Originally Posted by
Ironfish653
I'm aware of the different properties of steel vs aluminum, and why we don't make aluminum springs. You can break anything. I've broken steel, (carbon and stainless) Aluminum, and Titanium. I guess it's whether you view a bike frame as a rigid structure or a flexible one.
I think it's the 'Steel Frames are Infinite, and Aluminum Frames WILL break!' mantra that gets tossed around every time frame material comes up.
If an Aluminum bike is on borrowed time from the moment it rolls out of the shop, what's the lifespan, then? 5,000 miles, 10K, 100K?
I suspect that it's long enough that none of us will be able to 'just ride' an aluminum bike to the point of failure.
I think the real life of warranty claims and such would show the numbers. But these are not disclosed by brands and many are known for underestimating stuff when it's in their favor. So we will never likely really know the true count.
I will say this as a general observation over 45+ years in the trenches of the LBS and a sometime builder. Statistically I see more Al failures that are in the tubes then steel. Steel failures have generally been from poor joining. Weld cracks at the root, over heating brittlement, failure to have proper braze flow/penetration. But very few failures away from a heated area. Not so for Al. Cracked down from ends of head tubes, at stay indentations, and then there's the corrosive ones. Sorry but IME Al isn't as long lived over the average. Andy