Life of a Bike
 

I am considering buying a well maintained Cannondale which has been ridden about 6000 miles. I was wondering, the lifespan of a bike? Should I be concerned that there are so many miles on this bike? Thanks.

What frame is it? (cad x) Do you have an opertunity to take it to a LBS and have them check it out? What year is it?

It is a 2002 CAAD 5. The seller said it has never been crashed. The seller live quite a ways away so I do not have an oppertunity to bring it to a LBS.

It's a rather new frame to have 6 k miles on it, that seems odd.

I couldn't tell you much beyond that. I'm pleased with my CADD three frame, and it's got a good stretch of miles on it. No where near 6 k though. There is one older cannondale frame that I see often, and he rides about 20 a day.

But, YMMV. As with anything used, you take your chances. I would have it taken to a shop and looked over.

6k miles is just getting broke in good. No need to worry that it's worn out.

Dave

probably still under warranty if it is indeed a 2002.. you may have to replace some parts on it as time goes on, but the frame will probably have some years of life in it.

My Cannondale off road tandem has more then 6K on it, the frame is the only thing that I havent replaced yet!

The warrenty on bikes is not transferable, I dont know of any builders that offer a transferable warrenty on there bikes.

My aluminium frame has about 20 000 km on it, it's been crashed twice and is still going strong.

Just remember that bikes depreciate pretty quickly so you'll want to get it for a good price but if it has been well maintained you should get a good deal.

Have the chain and cassette been replaced recently? With those kinds of miles you may be up for replacing them or the current owner may have done that recently.

How so? Let's assume the original owner bought the bike as soon as the 2002s first hit the stores... so that's possibly midfall of 2001... call it October or November if you really want to be conservative. It's now 18 months later. You're looking at an avg of around only 80 miles a week. Even if it was exactly a year old, that's 115 miles a week. Sure, it's a lot of miles but not an excessive or unbelievable amount for a serious rider... especially one that rides year-round and commutes a ways to work. I'm sure there are plenty of people who frequent this forum who exceed that amount in a 12 month period.

And let's face it - no one is going to 'over estimate' the miles to get a sale. If there was anything fishy going on he'd be more likely to under estimate.

exactly..

I have a Cannondale R600 - 1998 Model - CAAD 3 frame. It has 12,000 miles on it and still going strong. No problems what so ever with the frame. ride on! It is now my second bike only because of the stiffness of the CAAD 3 frame.:)

Although I am not an intense fan of aluminium bikes I am a believer in Cannondale Quality and My MTb's have taken a lot of abuse.

AS long s you get a good price for the bike and you're comfortable with not having a warranty on the bike then I'd say you could be having agood deal.

I would ask the owner a few questions like:

What type of riding do you do?
Do you race?
How often and in what category?
Tell get him talking about his commute and if possible drive along the commute route to get a feel for what the bike has to endure every day.
There may be pot holes or just generally bad roads along his daily ride.

All this wil give you a picture of what the bike has been doing and then yuo vector in his mileage and you ameka decision on the amount you'e willing to pay.

Well I ride Cannondales and have for years. I have gotten 30,000+ miles on three of them. Components start wearing out around 25,000 miles. Frames do not have problems in my experience and I am a pretty fast recreational rider and I am not a light weight (190lbs when I get slim).

So if the bike has had reasonably good maintenance, it still has 80% of its life on it and you should be able to get it for a better discount vs a new bike then that. The important thing is be sure the bike fits you.

I have a 2000 for sale with under 5000 mikes.

6000 miles is nothing for a frame. It's just not a factor.

A well-maintained road bike with 6k miles on it should be...

...on its second or possibly even third set of tires, depending on the tires.

...on its second or third chain.

...on its original cassette, which should be checked carefully for wear, especially if it's only the bike's second chain.

...on original parts for the rest of the bike, unbless something was upgraded by coice (in which case ask why).

If the wheels are true and have mostly the original spokes, chances are it was well-built and will last many more thousands of miles.

If the bike fits you it could be an excellent buy. If it doesn't fit you you're wasting your money. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people buy a poorly-fitting bike because it seemed like a bargain and they had a bad case of "new toy fever," and end up with something they couldn't ride.

RichC

I bought a 1996 R400 (same frame) in late '97 and have put (about) 17,000 kms (in the sunshine only) on it and it's like it's still new!

My previous bike (steel frame) went 53,000 kms before I replaced it.

Seems to me the 2 questions to consider, is the frame in great shape and how much $?

If the frame is damaged, it's worth squat, but if it's good but the owner want's almost what he paid for it. get a new one instead. If he's offering half price, go for it!