USMA

I am 5'10 about 145 pounds. I just want to know the distance/lifespan of the wheels.
They are Zipp 404 front wheel, and Zipp 840 rear wheel. Thanks

monogodo

Have you tried contacting Zipp?

USMA

Thanks, I will try and contact them.

apacherider

General rule of thumb is one season for anything made of carbon fiber. Then kick it to the curb. That goes for everything carbon. Cranks, frames, handlebars. Sell it.

You might say that it's silly to get rid of things when they still have alot of life. But they really dont.

scattered73

What, you must be joking? I got close to 10,000 miles on my cheapo cyclocross cf fork and on a good day this bike sees pot hole ridden streets, other days it is mtb trails, jumps, wrecks. It's all scratched up, scuffed to hell and still holding strong. Though I have been using stickers to cover up the scratches maybe thats the trick to cf repair.

apacherider

10,000-12,000 is a "season".

Anything past that and you are just on borrowed time. Why risk a broken jaw when your handlebar/fork fails?

Really lightweight carbon bikes are just not designed to be ridden for years and years. Same with aluminum.

johnnytheboy

but aluminum wheels are built to last forever.
go figure.

monogodo

So you're advocating knowingly selling an item with very little life in it. In other words, you're knowingly endangering your fellow cyclists. Remind me to not ever buy anything from you.

StanSeven

Would you cite some data or provide your qualifications for making those statements?

stevesbike

that's ridiculous. Carbon fiber has a fatigue limit, unlike aluminum, meaning it will not fatigue to failure under cyclic stress (below the static tensile strength of the material).

apacherider

You ever take a look at the high end stuff on Ebay? Most of it has been ridden for an entire season and ridden hard. People for some reason buy that stuff. I would never buy any second hand high end parts made from carbon fiber unless I personally knew the guy selling it.

My cycling stuff never lasts long enough to resell. It always ends up breaking.

I have seen some tragic accidents involving carbon fiber stems, handlebars and wheelsets that I will never own anything in those components made from carbon fiber.

apacherider

I could probably dig around and find you some photos of races here in Texas with monster carnage at the hands of chi-chi carbon wheels falling apart.

Ever wonder why you never see a 4-5 year old set of carbon wheels on bikes? Even the 1999-01 Trek 5500's with Postal Colors you do not see around anymore because they have all broken.

RParker

I know several people here in Texas that have 7,8 you old Trek 5500 that are ridden hard. Besides the fact Trek has a Lifetime warranty on them.

I would agree that I would not buy used stem, handle bar, from a stranger as they may have been crashed. Other than that I have no proble putting miles and years on my high end carbon parts.

aikigreg

actually, aluminum has a fatigue limit - it's not as strong as you might think. Carbon fiber is fine.

kylejack

What happens to carbon fiber when it eventually fails? Does it bend, or splinter, or what?

johnnytheboy

it explodes.
no *****.

johnnytheboy

how many aluminum parts do you have on your bike?
velocity deep v's are about the strongest rims you can buy, and they're aluminum.
aluminum is fine.

apacherider

Yep. Explodes like a hand grenade.

I don't mind people using high end carbon wheels for racing or time trials. Those courses are always clean, free of potholes(or they are marked) and care is taken before and after the event in regards to the equipment.

I do have a problem with people using high end wheels for everyday riding. That's where you run into trouble with cracks in the pavement, potholes, rain and the like which just destroy fragile wheels.

It's your money, do what you want. But a guy riding a $1500 wheelset on a training ride looks as silly as a guy playing a game of tennis in a Brooks Brothers suit.

aikigreg

I agree. I never said aluminum wasn't fine. I simply said that it DOES in fact fatigue. The previous post was non-factual. If you want the least fatiguing ride, you go with titanium, FTW.

How many alum parts? Very few. I've been all CF and titanium for years now. And I can guarantee you I punish mine. Still going strong.