I have 55K on my 11 years old, Trek 2100. I hope to make it to 100K with the bike but I've been told that all bicycle frames should be retired at the 100K mark because of fatigue. My bike is Aluminum. Should that make any difference or is frame fatigue just a myth with high mileage frames?

If it was me, I would inspect it semi regularly for cracks and ride the hell out of it until I see one.

Problem is how do you know how many miles you've ridden?

I have over 100k on an aluminum Cannondale. No problems so far.

Same here. Hit that mileage a few years ago and have been adding about 9k/yr since.

Who told you that, someone who has an interest in selling you a new one? Or just some random electrons on the Internet?

Don't worry, it's just bull****.

Don't clean your bike...that's how all frame cracks are found
I don't think there even should be a limit of miles. 100k road miles vs 100k off road/MTB miles... Huge differences in riding style and aging of the bike. As Andrew Zimmern said " If it looks good - ride it! " ... Since I'm a Clydesdale, I might be saying it wrong

GPS bike computer or just regular one ($15-$120+). It may help with the maintenance if you know how many miles you've ridden.

Funny, I had that bike on the stand yesterday. I completely disassembled and cleaned everything. It is getting new wheels and drivetrain and maybe new bars and controls. Still no cracks though.

I totaled 2 aluminum frames in ~4 years of daily use (down tube weld failed both times). Trek offered me a carbon frame with the proviso that they would not replace the frame again. While conventional carbon fiber is more suceptible to impact damage, I am certain that this frame will never fail due to normal wear and tear.

PS: I should note that I have also broken steel frames -- cracked head tube and cracked stay near der hanger. (The steel frames, however, lasted many years.)

Are you Clydesdale?

190ish but the main issue is that modern mass produced metal frames are intended for leisure riding not daily high impact urban cycling.

Well...that is not that heavy... What do you blame? Riding style or quality of these frames?

Mostly riding style. Those frames were designed for mups and trails, not hyper-aggressive riding on pockmarked urban asphalt.

I'm putting about 10k a year on my alloy commuter bike the past four years, a CAAD9 I picked up new in 2010. I dropped the bike off on Friday at LBS to have them replace what I thought was a worn bottom bracket (BB30). Trusted mechanic tells me nothing is wrong with the bottom bracket, but the opening in the frame where the BB goes seems to have enlarged and he cannot get bottom bracket to stay in place even when using a lot of locktite. The words he used as I left the shop yesterday were ... I think the frame is toast. I hope this is not the case and there's some "fix"

Only reason I can think is the repeated stresses my 200 lbs puts on the bike, plus climbing the hills on my commute, has caused some fatigue.

Have a claim in with C'dale against their lifetime frame warranty and will see soon how they will address.

High impact with what? Is that high in number of impacts or high rate of speed or both?

Does your hyper aggressive ridding style prevent you from steering around, or (heaven forbid) slow down before impacting potholes and other obstacles?

Wonder how many wheels he's trashed, with that riding style.

Wow, that's a lot of frames to go through, no matter what.

Colorado Kid, don't worry about your frame failing. If it does fail, it will probably wobble before it disintegrates.

Yes, frames, especially aluminum frames can fatigue and eventually fail. Problem is that no mileage based number is meaningful because not all miles are created equal. Riding 1,000 miles on cobblestone, practicing for the Paris Roubaix, is like riding a million miles on glass smooth blacktop. Rider weight, and how you take potholes also factors, as does terrain and riding style.

I've seen even steel bikes suffer fatigue failure in the chainstays with heavy use in steep hill climbing.

So, If you reach 100k and you yourself haven't suffered fatigue, think about those miles, and decide if it was a long 100k or short 100k. Also consider the age of all the other parts and projected repair replacement cost, and make a decision based on your own judgement about when is the right time to put this one to pasture.

IME- very few bikes are ever retired because of mileage. Most are retired because the owners either stopped riding or moved on to something different.

Otherwise, given that this is aluminum, if the roads are bad, I'd think about retiring it because of the small chance of a front end fatigue failure. It's low odds but high consequences. OTOH if the roads were good, but there was climbing involved I'd ride it until the chainstay cracked, because that's a low consequence failure.

It's not about rules or formulas, it's about judgement.

That's a really great response, FBinNY. I appreciate that.

+1

I'd be wary of an LBS sales person who might give numbers for when a frame should be replaced. Some years ago I was at an LBS that I only get to on work related travel. I was looking at a wall of old bike frames and asked the owner about them. He said, "I think it's good to replace your frame every 10,000 miles." I asked, "Who is it good for?" He smiled and responded, "Me if I can get you to do it."

I had a shop owner tell me I shouldn't keep riding my steel frame because it was whooped, i.e. less stiff than originally. There are some really ignorant people in the industry!

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Yes, one of the common ruses is for the marketer/salesman/bicycle reviewer to insinuate that your frame is getting "soft" after years of riding. You hop on a new bike and immediately notice how it just "jumps" when you push down on the pedals. Very impressive.

Except that you can get your "soft" bicycle to feel just as responsive as the new one merely by replacing the chain and cogs. And maybe the chainrings. And pumping up the tires.

This is why I think the whole notion of n+1 is totally ridiculous and has more to do with cyclists trying to impress their peers. A good bicycle will last a very long time; a steel frame, even if it breaks, can still be repaired and can last forever, or until eaten thru with rust. And besides, nobody really cares what you're riding in the first place. People care only about how they think others perceive what THEY are riding!

So just ride what you've got!

Luis