Re: Do aluminum frames wear out?

David

In article <rUAac.9438$lt2.5545@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
Steven M. Scharf <scharf.steven@linkearth.net> wrote:

> "David" <biker780@dsafds.dsafdsa.yahoo.dsafds.com> wrote in message
> news:290320042052587232%biker780@dsafds.dsafdsa.yahoo.dsafds.com...
>
> > Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed reading his book, but I found the way
> > the book protrayed aluminium frames as being nothing more than a few
> > years throw away investment wrong. Aluminium bikes are sold in the
> > millions now, overtaking steel no doubt.
>
> How many are sold has no relation to the durability.
>

And that you need statistics to back up the frame's durability by
knowing how many are being sold and returned and the number of lawsuits
filed against the defective material. Many respected bike makers make
aluminium bikes and continue to make them. So obviously, aluminium is
durable enough for the masses.

> Actually, most touring bikes are still steel, even the lower cost ones like
> the Fuji Tour, and the REI Novara Randonee. And you overstate the rust
> problem. If you take reasonable care of a steel bicycle, not leaving it out
> in the rain all the time and applying some wax, it will last a very long
> time.
>

Yes indeed, but Opus, De Vinci and Norco make aluminium bikes that are
low cost, ride well and work well. And some people these days don't
buy specific touring bikes. They use whatever bikes they have to do
their tours, no doubt made mostly of aluminium.

As for taking reasonable care of a steel bike.. What sort of touring
do you do?? Not leaving it out in the rain all the time and applying
some wax. I guess you never toured in the wettest climate have you.
Try to find some shelter on the Queen Charlotte Islands just to keep
your bike dry. Maybe you need a big poncho for your steel touring bike
as you ride, because, it rains there a lot!

Let me tell you that most cycle tourists don't give a damn about caring
for their bikes. They don't. They don't wax the bike and neither they
do baby it from getting rain water, because they don't have time.
There are other pressing needs than stopping to wipe the frame from
rain water or to keep waxing it.

>
> "No aluminum is going to hold up as well as steel. That being said, most
> manufacturers will give you a lifetime warranty on aluminum frames, and in
> reality, the failure rate is quite low."
>

Still, I can't explain as to why my aluminium touring bike with over
30,000 miles on it is still going strong. And so does my friends'
Cannondales..

Stephen Harding

David wrote:

> Let me tell you that most cycle tourists don't give a damn about caring
> for their bikes. They don't. They don't wax the bike and neither they
> do baby it from getting rain water, because they don't have time.
> There are other pressing needs than stopping to wipe the frame from
> rain water or to keep waxing it.

Wettest riding I've ever done was Washington state where it
rained pretty much constantly (although generally very lightly)
for nearly 2 weeks.

My steel Trek 520 has never been waxed over the 10 years I've
owned it. I do occasionally deluge it with citrus cleaner
and/or WD-40 and water from a hose, but not much in the way
of "cleaning".

I've seen no deleterious effects on the frame or the bike as
a whole from this lack of care. Still looks and runs great.


SMH