Put it this way. My collar bone is worth allot more that $150 for a record BB installed. And more than a $300 wheel too.

Bicycle components fatigue. Generally the lighter they are the quicker they will fatigue as well. There is a trade off between durability and speed. I don't ride rims that have carbon braking surfaces, especially after what happen to Beloki.

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I was, now I will tri again!
...
Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.

Well, I'm no Brian Wagner, but I guess it depends.

I have a pair of Speedplay pedals that are about 7 years old, but thats probably the oldest piece of equipment I have.

But I have a pair of Docksides from high school (20+ years) as well as a few ties from then, too.

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Elivis needs boats.

Aside from a 16 year old Silca pump I don't have any piece of bike equipment that is older than 4 years. I guess I get bored with it long before it wears out.

I have a bike,,the oldest part if the frame and its a titanium frame ..6 years old!!! ok though...no cracks or problems...keep upgrading the components though..

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Trying to find ways to pass the time.

I dont like riding old equipment for safety reasons. And I don't like riding around others that have old and poorly maintained equipment (a sure sign of this is when they are missing a handlebar plug) cause if they wreck they can take me down too.

So "beatnic" if you get boared with equiment and turn it over thats a good thing. Personally I think that allot of todays light weight stuff is great but has a pretty short lifespan.

Cost of an accident (if your lucky)...

$45 bike shorts

$15 bottle of bentidine

$5 10 4"x4" gauze sterile pads

$5 antiseptic

$3 tape

$3 advil

$1 ice packs

Total $77

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I was, now I will tri again!
...
Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.

until you can afford to buy new stuff.

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http://www.operationreboundcalifornia.kintera.org/ejs3

Kestrel Syndicate
Macca Fan Club

I would be interested to know what you mean by “for safety reasons.” Have you ever had catastrophic equipment failures that were caused by old stuff? That’s the kind of thing for which I was looking for comments.

The broken bottom bracket started me thinking, but I am about 98 percent sure that was a result of overtightening the bolt. So after 20 years of penny-pinching at cycling equipment, I can’t really cite any examples of failures from reaching the fatigue life. I suspect that the people upgrade because they want to more often than from any concern for safety.

Oh, and you might have been amused to see that I had lost both of the handlebar plugs for the ride last Saturday. Chad

My '95 Serotta Ti (~30,000 miles) has the original bars, stem, fork, STI levers, crank, seatpost and front derailleur. BB replaced after Ti spindle broke going up a hill (note: titanium BB spindles are a stupid idea, and not worth any dubious weight savings. Be warned). Rear derailleur swapped from a newer frame no longer used, along with one of the brake calipers, I think.

If it still works, keep it.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Older, non-ultralight equipment that's been well inspected and maintained can be just as safe as brand new gear. It all depends on the owner. If you're busting out 15yr old "drillium" components, especially stuff that's seen a lot of race action, you're begging for trouble. But normal weight components that have been regularly serviced and inspected for wear are just as safe as newer stuff.

I have a Gipiemme hub that is very likely older than some of the posters on this board, and I ride it regularly without fear. The (steel) frame of my fixie was purchased third hand, and was likely built in the early 80's if not before. My (clipless) pedals have been out of production for over 7 years.

While I like new gear just as much as the next guy, "safety" isn't always a valid reason for ditching older stuff. Like everything else, it depends.

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

If my wife asks any of you guys, you absolutely need to replace a bike every five years.

Maybe if you didn’t “need” to replace your bike every five years then she wouldn’t mind all the time you spend riding it. J

Seriously though, after seeing the above posts it seems that some people love to replace stuff and some people don’t care as long as it works. I am on my third tri-bike in three years of triathlon, but the changes were prompted by fit. I finally ended up on a Yaqui that is very nearly the perfect bike for me and I suspect, like the Cannondale that I will be riding it for a long time.

Not that I don’t spend a little money on “stuff” now and then. On a new Yaqui frame I have a shimano 600 rear derailleur, a pretty old Dura Ace front, 8-speed cassette, Scott bolt on bars and first generation white LOOK pedals, plus the aforementioned 1985 Performance wheel. In contrast I also have PowerCranks and a power meter.

My friends called it “The Thing” a while ago.



Chad

Rode the same road bike in triathlons from 89 right up until 01 and when I sold it it was, IMHO, as good as the day I bought it. It had a few mods made on it but it still ran like a Swiss watch...might have had something to do with the fact that I am picky about my equipment. If you're the original owner and you take good care of it and you replace anything that is worn beyond usefullness and you don't 'have to have' something newer/better/prettier..then it can last you as long you need it to.

Amen.

Have you been on any of the randonneur rides? Guys regularly show up on 1970's and '80's (and older) rides and look DOWN at the poseurs riding their Trek 5900's and Colnago's with Record Carbon. :) And they frequently ride away from them as well. Some of those guys are animals who've been released from the zoo for a day. :)

I purposely bought an old Benotto for next year's randonneur series. I'm not kidding! As soon as I find a decent pair of Roval wheels I'll be ready to rock. (Some Canadian kid stole my red Cinelli. It's ok to kill him, right?)

Old stuff is great. If it got Lemond over the Alps, it's good enough for us.

