doctor j

Although the beginning of 2015 has for various and sundry reason been the worst start for cycling that I've had in years, I did manage to roll over 21,000 miles on my Fuji Newest, my first modern-day road bike.

So far, so good with the Fuji, its Sora components, no-name brakes, and Alex R500 wheels.

Frame: Replaced one bottom bracket
Wheels: Front wheel has had bearings serviced once. Replaced a few tires/tubes at normal intervals. Never needed truing.
Wheels: Rear wheel has had bearings serviced once. Broke a single spoke on several occasions. Probably should replace, but it's still rolling.
Shifters: Sora, 8-speed triple with thumb levers. No problems. Replaced cables and housings at normal intervals. More reliable than the 105 shifters I had on my other bike.
Derailleurs: Sora. They stay adjusted and work.
No-name brakes: They stop my forward motion effectively. I've installed new pads twice.

What is the purpose of this post?

The purpose is to demonstrate that a low-end bike shop bike with low end components, wheels, and brakes can, with only moderate care and feeding, last many miles and provide many smiles. I've read several posts about how Sora components don't shift well, don't stay adjusted, and don't last. That's not been my experience, and the combination is still rolling.

Keep riding!

h2oxtc

Thank you for your post. I would ordinarily dismiss any bike with Sora components and am surprised, yet pleased, to hear that you've ridden more miles than most people ride (including possibly me) in a lifetime with it.

Perhaps you can share, what is a "normal interval" for changing cables and housings? As my collection of bikes increases, the accumulated miles on any one bike is diminishing. But sooner or later I imagine that I'll need to change them?

qcpmsame 

I think that too many of us tend to dismiss bicycles with Sora, Tiagra, Claris, Microshift, etc., immediately. For the majority of us these components will give us faultless operation for a long time, with basic maintenance. Might not be the absolute lightest, or have more cogs on the cassette, than Carter has little liver pills. The trickle down technology has given a level of engineering to these groups we dreamed of having just a few years back.

Bill

doctor j

The Fuji came with interrupter brakes, the extra set of levers on the flat portion of the bars. I got ride of those last year and replaced all of the cable housings. I think maybe that's the second set of housings I've had on this bike in addition to the original ones.

I tend to shift the rear derailleur a lot, so that cable has been replaced two times as I recall.

Ol' Fuj lives in the house if we're not out on the road.

bikemig 

I'm curious, how long did it take you to ride 21,000 miles? I agree that the low end Shimano stuff is fine. I'm running claris on one my bikes and no complaints so far.

TakingMyTime

Thank you for the post. I too sometimes get hung up on one sort of upgrade or another and while I'm thinking that I realize that the bike I'm riding is doing exactly what I bought it to do. I smile and keep on riding thinking about all the money I saved.

I truly believe that almost any modern day bike (and components) will last for years with the proper care.

berner

I've found the same. My bike is a Specialized Secteur with 8 spd Sora and had worked near flawlessly for 17,000 miles. I did have some difficulty with shifting the rear and found it necessary to install a new deraileur. Alex rims were fine also if heavy. I bought custom wheels consisting of Velocity A23 rims with older Ultegra hubs for a saving of about 1 1/2 pounds but what I was really after was nice plump tires, (28mm) for a more cushy ride.

Biker395 

Noting wrong with Fuji bikes. Or any other bike from a major manufacturer, for that matter.

I'm also surprised at how well some of the lower end Shimano stuff works. I've got a couple of bikes with Tiagra components ... one well over 10 years old, and it still works fine. I broke a spring in one rear derailleur and had to clean up another, as it refused to pivot freely anymore. But those bikes are ridden tens of thousands of miles along the beach ... a very corrosive environment.

I'm not as enamored with the no-name brakes. They stiffened up and got rusted out pretty badly. Since replaced.

And in the interest of honesty, I should say that the only wheels I've ever had broken spoke problems with were Alex wheels.

doctor j

Ol' Fuj is an '06 model that I bought new in '07 with a discount for last year's model. It was my only road bike for a couple of years. I added a Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5. The Fuj got relegated to after-work rides after I added the Cannondale, but I still ride Ol' Fuj after work every chance I get.

Null66

Damn nice!

i can remember a time when I was fantasizing over aluminum rims so The bike would stop in the rain! Something about water on a chrome braking surface....

Then maybe a fabled 52 chain ring...