This relates to the warranty thread, but is a seperate question.
When you buy your next new bike to use for triathlons, how long do you expect it to last before it simply “wears out” and fails- developing a crack, a problem with the place where the headset or bottom bracket mounts, the cable routing or other technical problem that requires frame replacement?
What is your expectation about the reasonable and customary lifespan of a new, performance oriented, racing bicycle?
5 years under “normal” usage.
Perfect. That is what I am looking for. Thank you Ma’am.
Perfect. That is what I am looking for. Thank you Ma’am.
Ma’am?
I suppose that this is a more subjective and emotional response than the last.
How much (relativistically) did I pay for the bike? I expect a $3K carbon frame to last longer than a $300 carbon frame
Which manufacturer? Similar to the above - I expect more from a Felt, Cannondale or Cervelo than I do from a Leader or a Chinese generic frame.
What’s reasonable and customary use?
I disagree with the previous poster - it should be a hell of a lot longer than 5 years.
Barring a crash, I expect a minimum of 10 yrs for Al, 5-7yrs for Carbon. That said, I’m pretty rough on bikes. My Al bikes are 10 and 5yrs respectively, and my last carbon bike was still in great shape at 4yrs. I see no reason why frames can’t last longer…
AP
I would expect a well build frame (non-carbon) to last 10+ years easily barring reasonable treatment and no major crashes. If I was only getting 5 years out of a frame, I would be really pissed
Oh- I always thought you were a female… :0
Very sorry…
I expect my titanium Serotta road bike, purchased in 1995, to last my lifetime without needing frame replacement. I suspect that Serotta does to, as it carries a lifetime warranty.
I would be disappointed if I found that my Cervelo P2SL was not engineered well enough to last 15 years.
Ken- what causes your expectations of these two bike’s lifespan to be different from one another?
That you are aware of- is the duration of the warranty different on these two bikes- is the Serotta’s warranty a longer duration warranty than the Cervelo?
my first bike was an aluminum cannondale caad9-7 (the black one), a beautiful bike and pretty light for an aluminum frame. The abuse it survived (teenager, new to road biking and tris, numerous crashes, me learning basic bike maintenance through trial and error, etc), the few scratches and cosmetic blemishes it suffered because of that and the awesome ride it still is 2 years later lead me to believe that with proper care it should last me a lifetime. Or as in my case, I outgrow it and pass it on to somebody else to use for their first tris.
Net of a crash or other mishandling, I expect the life to be basically infinite. My race bike is from 2001, and my old cannondale from '91 is still my commuter bike. FYI, I’m 180 and mash gears so I’m not easy on bikes.
I expect that a frame becomes obsolete before it breaks.
dunno… still trying to wear one out. '92 Specialized Carbon Epic with the aluminum lugs is on rebuild 4.0 and the '02 Cervelo Dual still going strong.
I expect that a frame becomes obsolete before it breaks.
+1
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At least 30 years. I expect my frames to last longer than my desire to own them.
Airplanes are made from aluminum and carbon fiber. My bike frames should last as long. If a frame wears out under “reasonable and customary usage” or “normal wear and tear” it was a poorly designed or poorly constructed frame.
I want my bottom bracket and headset mounts to be engineered to handle the stress of normal use. I expect my frame to be able to handle the stresses around where the cables are routed. If I endo into a brick wall, that is another matter.
I have a 1987 steel Masi Gran Corsa frame, a 2003 aluminum Cervelo Soloist Team frame, and a 2009 carbon Cervelo R3 frame. I would be disappointed if any of them developed issues considering I take care of them and simply ride them as they were intended.
That said, freak accidents can happen. Bikes fall over and hit random objects. But I don’t consider that part of reasonable and customary usage.
Maybe my expectations are unreasonable. I am open to hear the counter arguments.
What is your expectation about the reasonable and customary lifespan of a new, performance oriented, racing bicycle?
Well beyond my interest in it…IOW, I would expect that I’ll WANT to buy a new bike / frame long before I NEED to.
Frankly, I expect a bike frame to last a lifetime.
This may be unrealistic but is based on past experience as well. My first “real” racing bike was a Columbus tubed Concorde that I rode for >15 years before passing it along to someone else who wanted a fixie project. Other than a few blemishes on the paint it was like the day I bought it (though the Campy shifting seemed to have improved with age).
My P2C has a lifetime warranty, and I expect it to basically last forever so long as I don’t crash it.
15 years from now if it starts developing a crack somewhere, I don’t know what to expect cervelo to do. Fix it? Probably not. Replace a 15 year old from with what? A P5?
Ken- what causes your expectations of these two bike’s lifespan to be different from one another?
That you are aware of- is the duration of the warranty different on these two bikes- is the Serotta’s warranty a longer duration warranty than the Cervelo?
Titanium doesn’t fail in normal use. Like steel, you can flex it forever below it’s deformation point and it will not fail. Aluminum does not have that luxury: after some finite number of flexions, it will fail. That’s why I said I hoped that Cervelo engineered in (enough material where it counts) enough of a lifespan to last many years.
My Serotta is warrantied for as long as I own it, as far as I can remember. It developed a crack in the bottom bracket stay (which they said they’d never seen) about 8 years after I got it, and they replaced the chain stay and repainted the frame and fork with (nearly) the original fade paint job. I don’t know if Serotta still offers that warranty, though: I expect them to honor it for frames that originally had that warranty.
My Cervelo has no such warranty, and it shouldn’t: aluminum frames are not lifetime frames. Not sure when I got mine, but I think it has their lifetime limited warranty that would cover defects that aren’t likely to show up after a couple of years.