I guess fair comment on carbon bikes failing quickly, i was probably more wondering about lifespan.
My 1994 vintage Serotta has the original carbon fiber (Kestrel EMS) fork. I put over 8,000 miles on it in 2021.
1994 carbon bike? That’s crazy. I have 2006 OCLV2 Trek carbon road bike and it still looks and rides good.
The frame is titanium (Serotta Legend Ti); only the fork is carbon fiber. Frame will last forever if I don’t crash it, which was the intent when I bought it (my “lifetime bike”).
The frame is titanium (Serotta Legend Ti); only the fork is carbon fiber. Frame will last forever if I don’t crash it, which was the intent when I bought it (my “lifetime bike”).
I’m a fan of Raphael Orlove, a car-guy blogger on Jalopnik who inexplicably (but wonderfully) posts about his amateur bike restoration skills. Mostly recently he rescued a a Litespeed MTB abandoned for years in Brooklyn, and talks about restoring it. Everything was broken except the frame.
Most carbon frame failure is the result of BTE errors (between the ears)…
I guess fair comment on carbon bikes failing quickly, i was probably more wondering about lifespan.
There isn’t really an easily defined frame lifespan.
Carbon fibre neither fatigues nor corrodes. The resin could potentially degrade but shouldn’t really be an issue.
Crash damage, wear from abrasion, overtightening of components, exposure to incompatible chemicals, or other user screw-ups are the likely suspects for mist bike frame demises I reckon.
If it’s been designed properly (and them manufactured properly to that design (it should have basically an infinite life.
Unless as per others you either wear out a point that wears like dropouts or from repeated pressing in and out of bearings in the BB or head tube etc.
Or crash it.
“A steel frame is another story, but those things keep riding forever, but no one rides themâ€
I can confirm the part about steel frames lasting forever, but take issue with the second part. My triathlon bike is steel (2013). Having said that, given my power numbers, the bike isn’t exactly holding me back 😀
… mine is close to 100k kms … looks better like new … feels better like new … rides better like new … became a part of my stucture by time … oSo >>
You are probably shortening the life by completely disassembling it every single year. The fastening areas are the places your bike frame will probably wear out if you keep doing it.
My Specialized Epic MTB is onto it’s 3rd frame (grateful for lifetime warranty). The first was after 6 months and cracked at the BB/Chainstay. Then the replacement went 2 years ago on the shock mount. Neither was down to crashes or any extreme riding as I am a giant pussy.
On the other hand my Cracknfail CAAD5 from 2002 is still going ‘strong’ with it’s fragile aluminium frame after two race pack crashes and has spent last 3 years on the trainer (now level 48 Zwift) albeit some decent rust starting to appear on the front mech hangar that I predict will finally lead to the demise of ‘Lazerus’ as it was known in the bike club. But by ‘strong’ then this is a slight misnomer as the entire bike flexes like it’s made of 4min boiled spaghetti.
My 2011 Argon E-114 also still showing zero signs of frame issues.
So my take is that a carbon frame is likely to go in the first year of use, or die when it encounters an impact of some sort - falling over onto a frame, dropping spanner on it when changing the BB, crash or similar.
I defo agree with thst for carbon. If it doesn’t die early on from a manufacturing fault, it’s there for ever (like Teflon in water courses).
I still have an original Kestrel KM40 that I purchased late 1991, and it is still in pristine condition. Although I have not used it much now for the past few years.
Unless it’s damaged the carbon will be good for a very long time. Just ask the pilots of the B2. Worked on a lot of missile and aircraft programs including the B2 where we used a lot of composites it’s very tough. Cheers LA Rob
I am looking from some more experienced peers with real life experience on how long did your carbon frame last?
How long? Until you crash it or the BB standard becomes outdated.
Carbon composites do not fatigue or fail like a metal.
Metals will fatigue and then generally deform before breaking.
The composite materials generally will fail catastrophically. So, it generally works until it doesn’t.
There are some exceptions where delaminating layers or small cracks propagate.
Inspect visually and you can always do a bit of a coin tap to listen for any dullness vs a ping when you tap. There are ways to X-ray or ultrasonic inspect - you need to use a service for this.
If you are the only owner and know how the bike has handled there is little reason for concern based on age.
Some really awesome old bikes still going strong on here.
And as long as i don’t do anything stupid, (knock on wood) mine will be fine
Dropout wear is the biggest killer of carbon frames in regular use.
People drag the rear wheel in and out and wear away the dropouts which eventually leads to the hanger being so far out of alignment you cannot straighten it without it breaking.
If caught early it can be sorted with epoxy repair but if left too long then the frame needs professional repair which is usually the death knell for a frame more than a few years old.
I reached out to several frame and repair companies before I found Ruckus Composites who repaired my 12 year old Guru.