I'm interested in knowing the capabilities of my Trek 7.1fx hybrid's frame. I commute full-time on it. It's an aluminum frame and I had heard that aluminum isn't that great. But then I realized that Trek's frame has a lifetime warranty. Does this mean that they don't expect it to break or does it just mean that they don't think I'll keep it til' it does? Basically is it a "When" or an "If" as to whether or not it would ever break under moderate use? And in what time-frame would it be expected to give out? Considering I take pretty good care of it.

"When" is inevitable but that could be 40 years and 150,000 miles from now. Yes, aluminum will eventually fail from fatigue but it's practical lifetime is extremely long unless subject to absurd abuse. I have a 1992 Trek 1420 still in routine use by my son that shows no signs of giving up. Time frame? Decades.

Trek's (and all other makers) "lifetime" warranty is based on experience that assumes that very few of the frames will be ridden enough to fail either because 1)the original owner moves on to something else in a few years, 2)some bikes are ridden very little and the put away for good or 3) the frames won't fail at any appreciable rate even if ridden routinely for many years.

You asked whether Trek didn't expect it to break, o simply was gambling that you wouldn't ride it that much. I expect that it's a bit of both, but mostly the first. Nothing lasts forever, so with enough use any frame will fail. Also, better bikes are built with weight being at a premium, so the better the bike, the less it'll be overbuilt.

A lot depends on how much you weigh, how you ride, and the types of roads. Unless you weigh over 200#s, or are riding absolutely miserable roads full of deep potholes, don't expect your frame to fail anytime soon.

Most frames survive until bent in crashes, and even after that. My guess is that the most likely thing to kill this frame will be damaging the right dropout by shifting the RD into the wheel.

I weigh about 210lbs and ride on some moderate roads

Ask again in 10-20 years, unless you crash first. Otherwise don't worry about it until then.

Realistically, there's a good chance we'll see world peace before your frame fails from overuse.

I have a 1990 bonded aluminum Trek 7000. Still going strong, even though it is glued together. The current frames should last practically forever unless crashed.

As far as the comment "aluminum isn't that great" I think applies more to the ride quality than the longevity.

I pretty much agree with what has been posted above.

Still, my high-end-in-2002 aluminum Gary Fisher Paragon frame did just break under me while doing commuter service on paved roads, which is where it has been ridden its whole life. (I had just turned a corner, and stood out of the saddle to get some speed up. The seat tube broke at the top of the weld where it joins the bottom bracket.) The bike has not had hard use; I was the sole rider, and I don't do single-track or any such off-road riding. I weigh under 200 lbs these days, altho I have been up around 210. Bike had no more than 4,000 miles on it.

Luck of the draw, I guess, and the bike got me home that day, so I figure it does not owe me anything. I might eventually buy another aluminum bike for commuting (warranty does not apply), because I really like the light weight. But for now I am commuting on cro-moly from Craigslist.

My aluminum '89 Cannondale road bike is getting close to the 150,000 mile point so I hope it will last well beyond that (but it still has a long way to go before hitting 40 years). Yes, all bike frames will eventually fail if they're ridden long and far enough but my impression is that most are either crashed or thrown away long before they get a chance to fail from fatigue. I agree that the warranty is based on market data showing that very few bikes will still be in use by their original owners by the time that fatigue becomes an issue.

Actuarial tables ... would be a calculation that the probabilities of more than a few Bike frames
failing from Metal fatigue is Low in consideration of the numbers sold.

One Guy in this area is a strong rider and Triathlete.. he has fallen back on that warrantee more than once.

At 210 you will be able to take advantage of the warrantee. Al has a finite number of flexes before it breaks.

so sometimes when a manufacturer says lifetime, it doesnt mean the lifetime of the person, it is the lifetime of the product, which may be 10 years or so.

I would suspect that if you tried to submit a warranty claim on a bicycle that was 20 years old they would say that product has reached end of service life and is no longer supported. At the very least you would need to prove that the bicycle was never used in manor which would negate the warranty such as taking it off jumps or being worked on by a person who was not an authorized trek dealer.

with all that said I would not be concerned about your frame failing so long as you didnt leave it outside in bad weather for years or dent the tubes by large impacts.

so like zacster I also have bonded alum frame from the 90's that has taken a holy god lot of abuse over the years and it still holding together just fine. Also as he said, its the ride quality of alum that commuters dont care for on asphalt not the durability.

One final thought, if your frame need to be replaced for any reason alum frames are cheap and easy to come by.

A lot of people confuse guarantee with warranty.

"I guarantee this will last a lifetime" Means no conditions, no questions asked. Manufacturers do not give guarantees. They give warranties.

