So I have one road bike, my steel 1984 Nishiki and I bought a 2006 Trek 1500 yesterday. Today when buying some bar tape at Bicycle Sport Shop the tattooed hammerhead says "aluminium frames crack...I know from first hand experience" implying that I should have bought a carbon frame bike. Sure they had some five and seven thousand dollar bikes there. I paid $250 for the Trek. Now I have a Trek 8000 and a Stumpjumper FSR and I've punished those bikes on trails for years and they never have cracked. Do any of you have any experience with aluminium frame road bikes cracking?