reliable compomemts

[chrisx]

Any one no of a resource comparing reliability of bike components?  I didn't say lightest or fastest.  I said most reliable.  I bought a Fargo frame, (touring bike with 29er wheels),  so I can travel in remote places. 

Simply put; which components will not let me down some where near Bolivia where the nearest bike shop is to far to walk too?

[neve_r_est]

Search the MTBR forums. As long as you stick with mid range components of any of the major manufacturers I'd think it'd be hard to go wrong these days.

I'm really digging Shimano's Shadow design rear derailers. Much less exposed to impacts. The SLX grouppo in general is pretty nice for the price.

Otherwise you can always go with a Rohloff or single speed if you're aiming for the ultimate in durability.

DG

Oh, and I'd recommend a square taper bottom bracket if you want bearings that last. Just be sure to tighten your cranks down right.

[Slim]

I don't think there is anyone publishing any scientific tests on durability etc for components other than some of the German bike magazine's tests on carbon bars and seat posts. It is rare for derailleurs and shifters to break or wear out, so I wouldn't be to worried about that, like NR said, avoid the cheapest and the lightest and you should be fine.
Of more concern are the bearing systems: hubs, headsets, pedals and bottom brackets. All you have there is anecdotal reports of users.
One objective choice you can make is servicability: how easy is it to fix or replace a part? What tools are needed? How heavy are the replacement parts?

[Moondoggy]

My experience( with Mtbike stuff) has been that Sram products are more reliable and less fickle than comparable Shimano components

[WillyK]

I strongly suggest going with  Hugi hubs. Their star ratchet system for the freehub is simple and robust. In the 18 years or so that I have been using, recommending and servicing them, I have only seen one ratchet system malfunction, and at that it was not a complete failure....and that was on a heavily used mtn bike tandem, to boot. There are no tiny pawls and springs to break and jam up. The ratchets work with just about any type of lube on them (thick grease, thin grease or oil). They are quite easy to work on if needed, as they come apart with virtually no special tools. As for  the bearings, these hubs utilize standard cartridge bearings, which, if seized, can usually be serviced by prying up the seal with a knife blade and flushing with your chain lube, cooking oil or what have you. If the bearings wear out and get sloppy, it would not be an unreasonable amount of weight to be packing a few spare bearings.

[Rob]

Are you planning on using bar end shifters?  Those will be the most reliable.  If you are, than they're probably going to have shimano indexing, so I'd rec an XT rear der.  I'd also use an XT front der. 

I'd also rec. the Hugi(now DT Swiss) hubs with the Star Rachet.  They are known for their reliability.  I'd also rec. Phil Wood, they're VERY well known for their reliability.

I would use an XT 11-34 cassette because it has the Aluminum spider.  It won't mar your freehub body, it's lighter, and stiffer than cheaper cassettes.  I've never had problems with them at all.

For a chain. I'd go with either a Shimano XT or XTR level chain.  Bring extra pins and links of course with any chain you use.   I'm using a KMC X9SL, and it seems to be holding up fine, but I don't have long term tests.  They are expensive though.  Seems pretty strong though, it shifts well, and it's very light at 250 grams.  About 50 grams less than the Shimano(I know weight's not a concern, just pointing it out) It uses a quick link like the Sram Chains.   Not too sure I'd rec a Sram Chain, seen too many with stuck links come through the shop. 

The Avid BB7's are the most reliable Mechanical disc brake.  I love my Formula brakes though and wouldn't trade them for anything. 

Thomson seatpost.  Solidly reliable and strong, although you have to occasionally regrease the bolts or they creak, same with the stems.  I have seen on occasion broken face plates on Thomson stems, usually due to user error of over tightening an ungreased bolt.  I broke one the other day unbolting a faceplate where the owner never greased the bolt...

Cane Creek Thudbuster.  I'd probably use one of these on a Fargo or any other hardtail for that matter used for bikepacking. 

