Yesterday as I set out on my bike ride, I was wondering how long my aluminum frame should last. I decided I was going to ask Slowtwitch for their opinion when I got home and see if maybe it was time for a new bike. Turns out that was a cursed thought.
Here I am, riding along at mile 14 when suddenly the rear wheel is rubbing and the bike is shaking back and forth. I stop and jump off to see what’s going on. Tire is fine, wheel looks centered, spokes are good, but wheel seems loose. Looking closer I notice the frame cracked at the rear dropout. Looks like I’m in for a 3.7 mile walk.
My bike was old (2006), so I’m not super surprised that the frame broke. So, what is the typical lifespan of an aluminum frame (Either years or miles)? How much does being heavy/fat impact that lifespan? Any recommendations for a lower end carbon frame bike that is likely to be in stock during these Covid Days? Do you think i can get my old bike welded and still use it on the trainer (Wheel On style)
What frame is it? Alloy? Age is irrelevant, since they don’t deteriorate with time… unless you leave them outside or something.
I put ~50k hard miles on a Klein Quantum with no issues. The generic Chinese frame I now ride has more than that. Put ~30k miles on a Ti Airborne Zeppelin with no issues. The steel bikes and one bonded aluminum frame I had earlier did not hold up as well. .
I have seen / heard of frames of all materials crack. Carbon, steel, Ti, Aluminum.
I think it depends on how thick the material is, quality of the weld, how much load is applied to it.
Weight could very well be a factor. I know guy that is big and strong and broke a Litespeed Ti frame 3 times.
I would think you could salvage it for trainer use.
For a carbon frame or bike I think ebay or craigslist are the best bang for the buck and you can buy one now.
Sure there is a risk with a carbon frame having a latent crack and no warranty, but if you look at the condition of the frame and ask the seller about crashes you can mitigate that.
From my experience, that’s a tough spot to weld.
Aluminum isn’t the friendliest metal to weld, even less so on such a small area.
There isn’t much material there to start with, no real possibility of a pin or sleeve on the inside for support, and the nature of Al welding could ruin the whole dropout anyway. The heat on such a small and precise area could warp the entire dropout rendering it moot. Even if you were to find a way around these things, Al usually requires you to lay down a bead- look at the welds on the other tubes of your bike- and that bead looks like it would hinder the placement of your hanger and perhaps hinder the seating of the wheel in the dropouts on the other side. One could grind the beads smooth, but then you’re back to the issue of a small weld holding an area that has already proven to be under high stress.
A combination of cost (welding supplies and time, meticulous cleaning of area, perhaps a repaint), dubious level of success, and the fact that it’s an older frame would suggest it’s time to retire that frame. Make some cool wall art or a medal hanger out of it.
That’s not a lot of miles. Looking at the break it may have been a dropout machining issue (stress concentration where the hanger is bolted on…can’t really see with the hanger still bolted on); doesn’t look like it had anything to do with the welding.
I have a Fuji Team AL bike that was my roadie (most of my training miles) from 2004-2018. It’s now my dedicated Zwift bike and still going strong.
As mentioned, rewelding Al frames is tough, and for a break in that location probably not worth it.
I’m still using my 2002 Caad 5 (‘Cracknfail’) is still going. Up until 2 years ago as primary road bike and now on the trainer. I bought it second hand and pretty worn in 2010. Must have had a fair bit of use as the 105 shifter actually was worn out by 2015. Known as Lazerus in the club due to the number of times it was assumed to be dead but survived mechanicals and crashes fine.
In that time then I was as heavy as 110kg (6’4") and used to sprint peaking at 1300w, riding 400kms a week. Admittedly the whole thing flexed in a way that produced more movement than my full suspension epic mtb…… Now a lot lighter, and a bit less power, but the thing still flexes, is under 1cm of sweat corrosion but still seems to be in one piece. Only the frame and left shifter is OE now, literally everything else swapped including the seat clamp.
Sidenote, my 2000 Cannondale Alu MTB is also still in the shed, nto used muych but still there for when the Carbon Epic is having it’s regular ‘warrantied for life’ frame replaced. So far on 3rd since 2015 despite pretty limited use compared to how much time I put on the 'dale in the noughties.
