another vote for Marzocchi MX forks. Running the same set for 4 years now and not had to touch them.
Salsa chainring on the singlespeed - ditto.
Rhyno lite rims - not light at all but [i]incredibly[/i] tough. Taken huge hits and huge loads touring and still completely true.
Shimano square taper BB - goes without saying!
Shimano XT anything
Race Face stuff
Shimano brakes
Shimano hubs
Rock Shox Pikes
Schwalbe Nobby Nics
Also, a special mention goes to Shimano 959 pedals (now XTR) simply because I almost forgot to mention them- they're so faultless I forget they exist.
Clothing wise-
Giro E2 helmets
Endura Superlite shorts
Oakley glasses
Shite-
Hope Breaks. No, that's not a typo.
Anything made by pooperstar
DT Swiss rims
Sram tat
Crank brothers stuff
Bontrager wheels and tyres
Well, in contrast to some others here, the most reliable stuff I've got has been my SRAM X9 mech and shifters, both six years old, my RaceFace ISIS Signature BB, six years plus, one set of bearings at eighteen months and two bikes later, still working perfectly. My Hope M4 and M4 Mono's both sets dated '03, both sets work perfectly, both sets bled twice in that time, both on original pads, two pairs of Mavic X3.1 UST rims on Hope XC hubs, one set the hubs are nearly ten years old, the rims and other set six years old. The Answer and XLite carbon bars on two bikes are both six years old. The best gloves I've ever had are my Rocket Race Parts ones, one pair are fourteen years old, another two pairs are eight or nine years old, and my Oakley Factory Pilot gloves are nearly seven years old, but getting pretty ratty now. A pair of Fox gloves wore through the fingers in four months...
Most of my RaceFace riding gear is several years old and still going strong, my Xen lid is going to need replacing as the outer hardshell is starting to delaminate after six years. Ummm, think that's about it.
Never used rock shox forks but from what Ive seen they need re lubing and stripping down pretty often, cant put them on the list surely? I had a set of 98 marzocchi z1 bams still going strong that I sold on a bike recently, and my Z1 freerides barely need touching.
forgot one:
original XT thumb shifters
still see them in use today 20+ years later. The new ones are nowhere near as reliable.
UN72s
Sidi Dominators
XT thumbies
Endura 3/4 bibs
I have a XT rear mech on my pub bike which is now at least 18 years old. It did quite a few years on a MTB before I moved it over.
Being completely un-qualified to comment on 'hardware', I will have to confine myself to clothing...
- Gore jerseys; worn almost every weekend for 3 years & decals not even stressed
- Gore windstopper gilllet; always surprises me how effective it is & doesn't lose ability through washing
- Columbia casual wear - like the style & hard wearing
- Salomon walking boots; last & last & suit my foot shape!
Midddleburn RS7's Square Taper still going strong after 8 years.
Mavic F519 rims now outlasting there second set of hubs.
Hope Xc hubs- untouched and used every week since 2001.
Specialized BG comp saddle- every kind of weather condition and comfy as ever since 2001. Crashed a number of times and not damaged!
Shimano XT rear mech and shifters- reliable since 2003.
Endura Hummvee shorts- nothing else will do.
RaceFace aquanot jacket- kept me dry since 2001!!!!! Died on a downhill run last month- im gutted.
Specialized bg comp spd shoes- fits like a glove and takes a hell of a beating since 2001.
Shimano deore spd pedals- never needed servicing, never gone wrong, never noticed them- they just work! Since........ er forever.
Shimano neoprene overshoes- cheap(ish), bombproof and have kept my feet in my summer shoes warm and dry through 10 winters!
Oh, and Chris King headset- the only headset you will ever need! Just find the £100 for it, you'll not regret it.
ODI YETI SPEED GRIPS ,cause 10+ years of grip for £6 is just about right.
my '08 epic.
NOT...!
Hope XC Front Hub... been on my bike since 1996, never changed the bearings, used every day for my commute - 3rd or 4th rim by now mind you
(now I've said that it'll break tomorrow... watch this space!!)
Hayes 9's good, Shimano UN72 bb's indestructable, XT rear mechs, Karrimor Goretex paclite from 2001 still going strong, Northwave Oxygen shoes.
Bad: Lumicycle HID light, broke again! 👿
hayes 9's (work well and dont overheat even when pads have gone and still somehow quieter than my avids...)
hope xc
mavic 819
ht2 xt cranks old and new ones (but not the bb or rings)
kmc chains (last well and havnt snapped on me yet, light too)
shimano shifters xt and xtr have never failed
surly and salsa rings and sprockets
xt cassettes (sure they wear out just like the rest but woulndt use anything else)
Race Face - rubbish. Over-hyped. Poor design (cranks).
Royce - bearings died really fast. Overpriced.
SIDI - Nope, sorry. Soles came off after 18 months.
Assos - hmm... Shorts good but the chamois came out after 6 months in all 3 pairs...
Shimano disc brakes - brilliant. They last forever.
Hope - Mono minis - ditto (as long as you don't get carbon levers).
Hope - Hubs - brilliant. Last forever.
King headset (12yrs old is my oldest one).
If I tell you then next ride it will break, so I'm keeping quite.