Aluminum bars, that's a given.  I'm using a carbon Easton Monkeylite DH, but that's the only carbon bar I'd trust to use.

Brooks Saddle or Selle Anatomica.  For a Fargo, these seats just go perfect with the bike. Brooks just came out with a B17 with a cutout.  The Selle Anatomica is very comfortable.

[Mike Brown]

I strongly suggest going with  Hugi hubs. Their star ratchet system for the freehub is simple and robust. In the 18 years or so that I have been using, recommending and servicing them, I have only seen one ratchet system malfunction, and at that it was not a complete failure....and that was on a heavily used mtn bike tandem, to boot. There are no tiny pawls and springs to break and jam up. The ratchets work with just about any type of lube on them (thick grease, thin grease or oil). They are quite easy to work on if needed, as they come apart with virtually no special tools. As for  the bearings, these hubs utilize standard cartridge bearings, which, if seized, can usually be serviced by prying up the seal with a knife blade and flushing with your chain lube, cooking oil or what have you. If the bearings wear out and get sloppy, it would not be an unreasonable amount of weight to be packing a few spare bearings.

Hugi hubs' design is now manufactured/utitlized by DT Swiss- and they're great.

[Mike Brown]

Also- the advice about mid-level is good. Ritchey and Easton are great examples where this applies.   Also also, a lot of rolling parts move to sealed bearings and such at certain levels- for example, the difference between LX/XT rear der's is mainly the pulley bearings are sealed.  It's worth the money for such...

[WillyK]

Mike Brown: thanks for the clarification, sometimes in my mind I abbreviate things, but should get used to fully clarifying when speaking to the general public.   I'm sporting an old Hugi on my tandem and newer (2000-ish) Hugi/DT swiss 240 on my Breezer and roadbike.

Also about the Hugi/DT Swiss, they do make a steel freehub body so marring is not an issue if you have to use a cassette that does not have an alloy carrier. Check their full line of hubs....tandem, freeride, etc. to get the best hub for the intended use.

As for chains, I'm Partial to Wipperman/ Connex. They are strong and more importantly, do not require special pins or connecting links. While they do come with connecting links, they are not required. Any pin in the chain can be pushed out and back in multiple times.  With a Shimano chain you need a special pin with extended guide, a new pin for every re-assembly.  The Wippermans I like are the fully nickel plated ones (model 908 for 9 speed, 808 for 8 speed, etc) they run and shift very smoothly and are quite corrosion resistant. I would also steer clear of SRAM chains.....the newest versions break a lot. (a couple friends and several customers.... we no longer carry them at the shop). Even I broke one (twice!, not in the same place) and I'm not a powerhouse. By newest version I mean model #s with 3 digits, like 951,971. If you look at them compared to the older ones, model PC-59, PC-69, they changed them a lot.   The 2-digit ones had flat outer plates, while the 3-digit ones are sculpted much like a Shimano, but they must not have gotten the pin technology figured out like Shimano has. (I have only ever broken one other chain in my life, the reputedly weak Suntour AP of the late 1980s)

If you are using flat or riser bars, not drop bars, and can deal with friction ie: non-indexed, shifting, the most reliable shifter ever made, by far, is the Suntour Power Thumb Shifter, later becoming the XC shifter. All the internal workings are hardened steel, and they will last a lifetime. These have the silver aluminum body, not to be confused with the little black indexed/friction ones. Do yourself a favor and scrounge up a pair.

If you are using dropped bars, Rob is right, bar ends are the most reliable, and they can be switched to friction if (when) cables housings or derailleurs get bent, twisted, filthy etc.

Moots makes a sweet seatpost with some curve in the top few inches to make up the set-back, they have a bit of flex to them adding some comfort to a rigid bike, and Ti is pretty hard to bend or break.

Flat handlebars, again I go with Ti (Koski) A bit of flex for comfort, and strong.