Are you the original owner? Did it come with a lifetime warranty? No harm in asking.
Felt does have a Lifetime warranty, but it’s unclear what they mean by that, and also they require the original receipt, which I probably won’t be able to find. The bike store I purchased it from switched owners and systems about 8 years ago, so that info is lost to them.
Are you the original owner? Did it come with a lifetime warranty? No harm in asking.
Felt does have a Lifetime warranty, but it’s unclear what they mean by that, and also they require the original receipt, which I probably won’t be able to find. The bike store I purchased it from switched owners and systems about 8 years ago, so that info is lost to them.
Check your email. There may be some proof of the transaction. Long shot, but no harm in checking.
What frame is it? Alloy? Age is irrelevant, since they don’t deteriorate with time… unless you leave them outside or something.
I put ~50k hard miles on a Klein Quantum with no issues. The generic Chinese frame I now ride has more than that. Put ~30k miles on a Ti Airborne Zeppelin with no issues. The steel bikes and one bonded aluminum frame I had earlier did not hold up as well. .
But Alu does fatigue- and there’s no endurance limit on Alu (unlike say many steels to give infinite life if stresses are kept below certain levels) so it WILL eventually fail. Just like death itself, it WILL come. Just a question of when.
Also Alu can age harden - the grain structure of Alu can change over time too, depending on the grade, heat treatment, etc (and welding is a good way to change the material properties, usually for the worse).
Fatigue is ‘statistical’ in nature so if you take a batch of seemingly identical frames, put the exact same loads into them and … they will break at different lives.
So 1 failure after 100 miles can’t be ruled out (tho V unlikely) but also one lasting a billion miles also proves nothing - other than that 1 got lucky ??- maybe, maybe not.
To the OP, does weight matter? Oh yes. Very much so. And a doubling in mass —> doubling in stress (all other things being equal) —> much much more than doubling of fatigue damage per load reversal.
I have a well abused Kona hardtail mtb in Alu at 21 years and seemingly going strong.
A Spesh Alu stumpjumper at 2/3 that age… frame cracked after 3 or 4 years, and a suspension link cracked after 10.
Just sold an 8 year old Trek Alu Road bike which was also fine - ir so it seemed to the naked eye.
All of these prove… very little! All n=1 samples.
I’m sure I have my email archived to CD from back then, but I doubt I can easily get access to it. Hell, none of my current computers even have optical drives. Plus I’d have to get a 2006 version of Eudora that will run on Windows 10. I guess it’s worth a shot.
The LBS here says that having the bike’s serial number registered isn’t enough for Felt to warranty it. They said that Felt requires the original receipt.
The original LBS may have registered it, but it changed ownership 8 years ago, and the new owners don’t have any access to the original owners documents. I don’t feel like trying to track down the original owners to see if they still have my receipt sitting in a storage unit.
To get things back on track, anyone having luck finding M to M/L road bikes in stock anywhere? Most of what I’m finding is too spendy for me right now, or only available in 48-52cm range.
Merlin has a bunch of very reasonably priced carbon frames by prorace which look great. Wiggle and chain reaction have some ‘viper’ branded carbon frames which had poor reviews. I would be interested to hear of other places selling decent frames for a project bike. Im also riding an older alu frame I built up, a 2006 allez and would like to upgrade.
I have been wondering about that for a while. Doing some reading a lot depends on how it was built, ride, riding surface etc.
I have a basic aluminum round tube motobecane, built by Kenisis that has 5.5k miles of gravel on it. I’m hoping it breaks soon so wife can’t complain when I ask to buy a new bike. Being on the lighter side (130lbs) I expect it to last a long time though.
I have been wondering about that for a while. Doing some reading a lot depends on how it was built, ride, riding surface etc.
I have a basic aluminum round tube motobecane, built by Kenisis that has 5.5k miles of gravel on it. I’m hoping it breaks soon so wife can’t complain when I ask to buy a new bike. Being on the lighter side (130lbs) I expect it to last a long time though.
If you want to loan it to me for a few months, I’ll see if I can break it for you.
