aluminium framed bike reaching the end of its lifetime?

newbie_cyclist

Hi
I read recently that the lifetime of an aluminium frame is about 5 years. My aluminium framed bike is about 6 yrs old (done about 40,000miles, often quite heavily loaded).

Will problems show up as cracks that I can keep an eye on or will my bike suddenly collapse under me if I hit a pothole? I commute in central London so sudden frame failure is likely to be pretty dangerous. However, I don’t want to just throw away my much loved bike when there is nothing obviously wrong with it.

Any advice would be very very helpful.
thanks

fnegroni

Not sure:

most hardtail Mountain Bikes are made of aluminium, and they last quite a few years riding on surfaces much worse than your average street, and falls are much more likely. Plus they put even more strain on components like steerers and dropouts.

Mileage might have something to do with it as vibrations I guess do fatigue a frame.

But 40,000 miles in 5 years is a fairly high mileage and probably earns you a new bike just out of respect :-)

crankycrank

The belief that aluminum will last only a few years is complete myth. There have been a few reports of certain models failing prematurely and catastrophic failures, usually from bad welds, but that can be said of almost any material. Having said that, yes when aluminum breaks it can be quite sudden as opposed to steel which will usually give a few warning signs before it completely breaks or CF which may give you a warning. I've got a 10yr old aluminum bike from a local builder with only about 30,000 miles fitted with a Reynolds Ouzo fork with a 1" aluminum steerer and both show no signs of cracking. I see plenty of other old alum bikes on the road too and was just talking with a guy riding his 17yr old Klein which he just had repainted. Just keep an eye on the welds looking for cracks in the paint etc. and you'll be fine. Just think of all the airplanes and motorbike riders out there and how many of those old aluminum frames have you seen suddenly break?

STEFANOS4784

:shock: My 'dale is, i think, about 9 years old in total, never knew this might be an issue. Dam you scare-mongerers :arrow:

newbie_cyclist

thanks for putting my mind at rest.
I'll check for cracks but keep on riding!

cheers