What Are Some General "Buy It For Life" (Durable) Items You Recommend?

So the idea of "buy it for life" is to buy items that are durable and last for a long time, things you could buy once and have your whole life, which can save money and be good for the environment

What are some of the top items you recommend for this?

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Bicycle, I like Surly and All-city. I like steel frames, but still have an Al frame plus carbon fiber fork one that I rode for ten years.

Durable, easy to maintain and cheap to fix.
- maybe replace the carbon with steel eventually? I thought carbon was less durable but liked because it's lighter?
  
  edit: aluminum less durable than steel too, maybe upgrade that eventually as well lol
  
  Carbon fiber can suffer from micro fractures that can't be repaired. They're definitely not a buy it for life product at all.
  
  not BIFL
  
  that was my understanding as well but I didn't know the why of:
  
  Carbon fiber can suffer from micro fractures that can't be repaired
  
  Yeah. Carbon fiber on bikes is primarily for performance and racing applications. Definitely not well suited for a commuter. Personally I’m a big fan of chromoly for frame sets.
  
  Carbon is also more forgiving on your body than aluminum or steel since they have more flex to them. But yeah, won't last as long as steel.
  
  https://www.applemanbicycles.com/repair/ https://ruckuscomp.com/repair/ https://robertscomposites.com/carbon-fibre-repair/ https://www.cyclocarbon.com/services/
  
  Carbon fiber repair has been around as long as carbon fiber has. It's not some new exotic material that nobody knows how to work with.
  
  There are tons of people all around the world riding carbon bikes for years on end without issue.
  
  There are also people, like me, that have had aluminum and steel bikes fail in various ways.
  
  Ultimately it comes down to the quality of the the bike overall, not the material it's made of.
  
  This is false. Carbon fibre can and is repaired easily. Aluminium on the other hand cannot be repaired.

83 comments