Do aluminum frames wear out?

Hello,

I've talked to two people who have said aluminum frames wear out. One
said that after about 8 years they kind of go "dead" and lose the feel
they once had. Another talked about how he broke the bottom bracket
out of an old aluminum frame.

Does anyone know anything about this? If you plan to keep a bike for
longer than 10 years is it better not to get aluminum?

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article ,
Chris Hansen wrote:
Hello,

I've talked to two people who have said aluminum frames wear out. One
said that after about 8 years they kind of go "dead" and lose the feel
they once had. Another talked about how he broke the bottom bracket
out of an old aluminum frame.

Does anyone know anything about this? If you plan to keep a bike for
longer than 10 years is it better not to get aluminum?

_ Aluminum alloys will eventually fatigue, whether you'll use the
bike enough for this ever to happen is an open question.

_ A high quality steel bike will easily last 30 years. I ride
a 30+ year old steel frame and it's a good as it ever was.

_ Booker C. Bense

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBQGHhCmTWTAjn5N/lAQEXfgP/VN/Uhr/o6JxvFK3ldhOtFnxsH9FoGO84
PnOd7+ivCBKDiu4BS7hChH5AaXRygn6p2de0LnSfaBYvNqC5x0 y8OxPIjQSASSSM
TP+p4JNwJjPL+LAE6yC9mofvKJt+hY60EOf18n80FyNTbVJzmZ s+XBgtwr04NBNa
ahItvCaQZr8=
=kAJk
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Chris Hansen wrote:
Hello,
I've talked to two people who have said aluminum frames wear out. One
said that after about 8 years they kind of go "dead" and lose the feel
they once had. Another talked about how he broke the bottom bracket out
of an old aluminum frame.
Does anyone know anything about this? If you plan to keep a bike for
longer than 10 years is it better not to get aluminum?


Don't know about 'wearing out' but I owned one that had the seat tub
lug crack. (I was out of the saddle climbing at the time). I'd owned th
bike for about 7 yrs. at the time this had happened


-

Here's something to read on the subject:

http://www.ihpva.org/com/PracticalIn.../materials.htm


-

On 24 Mar 2004 10:42:25 -0800, (Chris
Hansen) wrote in message
:

I've talked to two people who have said aluminum frames wear out. One
said that after about 8 years they kind of go "dead" and lose the feel
they once had. Another talked about how he broke the bottom bracket
out of an old aluminum frame.

The first person may well have been talking ********, the second was
not. I've broken two aluminium frames (replaced under warranty). It
won't stop me buying aluminium bikes. I ride about 5k miles per year
and a bike is my primary mode of transport; if a bike only lasts 3
years I've still saved money over the cost of running a car.

If you are really concerned buy titanium or steel, I guess.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

. stanford.edu wrote

_ Aluminum alloys will eventually fatigue, whether you'll use the
bike enough for this ever to happen is an open question.

A steel frame will also fatigue if it is loaded over its fatigue limit. As to
whether it will ever be, or how often it will be, depends on the design, the
rider, the quality control, and how it's ridden. Steel frames fail all the
time. It's a mistake to think material has anything to do with longevity.

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 20:04:16 GMT, Cipher
wrote:

Here's something to read on the subject:

http://www.ihpva.org/com/PracticalIn...materials.html

Good site. He neglects titanium, though. The homebuilder committed
to welding aluminum already has a MIG or TIG setup, and in my
experience, 6Al-4V Titanium is easier to weld than aluminum, and
stiffness-to-weight, there is no contest.
A vast difference between steel and aluminum was explained to me by an
ME friend thusly: After a million flexural cycles on a steel
structure, it can be considered to have unlimited life; After a
million flexural cycles on an aluminum structure, it can be considered
to have Zero remaining flexural life. (I do not know the rationale for
this, nor the mechanisms, etc. BUT: Do airframe components "time
out"? There are plenty of commercial aircraft flying after decades of
use. But they are not 6061-T6, I do not think.)

Peter Cole wrote:

It's a mistake to think material has anything to do with longevity.
^^^^^^^^
I think you mean "everything".

--
Benjamin Lewis

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
- Mark Twain

It's a mistake to think material has anything to do with longevity.
^^^^^^^^
I think you mean "everything".

Obviously the material has "a lot" to do with longevity. I'ts just not the
be-all and end-all of longevity. Try building an origami bike frame and see
what happens. After all, there's a reason nearly all cars are made of steel,
whereas fiberglass and other metals are somewhat rare.

Cipher wrote:
Chris Hansen wrote:

Does anyone know anything about this? If you plan to keep a bike for
longer than 10 years is it better not to get aluminum?

Don't know about 'wearing out' but I owned one that had the seat tube
lug crack. (I was out of the saddle climbing at the time). I'd owned the
bike for about 7 yrs. at the time this had happened.

My aluminum frame is no more due to unplanned automotive percussive
testing downgrading the functionality of my bicycle. i.e. Cars Suck

As to the frame material, as long as you don't buy something
stupid-light, it shouldn't be a problem. But don't go out and buy
a 2.5 lb aluminum & faery dust frame with drillium/unobtainium
components and then complain that it breaks in two years.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Congratulations are in order for Tom Reid.

He says he just found out he is the winner of the 2021 Psychic of the
Year award.