I’m looking to purchase a bike (probably second hand) and I want to make sure that it’ll be easily repairable in the future for at least standard maintenance stuff.
Thing is, I don’t know anything about bikes- I’ve heard people say off hand that modern bikes might perform better but are less maintanable, is this a thing? What qualities/features in a bike tell me that it’ll be easier to maintain in the long run?
Get a good quality bike with standard components and you should be able to repair it easily.
As other said avoid cheap low cost bike but also very high end bike that are more likely to use proprietary parts.
For the frame the best option would be steel, if it does break you can easily weld it back with a regular welder.
Aluminum is the second best option, a bit lighter but it will fatigue, so over the years the frame will wear out slightly.
Carbon is the worst for reparability, very fragile and impossible to repair.