I've had a variety of issues with bike gear. I bought my Redline 9-2-5 as a complete build (the only way you can get it unless you know somebody at Redline, probably) and it wasn't long before I started destroying the OEM parts.
First to go were the stock tires. I don't even remember what kind they were, only that I had numerous "mystery flats" and got thoroughly sick of them. After some research I learned that many people had issues with the stock tires and so I replaced them with Schwalbe Marathon Slicks (700x30) which solved the problem (plus they had reflective side-walls).
Second to go was the rear wheel. The stock wheels were Alex rims with low-flange Redline hubs. Shortly after I switched from single-speed to fixed gear I began breaking spokes in the rear wheel. After some consultation with Aaron (of Aaron's Bicycle Repair in West Seattle: http://www.rideyourbike.com/ ) we decided that a Velocity Dyad rim (made for tandem bikes) and a Phil Wood high-flange track hub would be the strongest combination (also with Phil Wood spokes: heaviest gauge in back, double-butted in front). So out went the Alex/RL wheel and I got a spanky PINK Phil track hub!
Next went the quite uncomfortable saddle (which I replaced with a black Brooks B17) and the front wheel (made to match the rear wheel). I would like to add that in the few years that I've had the Velocity/Phil wheels, I've had them trued THREE times (rear wheel twice, front wheel once) and broken ONE spoke-nipple. Not bad, eh?
When the Cane Creek headset went to bits I began thinking that I should have just invested in a frame set and fork and built the bike up from scratch. I also decided not to view part failures as unpleasant surprises and instead just wait for them so I could turn them into upgrading opportunities. I replaced the Cane Creek with Chris King.
Around this time the moustache bars were beginning to hurt my hands and wrists. So I switched to Nitto "noodle" bars and raised the whole cockpit a bit.
I was gradually trashing the FSA crank set and so decided to upgrade. I initially wanted to go Dura Ace or Sugino, but ended up getting the newest thing in cranks and chain-ring: Paul. I won't say that I was coerced, but I was definitely "encouraged" to get the Paul set-up because it was "cool" and Paul's stuff was reputed to be heavy business. So I got a 1/8th inch cog and PINK KMC 1/8th inch chain (which I wore out in record time [3 or 4 months] and then replaced with a SRAM PC-1 1/8th inch chain). I also upgraded to a Phil Wood bottom bracket (high-end quality stuff) with a Campagnolo taper for the Paul cranks.
This arrangement worked quite well for quite a while...
However, eventually the Paul cranks began giving me problems. The four-bolt interface with the chain-ring came loose and when the folks at Aaron's tried to re-tighten it the threads stripped right off the bolts. Paul honored the warranty and sent a new crank-arm which he attached with automotive-grade thread-lock which solved the loosening problem.
Again, this worked well for a while. Imagine my surprise when I actually broke the crank-arm itself! It was fortunate that I wasn't moving very quickly and was also seated when it went. At first I thought I had unclipped from my Frogs, so I was feeling around with my foot for the pedal and having no luck at all. Then I looked and found that there was NO PEDAL. Thanks to whomever it was behind me who picked it up and brought it to me.
The wear pattern on the broken ends indicated that it had been gradually cracking for a while, but there were no visible indications and it didn't squeak or anything either. Paul again honored the warranty and sent another new crank-arm, but I was finished with Paul's cranks.
I did more research and was leaning toward Dura Ace cranks when it was pointed out to me that I'd have to buy a proprietary Dura Ace bottom bracket to use them. As I already had a Campy-tapered BB, I went on Aaron's recommendation and got a Campagnolo Record track crank-set, which, I was repeatedly assured, was the strongest thing available*.
I should point out that not only were Aaron and the other ABR mechanics totally baffled about the Paul crank failure, but the Paul people were equally confounded. When I visited their booth at NAHBS 2008 in Portland I mentioned that I had broken a Paul crank-arm and they said, "oh, that was YOU!" They later told me that of all the crank-sets they'd sold, there were only three reports of broken crank-arms (but they had all broken in the same place). As a result, they made design changes to (one hopes) avoid repeats of this failure in the future. So some good may come of it.
Also, somewhere in there I switched from the Nitto noodles to Ritchey Bio-Max ergo-bars and PINK fizik bar-tape. The drop position on the Nitto bars was a bit too far away for comfort; the Bio-Max ergo hump put the position closer and solved that problem. Now I understand that Nitto makes an ergo-bar with a shallow drop...something to think about for future upgrades (and building my IRO)!
This brings us to my most recent part-failure.
I was heading up to Aaron's to help Gypsie with her music-management system (read: extracting music and organizing it), I was waiting in the turn lane between the stadiums in SoDo so I could go South on 1st Ave (and then to Spokane and then to West Seattle et cetera). The turn arrow turned green and I stood on the left pedal to "sprint" into motion and get through the intersection when something gave way and I fell onto the handle-bars and then onto the pavement (and into the straight lane). It's very fortunate that 1) I wasn't moving very quickly, 2) the traffic was light that day and there were no cars going straight through the intersection to run over me, 3) this didn't happen when I was sailing downhill on Pine heading into downtown. I quickly jumped up, grabbed my bike and the silver part from the street and hustled to the sidewalk. After calming down a bit I inspected the crank-arm to see where I had broken it, but the arm was fine. It took me a moment to fully realize that I had snapped the spindle from the Phil BB and that the end of it was still securely bolted into the arm! I limped across the street to the bus-stop by Pyramid and took the #22 up to Aaron's. Along the way, I noticed that my right arm was bleeding and that my neck and shoulder were in a goodly amount of pain. What was it that I was saying earlier about not viewing part failures as unpleasant surprises? Anyway, the breakage pattern would seem to indicate that it failed suddenly and not gradually as the Paul cranks had.
Again, everybody at ABR was impressed(?) that I had managed to break something which almost never breaks. Phil is honoring the warranty and is sending a new BB. I briefly wondered if Phil makes a BB with a titanium spindle, but I'm not sure that it would necessarily be stronger (just lighter, which isn't really a consideration for me as I weigh ~270 lbs right now [which sucks]). I'm also under the impression that titanium parts flex a lot, but I've yet to do much research into these issues. If you have any information about this stuff, do pass it along, won't you?
So how's that for an epic post? Lots to read, some pretty pictures...it might be my best post yet! Hooray and ouch.
* There are MTB/BMX crank-sets and BBs which are virtually indestructible, but they come in a limited range of chain-ring sizes (topping-out at around 42 teeth, which is fine for MTB/BMX, but not great for fixed-gear or road riding), so we didn't consider them for this bike.
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