-Robert, who doesn't do "drillium" anything. :)

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

That depends on the piece of equipment. I used to work in a pro (roadie) shop in the early 90's and from what we used to see come in for repairs (every story started with, "I don't know what happened...I was just riding along when...) I have no compunction about riding an old frame. As much as we'd like to think we're strong enough to fatigue a frame (and some of you are) most well-made frames will stand the test of time. Lightweight components or items that will fail in a catastrophic way I am MUCH more wary of, ie handlebars, stems, bottom brackets (especially the early ti ones), some of the first generation of lightweight cranks (early Topline/Zipp), ti bolt kits (remember the SRP's) etc.

I prefer to update my equipment only when necessary. I'm still on 8 speed Dura-Ace on road and cyclocross bikes but I'm not quite a retro grouch as I had (until 10 spd DA) all the latest Dura-Ace on my time trial rig. I gotta give it up to Record10Ti. As someone who worked in a shop I can tell you that Campy was way ahead of Shimano regarding the planned obsolescence of their components. How often do you hear Campy people complain that their Chorus this isn't compatible with their Record that? Shimano is like an abusive relationship for me but with six bikes Shimano equipped, I'm just in way too deep to leave.

Short question, long answer: it depends on the individual, how you ride, where you ride, how you maintain your rig, how much stress you apply to your equipment, how light the equipment is, how heavy you are, etc. When you factor all that in, what will it cost you if your "whatever" fails? I can (and did) live with a busted derailleur but I don't want to test my luck breaking a stem or a handlebar.

1985 for a front wheel is definitely outside of my comfort zone even though I believe that the Mavic MA40, in the hands of a skilled builder, could produce an almost bomb-proof wheel. When was the last time you had the wheel rebuilt? The rim is probably fine but I openly wonder about the hub/spokes.

Miguel in the 'No...El Tribato

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Michael in Fresno
"Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man" V. Corleone

Thanks,

I think there is some good advice here. I don’t every buy “light” equipment except maybe the Scott LF bars I have. I think it is high time to replace the stem and maybe retire the wheel. I have never done anything with it except true it about three times. It has been, as you say, “Bombproof”, to include two trips to France, lots of gravel road adventures in Utah and a couple of seasons of racing in the early 90s. It was nearly unused for a couple of years until I went back to 700c from 650, but since I have another wheel just waiting to be used, I may as well not tempt fate.

Chad

My bikes are both 12 years old and still serve the purpose that they did when they were purchased. The front end on my C'dale racing bike has been upgraded recently but the drive train is all original. It doesn't get much use outside of races these days but it's still got at least 10,000 miles on it. The bottom bracket on my commuting bike wore out and had to be replaced and the rear wheel has been replaced twice. I'm not sure of the mileage but 20,000 minimum; likely close to 30,000.

Larry

So what about aluminum fames? How long do they last? I ride my tri-bike for all my work-outs & races (because I enjoy riding it and too much $ for two bikes). I check for cracks all the time. Is there any thing else I should look for? BTW I use aluminum forks and I feel much safer than carbon. Is that in my head, or are they actually stronger or more safe?

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AzoTus

Great Question CDW:

I'm old school, perhaps because I'm old. I've got a few old rides: '49 Ford Tractor, '66 Mustang, '89 Giant, and, my "newest" ride I bought from you, is a well used '98 Cervelo P2. As I hunt for 170mm cranks on Ebay to replace the square taper 175's you sent me, I've often wondered about the fatigue life of cranks. I've pretty much decided that unless I'm confident it is lightly used, I'll buy NOS. But like you, in order to afford it (unless I sell that Mustang), I put together a hodge podge of parts.

Any experts out there that can tell us about metal fatigue???



PS: Hope you are enjoying your new digs and enjoying training out there. Good to hear from you.

Harri

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

I have my fixed gear frame that is a 1975 vintage Matsuri. I replaced the fork recently (got the recent one off a 1990 Specialized Allez) because of rust around the brake bolt hole that finally reached the point of no return. The frame is otherwise in great shape. I frequently inspect it around the lugs, and even borrowed my father-in-law's camera on a plumber's snake to check them from the inside, and it looks downright shiny! My opinion on equipment and replacing it is that you have to be aware of the conditions that the bike is ridden in, how you care for it, and where it ends up when you aren't riding it. My fixed gear is ridden in the worst conditions, and I clean it every couple of weeks during the winter. When I don't ride it it ends up in the basement, in the furnace room, so it is about 75-80 degrees and pretty dry. If you ride the bike all the time, clean it twice a year, and store it in the shed that leaks, you can expect more problems, I guess. My tri bike is 10 years-old, a Trek 5500, and I am beginning to think that maybe the time is coming, but I think that from an asthetic point of view versus safety. I am confident it isn't going to fail anytime soon. I hope.

My biggest problem is the obsolete equipment. It is a bitch riding a disc that has a freewheel (originally 7 speed) that was pretty cutting edge in the 90's, but that just doesn't cut it these days. If you borrow a wheel from a friend in a pinch, it sometimes won't work out very well. I have made do with the tons of parts I hoarded in my youth, but I am just about at the end of my supply of Colnago stems, Brooks saddles, Suntour superb-pro deraillers and Sachs 7-speed freewheels. I used to like adjusting headsets. I hate it now, because every old style headset I own is shot to shit. Friction levers were cool too, but even Eddy Merckx uses STI now.

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"Maybe you should just run faster..." TM