This may be a ridiculous question, but....

I read somewhere that the pro racers don't use a frame for long. A year maybe, and then it's replaced. Is that just because the frame sponsor wants them to ride the "latest and greatest" or is there a useful frame life issue?

If there is a frame life issue, then how many miles for Carbon, Ti, Steel, Al? What factors are involved, removing crashes from the variable list?

I'm just curious on this.
Thanks!

i have a 24 year old pinarello that still carves quickly and is rock solid at 60+km/hr.

mine you it is columbus steel so it is stiff and built to last.

the new carbon frames might fatique after a while.
great builders like Cervelo brag about their strength tests so that has to account for something.

many won't stress a frame like Thor can so normal wear shouldn't be an issue but my brother's aluminum Trek did crack at the headtube.

frames do come with warranties so check that out if you are a heavier rider.

Pros have several team bikes, and are given new ones every year. I don't believe there is a fatigue issue though, I've ridden my carbon TCR maybe 25000-30000 miles and have had no trouble with it. I got a new team bike for this year (I'm not a pro, so I paid for most of it) and so I don't ride it as much.

If you are producing so much torque that you break frames you are probably receiving some kind of frame stipend for being awesome, so no worries there.

whenever i come across a big uneven crack in the road or go across a particularly bumpy patch of pavement, i always think my carbon frame is gonna break!

my mind has been slightly poisoned by all those, "it'll explode!!!!" remarks...

The only practical "frame life" issues for 99.999% of us is caused by either crashing or getting a case of "wantanewbike-itis".

An uncrashed frame, for most of us, could last decades.

Frames of any material will probably outlast any weekend warrior, and I mean over a lifetime. Regarding the pros, do you think Angelina Jolie pays for the dresses she wears to the Oscars, much less wear them a second time? New year, new bike.

I believe pros usually get to keep their old bikes and often sell them to raise money.

Cripes if I thought like that I'd never ride my bike around here....

I guess Pros get "new model" every year, that's why you and I pay that much for our bikes....!!!!

Also, I ride an ORBEA Onix 2008, frame comes with a lifetime warranty. It's enough for me.

All the pros I know buy thier own equipment and ride it til something better comes out, usually 2-3 years.

Thanks. That was sort of what I figured, but I wasn't sure. I am riding a 12 year old steel bike (Colnago MXL) and it responds beautifully. However, I've been considering building up another bike and was wondering if this was something that I even needed to consider when choosing materials.

Actually, a well built carbon fiber frame will out last a steel frame. Carbon has a much longer fatigue life than steel. I know of carbon frames with over 120,000 miles and they work the same as if they were new.

However, I have heard that 80,000 on a well made steel frame isn't a problem.

Frames do break. No one can tell you how long a frame will last. I have cracked 4 frames, 3 of them steel.
Breaking parts is part of biking.

Not that I put excess fatique on my bikes, because I am not a racer. But, I bought a Scott 510 model in 1993. I have three other bikes. Still, I had to replace it 12 years later. i figure I had to put at least 80,000 on it. I traded in the used up frame for a new Surly Cross Check frame. My bikes mechanic checked out the chain line with a frame checker. The center line was off. He said it was not worth re-aligning the bike in that once the frame has been warped its best just to scrap it. / My mileage log was pretty accurate. 80,000 miles. Guess I have no complaints. / The clue that made me think something was wrong was the difficulity in shifting.

There was a guy in the Potomac Pedalers club (Washington DC area) who would always win the yearly mileage competition -- he'd rack up between 15 and 20,000 miles a year. At any rate, whenever I saw him, he'd always be on the same steel bike (Holland Cycles, I believe? Made in Maryland, I think).

I haven't lived in that area for many years now, but for the 7 or 8 years I lived there, he'd rack up at least 15,000 miles a year, so he got at least 100,000 miles out of the same frame (and I'm guessing many, many, many more).