Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 138 total)
  • longevity of carbon bikes
  • turneround
    Full Member

    say i bought a well known brand of carbon bike, rode it approx 100-150miles per week (more summer, less winter) looked after it and did my best to not crash… whats a rough estimate of its lifespan

    TheDoctor
    Free Member

    The warranty usually gives a good indication of how long it’s expected to last. Some give lifetime/25years (Time,Parlee, etc) But most are 2-5years.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    I’d say warranties are about reputation not anticipated frame life.

    As long as you’re not doing anything outside its design parameters, shouldn’t it last indefinitely?

    Who has ever seen a carbon frame break due to fatigue?

    TheDoctor
    Free Member

    But over time, they go soft/delaminate, you can get water/salt incursion between layers and/or through the resin. the resin might not be uv stable and it certainly wont be corrosion proof and will degrade with water/salt sunlight exposure!

    crikey
    Free Member

    But over time, they go soft/delaminate, you can get water/salt incursion between layers and/or through the resin. the resin might not be uv stable and it certainly wont be corrosion proof and will degrade with water/salt sunlight exposure!

    Does the sky fall in a lot where you live, doctor?

    …and how many carbon bikes do you actually own?

    druidh
    Free Member

    Over time, steel will deteriorate into a pile of iron oxide.
    Over time, the Himalayas will be no more mountainous than East Anglia.

    TheDoctor
    Free Member

    Personally I don’t care what you think you know, that’s how it is, take it or leave it ❗

    crikey
    Free Member

    Ah, the ‘I have no evidence, you’ll just have to believe me’ approach. Fool.

    tumnurkoz
    Free Member

    I know of plenty of aircraft wings and cockpits which are still in good order after 20 years! The only cautions were don’t drop stuff onto them and wipe off/degrease after severe oil contamination. (Goes to shed to check E120…)

    TheDoctor
    Free Member

    Personally I don’t care what you think you know

    crikey, I see you don’t read very well either!

    crikey
    Free Member

    I see your inability to substantiate your claims has led you to attempt to duck the issue.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    meanwhile, in the real world, A friend has one of those Lotus superbike MTBs, he bought it new in the early nineties, it cost a small fortune. He had to retire it about 2 years ago (so it lasted 17 years) after a small crack appeared where the front mech was bolted on. He used to ride it in DH, XC and 4X competitions back then and continued riding it up until about 2008. This is a guy who is not kind to bikes and has since written off two frames in the last few years (a Giant Reign and a Kona Coilair). Also bear in mind, 20 years ago carbon technology and particularly carbon bike frames were very much in their infancy.

    crikey
    Free Member

    Doctor, people who buy expensive steel frames often feel the need to denigrate other frame materials, probably in some vain attempt to justify to themselves that they have made the right choice. I’ve had custom steel, and aluminium, and carbon. The carbon has lasted longest.

    seth-enslow666
    Free Member

    Aluminium will corrode somewhat, steel will rust and oxidization will creep up on it. so I don’t see why carbon is any different to how long it will last in its natural state. Its more prone to unnatural damage in regard to accidents though. I think a carbon frame that suffers a bad off would make me a bit more skeptical on its longevity over a steel frame

    All that said though I have seen plenty of Titanium frames with cracks on the tubes and welds even though they may not have had any use more than what they were intended. I have also seen many alloy, steel and Ti frames with bad dents and dings from crashes etc.

    Out of all the carbon components a frame would be the one I would have most faith in. I’m not too keen on bars and stems and seatposts made from it for MTB use. A frame would be the one thing I would buy though. I would buy one new though!

    LeeW
    Full Member

    I don’t think I’ll ever ride anything else but carbon again. I had a Merlin Ti frame which I loved at first. Desperately wanted to beleive the ‘hype’ I rode a carbon HT and found it far more comfortable. I went out that week and bought a carbon frame.

    Be warned though, if you get a single drop of Dot5 brake fluid on the bare carbon, it instantly delaminates and turns the frame in to nothing more than a pile of noodles.

    The more you worry about the longevity of a frame or component the less you focus on enjoying the ride.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    For it’s last few years it had forks 50mm longer than recommended, survived a massive nose dive off the highest tier drop in Glentress bike park (totalled front wheel and chipped bone in knee) and was thrown in a river to prove it would float.

    stoney
    Free Member

    I had a Lemond TVT carbon “team issue” frame from the 1990 TDF. They were the early ones that were carbon tubes bonded to alu lugs.

    It was still going 19 years 😯 later when i eventually parted with it on e-bay 😥 and it still looked MINT….. 😛

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    It’ll probably last longer than your ability to withhold buying a new bike. I’d expect it to last as long as any other frame material.

    smell_it
    Free Member

    My parlee has a lifetime warranty, but if i’m honest I won’t be keeping it anywhere near long enough to test that. I rather like new bikes, and things move on, ‘a bike for life’ sounds like a punishment to me.

    oldgit
    Free Member

    Oooh hours and hours. Still see a pre 2000 carbon MTB getting places.

    My race bike is a 2007 model which is just having 2012 kit bunged on it.

    andyl
    Free Member

    why do people forget that carbon fibre is not the only composite material out there. Glass fibre reinforced plastic is probably one of the best examples of how long composites can last, even when not particularly looked after.

