Do frames go "dead" with age?

[mikeymustard]

Due to a nasty bout of gout making walking, standing and cycling impossible, I sat in the sun this afternoon, servicing and polishing an alloy wheel. I started thinking about something I read the other day on another forum: the poster was claiming that aluminium bikes went "dead" after a few years.
I've read claims before about steel and titanium frames losing their spring after a certain time, and while I have no experience of Ti, I'm sure the idea of steel frames deadening is rubbish, and this forum probably wouldn't exist if this were so!

Does this idea that ali "goes off" come from the same nonsensical school of thought, or might there be something in this?

If there is some evidence to support this then there are some obvious implications for our hobby - the wheels I was lovingly stroking while I was thinking about the issue for one thing, but also, people are beginning to look at early aluminium frames as collectible

 

[Crandoggler]

Sounds like a load of old cock.

 

[mikeymustard]

That's my view, where do these rumours [assertions?] come from? The poster was quite emphatic that this was true

 

[steve50]

Steel frames if not looked after will corrode and break, alluminium if neglected can also degrade and corrode but we are well aware that if looked after vintage bikes will carry on being usable for decades, so yes i agree that someone was talking codswallop.

 

[Tim Hall]

I'd say it's a load of old pony.

Mind you, thinking an aluminium frame is collectible is deranged.

 

[Fab Foodie]

That's my view, where do these rumours [assertions?] come from? The poster was quite emphatic that this was true

I can recall being told this many years ago in a bike shop in Exeter. Sounded like bull at the time and I have heard it since but not for a while. No idea where it originates from.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'd say it's a load of old pony.

Mind you, thinking an aluminium frame is collectible is deranged.

Mmmm .... Idea for a new thread ....

 

[Senior Ryder]

It's a common view among mountain bikers that the stress on aluminum framed bikes will cause these to fail, but steel is more flexible and will last longer. Who knows?

 

[biggs682]

@mikeymustard thats a new one on me , it could be that the longer you ride the same bike the less you enjoy it so you loose the excitement .

And old grease does'nt help as it can go really stiff after a few years so if not maintained that might not help either

 

[mjr]

I've heard this. I think it's extrapolating from the fact that aluminium alloys don't have an endurance limit (see http://www.ibiscycles.com/support/technical_articles/metallurgy_for_cyclists/the_basics/ ) to the idea that it'll fatigue and fail in small bike-deadening ways before catastrophic ones.

I've no idea if it's true: I just prefer the ride of most steel bikes I've tried.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

It is nonsense. It is an old myth that comes from way back. The first time I heard it aluminium bikes were not invented yet so the story was projected towards steel bikes. Now that steel is going, it is coming to aluminium bikes. I wonder how long it will take to be applied to carbon bikes. Fact is that none of these materials change their stiffness or Young's modulus. It is a constant over time. If the stories were true, the Eiffel Tower is about to fall.
Other popular myths of the time:

1. Tubulars are better when aged.
2. Bikes stay upright by gyroscopic forces.
3. Bikes can out-brake trucks.
4. You can skid your front wheel on asphalt.
5. Chains stretch with use.
6. I won a sprint stage in the TdF once.
7. Cables stretch with use.
8. Short chainstays facilitate better climbing.

Baloney, as they say in the movies. I'll only not contradict one of the above myths.

 

[sidevalve]

Now that steel is going

Never !!!

 

[mikeymustard]

@mikeymustard thats a new one on me , it could be that the longer you ride the same bike the less you enjoy it so you loose the excitement

Or alternatively, the time it takes to either
a) succumb to marketing hype and spend a coupla grand on a carbon/ti bike, or
b) realise that actually steel is a lot nicer to ride than what you've got and go back to the Raleigh you bought in 1984 :-)

 

[Jody]

@Yellow Saddle Are 5 and 7 not true?

 

[mjr]

@Yellow Saddle Are 5 and 7 not true?

Strictly no, but most people understand what's meant by the expressions.