old road bikes

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?
Does steel lose its ability to flex with age? What is the most miles
anyone has ever put on a frame?

Sheldon Brown regularly rides on a 1918 Mead Ranger. I'm pretty sure 6
figures on a bike has been done more than once.

With a very light steel frame, one might want to inspect it occasionally
for cracks or brazing failures, but the life span of your frames should
be a multiple of your life span.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

[email hidden] wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?
Does steel lose its ability to flex with age? What is the most miles
anyone has ever put on a frame?

If the frame is defective (e.g., poor brazing/welding) or rusted, you may be
in trouble. If it is still in great shape, you should be fine.

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?
Does steel lose its ability to flex with age? What is the most miles
anyone has ever put on a frame?

Schwinn Vasity & Continentals were built of 16-gauge gas-pipe tubing.
Seriously. It's strength comes from the massive amount of material used, and
in all likelihood, your ability to lift one will fail long before the frame
has a fatigue issue.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?
Does steel lose its ability to flex with age? What is the most miles
anyone has ever put on a frame?

Steel has a curve of intensity /frequency of stress to
failure that's a nearly parallel line at the end. Normal
riding will have no effect on steel frame strength.

Riders sometimes say an older frame has 'gone soft' but
there seems to be no basis in fact for that. IMHO the newer
or shinier of two frames is perceived as 'better'.

Your Chicago-built bikes in particular could be ridden
indefinitely without any concern There's a lot of material
in them! If the weight doesn't bother you, they'll likely
outlast all of us.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote in news:11s442g2vfji0a8
@corp.supernews.com:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

Your Chicago-built bikes in particular could be ridden
indefinitely without any concern There's a lot of material
in them! If the weight doesn't bother you, they'll likely
outlast all of us.

Not that I'd want to ride one anytime soon due to its heft, I gotta say
that the classic Varsity is about one of the prettiest frames ever made.
The smooth welds at the head tube are incredible craftsmanship for
something mass-produced, and the metallic paint jobs looked gorgeous. It
doesn't surprise me that 40 years ago, it was THE 10-speed to have for the
casual rider.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Your Chicago-built bikes in particular could be ridden
indefinitely without any concern There's a lot of material
in them! If the weight doesn't bother you, they'll likely
outlast all of us.

Not that I'd want to ride one anytime soon due to its heft, I gotta say
that the classic Varsity is about one of the prettiest frames ever made.
The smooth welds at the head tube are incredible craftsmanship for
something mass-produced, and the metallic paint jobs looked gorgeous. It
doesn't surprise me that 40 years ago, it was THE 10-speed to have for the
casual rider.

And now for a dissenting opinion... in real life, the butt-welds found on
Varsity and Continentals tended to be a bit on the ugly side, in my humble
opinion. The tube would deform a bit in the area, usually with a slight
decrease in diameter. This was mostly apparent in flat (non-metallic)
solid-color paint jobs.

The SuperSport, on the other hand... that was a beauty. When a Varsity sold
for $73.50, the SuperSport, I believe, was around $130 or so. Chrome moly
frame, fillet brazed.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?
Does steel lose its ability to flex with age? What is the most miles
anyone has ever put on a frame?

Chris Davies of Haven't Portsmouth England has celebrated his 50th year as
a CTC mem with more than 850,630 recorded miles.
I don't know how many bikes he has used.But you can bet that he has put more
miles on a frame than you are likely to
Last year he completed 10,000 miles
PK

Togigo said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?

Those bikes are tanks. They will still be solid when only the cockroaches
are still around. They may rust away, but metal fatigue is not a problem
-- for them or any steel bike.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Enron's slogan: Respect, Communication, Integrity, and
_`\(,_ | Excellence.
(_)/ (_) |

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?
Does steel lose its ability to flex with age? What is the most miles
anyone has ever put on a frame?

I had an an aluminum rack shear off near a drilled hole after about
15,000 miles of heavy use but the frame on my 24 pound Schwinn is
still going strong after 40,000 miles. There is a lifetime guarantee
on the frame and I kept the receipt just in case.

anonymous said:

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?
Does steel lose its ability to flex with age? What is the most miles
anyone has ever put on a frame?

I had an an aluminum rack shear off near a drilled hole after about
15,000 miles of heavy use but the frame on my

Quoted message said:

24 pound Schwinn

Obviously its not a Varsity. Unless you transposed the 2 and 4 and
really meant 42 pound Schwinn. Then it could be a Varsity.

is

Quoted message said:

still going strong after 40,000 miles. There is a lifetime guarantee
on the frame and I kept the receipt just in case.

Hank Wirtz said:

A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote in news:11s442g2vfji0a8
@corp.supernews.com:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

Your Chicago-built bikes in particular could be ridden
indefinitely without any concern There's a lot of material
in them! If the weight doesn't bother you, they'll likely
outlast all of us.

Not that I'd want to ride one anytime soon due to its heft, I gotta say
that the classic Varsity is about one of the prettiest frames ever made.
The smooth welds at the head tube are incredible craftsmanship for
something mass-produced, and the metallic paint jobs looked gorgeous. It
doesn't surprise me that 40 years ago, it was THE 10-speed to have for the
casual rider.

IIRC, the welds aren't *at* the head tube; rather the head tube and the
first inch or so of the top & down tubes were manufactured as a single
piece; the welds were about an inch back from the head/down tube and
were plainly visible, even through the paint. ISTR these "head tubes"
pictured in old Schwinn catalogs.

Someone who knows better or has one of these bikes at hand can correct
me, perhaps.

Mark

David L. Johnson said:

Togigo said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?

Those bikes are tanks. They will still be solid when only the cockroaches
are still around. They may rust away, but metal fatigue is not a problem
-- for them or any steel bike.

fatigue not a problem for any steel bike? au contraire. steel's just
as much a victim of bad heat treatment, damage stress risers, poor
design, poor manufacture [blah] as any other material. google for frame
fatigue testing and check out which frames are breaking. go to a bike
swap and check out the cracked steel frames being sold to the
unsuspecting. if you don't think steel can fatigue, you'd be the victim
in such a purchase.

jim beam said:

David L. Johnson said:

Togigo said:

I have a couple of bicycles from the seventies, Schwinn Continental and
a Varsity. Do old bike frames suffer from metal fatigue are they prone
to breaking?

Those bikes are tanks. They will still be solid when only the
cockroaches
are still around. They may rust away, but metal fatigue is not a problem
-- for them or any steel bike.

fatigue not a problem for any steel bike? au contraire. steel's just
as much a victim of bad heat treatment, damage stress risers, poor
design, poor manufacture [blah] as any other material. google for frame
fatigue testing and check out which frames are breaking. go to a bike
swap and check out the cracked steel frames being sold to the
unsuspecting. if you don't think steel can fatigue, you'd be the victim
in such a purchase.

I learned that the hard way after investing $$$ on a fancy paint job for
an old Raleigh that I thought would last forever -- it fatigue cracked
at the head tube, right along the lug, just where you'd expect it to.