A Lifetime Warranty is your assurance that should the product fails due to a defect in the manufacturing or the materials, it will be replaced or repaired once a determination has been made that the failure was not due to misuse, abuse or poor maintenance and providing that claimant can prove they are the original owner of the product.

A warranty has several loopholes big enough to ride a bike through. You usually have to pay for shipping it back to the manufacturer. If they deem it covered under warranty, don't expect a whole new bike, expect it back with the failed component replaced. You will have to pay for having it shipped back to you.

If the frame fails they will want the only the frame shipped to them for warranty evaluation. First the bars, stem, wheels, crank set,front and rear derailleurs, brakes, cables and misc. bottle cages must all be removed. Doing it your self or paying a shop to do it is on you and your dime.

If they rule in your favor and ship a replacement frame you are on the hook for paying a shop to put it all back on, or do it yourself.
If the manufacturer rules it was misuse, abuse, neglect, or poor maintenance you pay for them to ship the frame back if you still want it.

A warranty is a nice word to hear in a showroom and helps convince you to reach for your wallet.
It is not a guarantee.

Isaiahc72, Frames of every material have failed for one reason or another. Generally when crashed, but also if used outside of the design parameters. Warranties are just good business practice. How the manufacturer handles the claim can vary so experiences differ.

Aluminum picked up a fragile reputation in the late '80s-early '90s. Internet clatter at the time was pointed primarily towards some of the early 7XXX frames being brittle. This has long since been corrected for the 7XXX bikes. Trek's Alpha aluminum frames that were introduced in the late '90s are pretty darn good. When I researched my then new Trek 7000ZX's frame material the different resources at the time stated that it was 6013 T6 aluminum. I have beat that Trek to death on technical single track and even used it for some light touring and there is no reason to not expect it to continue for another 15 years... I will break before it will.

Brad

And carbon fiber frames exploded if left in the sun, melted if left in the rain, and would crack if you went over a pebble. This all according to the internet chatter. So yes, don't believe what you read here. My carbon bike is almost 10 years old at this point.

Chrysler was giving lifetime warranties for their cars. Anyone expect Chrysler cars to last a lifetime? Marketing gimmick.

But I would not be worrying about it either way.

+10 "Aluminum isn't that great" = some do not like the way it rides.

When was that? I remember Chrysler introduced the 50,000 mile warranty in the early 1960's to make up for the appalling reliability of their cars from the previous few years but I don't ever remember a "lifetime" warranty on anything they made.

Yes, the value of a "lifetime" warranty depends a lot on the manufacturer's interpretation but Trek in particular has a reputation for being reasonable and not nit-picking excessively. They won't (really can't) replace an old frame with its exact duplicate but they will replace it with the nearest current version. And yes, stripping the old and building up the new frame is on the owner.

Nah, I'd say the fancier stuff is definitely more fragile, and a guy your size should be riding (lots of) carbon if you want light weight (1.25kg is a heavy carbon frame). Or Ti, of course...

This is why aluminium got the rep for breaking, over-spec clydes riding tinfoil bikes. Pretty much any bike designed for pro racing in the last 25 years isn't engineered to have someone over 180lb on it.

The average commuter bike OTOH, usually only dies because the lock has eventually gouged through the top tube or something.

Pacemakers have a lifetime guarantee.

I don't worry about that, a good friend of mine is a medical examiner, he has promised me a free autopsy.

It was about the '08, '09 time frame --- they gave a lifetime drivetrain warranty to the original owner, at least on heir RAM pickups.........

So do heart, lung and kidney transplants. If yours breaks just bring it back in person and ask for a free replacement.

NB : everything else on a Trek, or any other brand is that part's manufacturers warrantee .

Which is Typically , 12 months from date of purchase ..

Frame , save the sales receipt, if you Move, you have to show it to the next Trek Dealer
if there is a Frame Claim for replacement.

Lifetime warranty usually only applies to the original owner. Given Trek's reputation, if you ride the bike for 20 yrs and then a weld or tube fails I would imagine they would happily warranty it with a newer equivalent frame. True frame failures are very rare, and mostly some up early since there was a manufacturing defect.

With many lifetime warranties, the manufacturer is basically betting that you'll re-sell it before it actually fails. See the Dodge pick-up above. The average truck buyer probably won't keep it much past the original warranty expiring. If it does need the power train repaired, they would likely have gotten 7+ years of service from the dealer.

Depends on the policy of the manufacturer. I'm glad the one who made my bike frame that failed wasn't following the policy stated above. When I called them they provided a FedEx account number for shipping the bike back to them at their expense and about a week later they shipped it back to me with the new frame. There was no cost or labor on my part other than packing the bike in a box for FedEx to pick up.