I appreciate the responses. A little background may help.

I purchased my bike used last year. The man said his son won the bike in a contest when he was 16. Said his son rode it a few times and got his drivers license and pretty much left the bike in the garage. The man said that he didn't use it cause he rode road bikes.


Now the bike looked pretty flawless and only needed lube and light cleaning. The tires still had the new look and all. I was happy til I learned about aluminum failures. I searched and had a hard time finding bad info on my bike. What I did find was that bikes are made for riders who weigh 140-160lbs. This info has scared the hell out of me.

Although I'm not jumping or doing crazy drops I do stand up and pump through steep hills and stand up on bumps and most down hills to save my man parts. My guess is my weight plus my habits are killing the frame. When I add this to the unknown of my bikes real history I start panicking.

I know the trek 820 isn't top of the line but being steel I figured it should last me 4-5 years with maintenance at my lbs. also a steel frame would be a good base to upgrade components on.