While I love my Brooks Swift to death and the Ti rails add a lot of comfort, I have broken the adjustment bolt (steel) once, and the little U-shaped saddle (Ti) that the bolt/nut rest in, once.  I now carry spares of those parts after doing some creative athletic and duct tape repairs on the trail.

 

[chuckc1971]

I've had good luck with several items over several seasons of accumulated mileage:

Chris King Headsets (still have my first one bought 12+ years ago) and hubs (yes, break-in takes a while)

Thomson anything: just don't strongarm one of the faceplate bolts like I did or you will crack the faceplate.

Wipperman chains. They work great. I have had three and the blingy SS one I bought actually has been the best. Grime seems more "afraid" of it than all the other chains I have tried. Their version of the quick link works good. You can have those Shimano pins. I will pass on that and the sticky pins I have tried to press back in.

Brooks saddles

Salsa skewers (steel skewers are available and are often listed as singlespeed skewers)

ODI lock on grips although I have tried and love the Ergon grips. I can't comment on the durability of the latter.

Fox rear shock

Phil Wood bottom bracket

And, believe it or not, a RockShox Reba 29er fork. Never thought I would put Rockshox and duability in the same sentence in a positive way, but my fork has never wimpered.

Surly anything: I've cracked a rear chainstay brace on a LenzSport Leviathan. I've had a EBB set screw mount break free and cracked an EBB shell on two different Niner One-9s. I had a Giant NRS that ghost-shifted if you climbed an ant mound. However, my old Surly Karate Monkey is like the Energizer bunny. It always works, never breaks, nevers slips or complains. I have a steel Surly chainring that has also withstood me clumsily riding a fixie off-road without issue.

A couple of comments about products mentioned previously:

Moots Ti Seatposts are blingy and comfy as they come. I love mine. However, somewhere along the way the aluminum knurled inserts that actually tightened against by the seapost rail clamp will wear down. They have since changed the design which I bet works much better, but wow it is expensive!

I run a XTR front derailleur shifted by a SRAM grip shifter which gets me all usable gears without front derailleur cage rub. The XTR front derailleur supposedly shifts better than SRAM, but I have never personally tried a SRAM front derailleur to test the hypothesis. In contrast, I prefer a trigger shifter (SRAM X9) for the rear derailleur (SRAM X0). Always happy; especially since I installed the new Gore sealed cables.

As to running anything less than XT in the component spectrum, I have no new knowledge. Frankly having hated everything less than XT (outside of the pipe spindle LX crank I once owned) I am hesitant to try. Interesting that the opinion is changing.

[WillyK]

A couple notes...
Yes the aluminum "sandwich" pieces of my Moots seatpost did wear down as well...forgot about that, I had to re-knurl them. I just love my Stein knurling tool.

While Chris King headset bearings are the sh!t (the good kind of sh!t, btw) when the o-ring in my bearing cap wore down, it allowed the bearing cap to wear into the steel steerer tube, making a sharp groove in the steerer where the o-ring groove is. I had to replace the fork. After sending the cap to King for inspection, they gave me a new one, but did not replace my fork. (in their defense, I did not ask them to). This damage took about 5 years to happen, it also happened to a good friends Rockshox, but it was the final nail in the coffin for that fork anyway. I now inspect more regularly and replace the o-ring at least once a year. That headset, with all the other parts still original, is now going into it's 10th full year. I re-grease the bearings every year or so now, too. To those inquiring minds.....if the o-ring is worn flat where it contacts the steerer tube, replace the o-ring. If the anodizing is worn off the inner surface of the bearing cap (above and/or below the o-ring) replace the cap and o-ring, and check the steerer tube for marks.
I would personally never use their rear hub on a backcountry bike. They are way over-complicated, too reliant on using just  the right lubricants, have too many proprietary parts, and require a slew of special tools  for complete maintenance, and if they get very dirty the freehub tends to drag, pushing the chain down from the top while coasting.

