Road Cycling - Frame Fatigue Considerations For A Big Bike?

I'm 6'6" and 255 lbs. With my build I'm a rail at 235.

I'm researching a replacement for my old steel Fuji and am concerned about fatigue in a new carbon or AL frame. A Canondale R600 is at the top of my list but their warently expressly excludes fatigue and related cracks as 'wear and tear'.

I only ride 1,000-2,000 miles/year but I'm hard on all of my equipment.

Any thoughts?

Most companies will have warranties similar to Cannondales. The bike indusrty is wierd. Its the only industry that offers lifetime warranties. Have you ever heard of them on refridgerators, cars, cameras, shoes, lawnmowers or other items you use? Anyways, in my opinion, aluminum will fatigue the quickest and carbon the slowest, Do not buy titanium, its not a matter of it fatiguing, but a matter of it not being stiff. Now, back to aluminum, it will fatigue quicker but your only riding 2,000 miles a year. With your body size and the corresponding frame you'll need I'll give it 10,000 miles....max. Personally I'd go with one of the name brand carbon frames, The Trek OCLV or a Klien. I've been involved in this for a long time and I have seen many frames fail due to farigue. Why should a company have to replace a 10 year old frame with 50,000 miles on it?

Carbon or steel......

I can put my vote in for a carbon frame. I am 6' and have seen the up side of 200lbs. I have been on my Specialized carbon epic sence 1994 an logged at least 10K on the frame.
Like miamijim posted carbon would be my frist choice and steel my second.
Dave

The only stock frame/bike on the market specifically designed for and marketed towards "heavier riders":

www.trialtir-usa.com/2003-colnago/ovalmaster/ovalmaster.htm

Check out the reviews on this frame at:

www.roadbikereview.com

For a review of the different characteristics of Steel, Alu, and Titanium:

www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-materials.html

www.cartecaybikes.com/articles/framematerials.htm

A way to make titanium stiff is use 'exotic' shapes like the Colnago. Litespeed use 'exotic' shaping as well. Titanium just isnt stiff to start out with....and I'm sure that Colnago is ca-ching ca-ching $$$$$$$. The fork is probably half the cost of the R600 you're eyeing....

Originally posted by miamijim
The fork is probably half the cost of the R600 you're eyeing....

Colnago Precisa fork...$145.00. Does a Cannondale r600 go for $290.00 now? Sounds like a deal. :rolleyes:

don, I hope you realize that was a joke.....

Originally posted by miamijim
don, I hope you realize that was a joke.....

Of course I realized it was a joke; I've read your posts.:roflmao:

Hi,
you want a stiff frame. Your frames is going to be so big; that many bikes will
just wimp out because the long tubes won't be able to resist bending when you drop the hammer. Bikes that jump to mind would be Paramount, Waterford, and Klein, and the Lemond Zurich. Cannondale should also be a good choice, if you stay away from the superlight stuff. But there is something to your concern about fatigue. Steel or Ti wll generally last longer.

Good Luck, the only comment I have is whatever "experience" you have with the bike of your choice is a "one-time" thing, and not to go around thinking whatever has happened to your bikes has happened to anyone else.

I wonder how a good old steel custom frame would stack up? No doubt the builder may come up with something they think will work "just for you".

Again, titanium isnt stiff to start out with so skip it....aluminum fatigues the quickest so skip it to....carbon or steel...if you go with steel make sure it has 'oversized' tubing....

According to fatigue tests, rather than opinions, Canondale Al frames outlast many well made steel and Ti frames, when stressed repeatedly on a rig.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/EFBe/frame_fatigue_test.htm

'dales are tough and well made, and the fat tubes are ideal for use in larger sizes. They dont fall apart or break any more than other frames.
The stiffness of a frame is controlled by the section of the tubes (their length/diameter ratio). This is far more influential than the material.

Generally, steel is only available in the thinner diameters, Ti in thin-med and Al in med-fat tube diameters. There are exceptions such as aerodynamic blade downtubes.

Well, Brian, I am a reasonably big rider. My weight varies from 225 when I am fat and outa shape down to 190.

I have ridden Cannondales for years. I have put over 30,000 miles on three different frames. I had one dale that did fail from fatigue but that was where they brought the rear stay down to the chain stay short of the axle for some reason and then they flattened the chain stay right before the rear axle and drilled a little hole in it. It broke right at the hole (the designed weak point). That bike was covered with the old warranty and I got a new frame out of the deal and it was a better frame then the old one!

So how can they warranty frames. Easy! You do it for the original owner. Relatively few people put on more then 2,000 miles per year on a bike. If you figure a frame will fail in 50,000 miles, it will take them 25 years to do it. Around here, most of our riders get a hankering after the new components and get a new bike every 5 years or so.

Cannondales are stiff bikes and stiffness is good thing for a heavy rider. You may want to give Cannondales a look.

As long as you get a lifetime warr,let the frame go after a few years.A new bike isnt bad after a few years.CD or a good steel bike should do the trick.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my post, you've given me a lot to think about.
Although the thoughts on a Ti frame are good, it's out of my price range.
I think I'll go with my first impulse, let fit and feel be the deciding factor and ride it hard. If it breaks I'll just deal with it.

Get a GIANT compact road bike. Aluminium or carbon fibre, IT DON'T MATTER.