    Admittedly carbon can have more galvanic problems than glass but it’s generally built better as it’s a higher cost material.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    I’ve got carbon fishing rods in excess of 20 years old that are still as good as new. I see no reason why carbon shouldn’t have a far superior lifespan (crash damage and misuse excepted) than any metal currently used in frame production

    bm0p700f
    Free Member

    It’s not the lifespan of carbon I worry about it is what happens in an crash. I have riden carbon framed MTB’s and they were all lovely but I just won’t buy one as I can’t justify another bike and I have had the odd off in the past and I would hate to damage the frame.

    However if you can avoid the falls carbon firbre composite is wonderful frame material and should last a very long time. The failures you hear about are mostly down to misuse for poor design.
    Stability against UV can be taken care of with the right resin’s.
    Plently of ally or steel frames have cracked in the past through poor design or misuse too. As for the those who put down steel, there is nothing wrong with it. I have four steel bikes and I like them all and if I look after them they will last a life time infact the oldest one I have is a 1989 Marin and that still rides very well. Every material has it plus points and drawbacks. Failure or damage in what otherwise would minor accident is the biggest drawback of carbon I think of.

    The carbon bikes I would like is a 29’er rigid SS and a summer carbon road race bike. That would make seven bikes though so I might have to sell some steel first.

    njee20
    Free Member

    I have four steel bikes and I like them all and if I look after them they will may last a life time infact the oldest one I have is a 1989 Marin and that still rides very well as old as the Lotus bike up there, despite the fact carbon technology was pretty shonky back then. Every material has it plus points and drawbacks. Failure or damage in what otherwise would minor accident is the biggest drawback of carbon I think of have baseless worries about.

    FTFY. If you think that steel bikes are indestructible you’re rather daft. What makes you think that a carbon bike will explode even if you look after it?

    STATO
    Free Member

    Failure or damage in what otherwise would minor accident is the biggest drawback of carbon I think of.

    Ive seen steel primadonna road bikes die when they fall over at a cafe stop and there have been a handful of Ti bikes crack on STW alone in the last month. If your really concerned there was a guy on the weight-weenies forum who mends broken carbon.

    Dan67
    Free Member

    I remember hearing that they degrade 10% over 30 years so they have a very long life span

    compositepro
    Free Member

    what happens in a crash is that you pass the fibres elongation to failure or in the case of some of the one shot heat mould chinese frames overcome the strength of the lap

    this remains hidden and then on to catastrophic failure which you guys are such great fans of

    As for the longevity of composites I know there’s a homebuilt aircraft we built 20 years ago still flying and we didn’t know a great deal about a lot of stuff bitd

    jameso
    Full Member

    But over time, they go soft/delaminate

    roadies used to say that about steel frames, that the frames went soft over a season.. : )

    njee20
    Free Member

    what happens in a crash is that you pass the fibres elongation to failure or in the case of some of the one shot heat mould chinese frames overcome the strength of the lap, however by that time your metal frame would have also snapped

    FTFY 🙂

    (I can keep doing this)

    SurroundedByZulus
    Free Member

    Mine is a 2007 frame – still going without skipping a beat. As I’d be expecting to be honest.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    *adds TheDoctor to the list*

    Is there a topic that attracts more BS than carbon frames’ longevity? I think not, going by this thread. My own favorite:

    seth-enslow666 – Member
    Aluminium will corrode somewhat, steel will rust and oxidization will creep up on it. so I don’t see why carbon is any different to how long it will last in its natural state. Its more prone to unnatural damage in regard to accidents though. I think a carbon frame that suffers a bad off would make me a bit more skeptical on its longevity over a steel frame

    Erm….1. Carbon is relatively inert 😐 2. WTF is “unnatural damage” and if you mean “crashes” then how can a material alone make a frame more vulnerable to that?

    compositepro
    Free Member

    What did you fix?

    bm0p700f
    Free Member

    njee20 I think your comments and based on an overinterpreation of my post. I have stated there is nothing wrong with carbon frames. I know steel and aluminium bikes can have frame failures in a crash – I am not daft. I never claimed that steel frames were indestructable you claim I did, a big dofference. Steel, carbon, aluminium alloys are all good frame materials.
    I suggest njee20 try reading my post again!

    GaryLake
    Free Member

    But over time, they go soft/delaminate, you can get water/salt incursion between layers and/or through the resin.

    Coming from a Windsurfing background, carbon masts and booms literally coated in a permanent layer of salt, scraped and dragged along cobbled and sandy beaches. Seems like the least of your worries when it comes to a carbon frame IME

    tumnurkoz
    Free Member

    I’m more worried about carbons galvanic corrosion when next to aluminium! (not wanting to be full of doom!)

    Northwind
    Full Member

    bm0p700f – Member

    It’s not the lifespan of carbon I worry about it is what happens in an crash.

    My C456 has already taken hits hard enough to, if not write off a metal frame, then at least put proper big ugly dents in it. Maybe it’ll break in half tomorrow, maybe not 😉

    mcmoonter
    Free Member

    Giant have a lifetime warranty. I’m on my third 😯

    RoterStern
    Free Member

    I’ve broken several steel mountain bikes at least five alu bikes both road and MTB and a couple of ti mountain bikes. My carbon road bike is the only frame to have lasted more than four years.

    br
    Free Member

    I’d say warranties are about reputation not anticipated frame life.

    The length of a warrenty is purely marketing – and the cost of failures need to be factored into the purchase price.

    njee20
    Free Member

    njee20 I think your comments and based on an overinterpreation of my post

    Tongue in cheek comment. The crash damage is a completely moot point!

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 138 total)

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