I went for the Wipperman stainless steel chain once, and kept pretty close track of mileage/vertical feet/hours/riding conditions. While it did last about twice as long as the fully nickel plated ones, it wasn't any smoother and was triple the price, so I went back to the nickel ones. YMMV

Agreed about Surly, while I don't personally have any of their stuff, everything I've worked on from them seems well thought out and well made.

[LiMoDad]

ChrisX I also picked up a Fargo over winter and I have to tell you I am really diggin' it!

[Slim]

Aluminum bars, that's a given.  I'm using a carbon Easton Monkeylite DH, but that's the only carbon bar I'd trust to use.

I wouldn't say that aluminum bars are a given. For durability there is nothing to pick aluminum over carbon, since carbon doesn't fatigue like aluminum does, you could even say that carbon bars are more durable. However, how many people have broken bars of any material (not DH/freeriders)?

And if you are using a carbon one then Easton would be one of the brands to avoid from a reliability standpoint. In the one published test I have found,  1 or 2 of the Easton samples failed very early, while the others were plenty strong, indicating that their design is strong enough, but the manufacturing/quality control isn't that great.

[currentresident]

I have 60000 miles experience on a loaded bicycle a mongoose hilltoper all chromoly with a 1 1/4 top tube and a 1 3/8 downtube. I weigh 190 to 205 pounds and carry 150 to 165 pounds on the back wheel.  http://share.ovi.com/album/currentresident.bicycle here are some some parts I have modified and others that are broken that I retrieved from recycling bins. I have 4 XTR cog sets all of them are bent on the second largest cog. I use XT's and have never had any problems. They last 10000 to 20000 miles. You can use shimano hubs use solid axles from wheels manufacturing get the longest tandem model it is a bit more expensive and I think stronger. A 15 wrench will loosen the back wheel and will also fit your pedels. I filed down my crank puller so it also works with the 15 mm wrench. I've never broken a DT or a wheelsmith spoke. You will notice all the rims with cracks around the spoke holes are mavics. I use the araya VP 20 the weinman 519 or taiwan copies. The most rugged tire is 1.5 inches wide with a kevlar belt they last 2500 miles front and 4000 miles back. All tires I have used wider than this have failed by broken threads where the tire meats the rim. In any case use tires wide enough you don't get pinch flats. Sram chains for 9 cogs can be repaired save the spare links. I like the 74 110 bolt circle diameter cranks usually a 24 36 46 combination with the 24 being stainless. The front gripshifter is original the rear was only changed when I changed to 8 cogs the newer MRX shifters are junk stay away from them. Trek bags will last 2 years mine are way overloaded. The topeak rear rack with 3 struts works fine however the one designed for the child seat is stronger. The front rack is a blackburn. There is also a photo of the bicycle in death valley. Ask a precise question me or my beta testers may know the answer. 

[jhl99]

One thing to consider is that with higher end stuff you pay more to get less weight.  Done right, durability is not necessary compromised, put not always the case.

Some of the higher end Shimano rear derailures use ceramic bushings in the jocky pulleys.  I found that these sometimes crack.  Lower end derailures (Like Deore) use regular steel bushings.... worst thing that can happen ito the bushings is  that they pit from some rust... either live with it or remove rust with steel wool or emery paper.  Don't know what you do with a cracked ceramic bushing.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned 8spd drivetrain over 9 speed.  Marginally wider chain, less finicky, maybe more available off the beaten path?

I use the cheapest stuff that gives me good service.  Square Taper UNC53 BB.  Low end cranks, (make sure the spider and drive side crank arm are integral), steel chainrings, Deore Rear Derailure  (LX front?  don't know, its been on the bike for 8 years ~435,000 miles without issue) and Nashbar (KMC) chain, V brakes and Thumb shifters (Shimano bar-ends with Pauls' brackets).

On www.crazyguyonabike.com people debate disk verse canti/v brakes for servicability.  I think Fargo is disk only? , so I would lean to mechanical disks.

*** When you assembly your bike, use liberal amounts of anti-seize on all threaded connections ***