Frame lifespan

Paul said:

I'm not intending to start the aluminium vs steel debate again, not least because I don't usually
understand the answers. However I have noticed that the aluminium frame on my bike is guaranteed
for 3 years whilst the cromoly frame of the cheaper entry level model of the same range is
guaranteed for 15 years.

My frame material is plain guage 7005 HT T6.

SNIP

Quoted message said:

Thanks for any thoughts,

Basically the guarantee differs because the manufacturer can get away with it... people believe that
that is all they should expect so that is all they get. It is very expensive to warranty something
that has been out of production for 3+ years. There is one big caveat to that statement ...

1) there is an engineering component to the issue ... if the frame was designed into the "stupid
light" range it may be that the designers have put a limit on the life ... a straight gauge frame
however is probably not in that range.

There is no reason that the material should be a concern..

Quoted message said:

Interestingly I have come across bikes in the £2000+ price range (not sure what that is in dollars)
that also have 7005 frames (butted obviously), mine cost just £260. For that sort of money I would
have expected that people would have wanted the bike to last quite some time, or perhaps they just
have more money than me!

Thanks for any thoughts,

Paul.

Some comments:

1. The difference between your frame and those expensive ones is that yours was not heat treated
after it was fabricated. The fancy ones were. This allows them to make lighter frames.

2. People don't pay £2000+ price range to get a bicycle that will last 15 or 20 years, they pay
that sort of money to get a lightweight bike. As such it is likely that it may fail rather
quickly. But anyone with that sort of money to dump in a bike probably doesn't care because they
will wanting a new bike soon anyway.

3. My guess is that your frame could last 15 or 20 years.

Jon Isaacs

Many thanks for the comments.

Kind Regards, Paul

ajames54™ said:

Quoted message said:

least because I don't usually understand the answers. However I have noticed that the aluminium
frame on my bike is guaranteed for 3 years whilst the cromoly frame of the cheaper entry level
model of the same range is guaranteed for 15 years.

Quoted message said:

It is very expensive to warranty something that has been out of production for 3+ years.

I have had a number of items (a water heater comes to mind) with long-term warantees. But when they
fail, as the water heater did, there is often no way to make a warrantee claim since the company
itself did not last that long.

I have one bike that has far outlasted the company that made it, and had one that died an early
death -- but I bought it at a swap meet so no warrantee.

A well-made bike should last a lifetime -- most certainly last long enough so that the rider is
either tired of it, or has managed to break it in a crash.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember _`\(,_ | that your initial
objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ (_)/ (_) |

Warranties in the bicycle industry are a marketing tool, nothing more. Companies predict what their
cost will be for each year of warranty offered, estimate the effect on sales each year of warranty
will have, and then draw a line where they earn the most profit. Having a 3-year warranty versus a
5-year warranty saves cost. Have a lifetime warranty versus a 5-year warranty gains sales.

It is interesting to note, however, the current position of the suspension fork manufacturers that
they will offer no support whatsoever for product once it is 3 years old. Your $1000 fork need a $5
part? Too bad. Throw it away and buy a new one. I don't know why anyone is standing for that.

Todd Kuzma Heron Bicycles Tullio's Big Dog Cyclery LaSalle, IL 815-223-1776
heronbicycles.comheronbicycles.comOpen ↗ tullios.comtullios.comOpen ↗

David L. Johnson said:

ajames54™ said:

Quoted message said:

least because I don't usually understand the answers. However I have noticed that the aluminium
frame on my bike is guaranteed for 3 years whilst the cromoly frame of the cheaper entry level
model of the same range is guaranteed for 15 years.

Quoted message said:

It is very expensive to warranty something that has been out of production for 3+ years.

I have had a number of items (a water heater comes to mind) with long-term warantees. But when they
fail, as the water heater did, there is often no way to make a warrantee claim since the company
itself did not last that long.

Ya gotta remember too that the warrantee covers "defects in workmanship or material" ... EVERYTHING
will eventually wear out. A lifetime warrantee is as much a sales tool as a promise of performance.

That being said I've seen some companies warrantee frames that were obviously crashed, and others
refuse warrantee for failed welds. Ultimately it comes down to only one thing... no matter what your
warrantee says it is only as good as the company backing it up...

Light. Cheap. Durable.

Chose two.

In article said:

I have one bike that has far outlasted the company that made it, and had one that died an early
death -- but I bought it at a swap meet so no warrantee.

Only one? Here, we've got one Bridgestone and two Schwinns, which have outlasted two of that
company's lives. (Heck, I think the tires lasted longer than the original company did, but the
original Schwinn Bicycle Co. was only around for 100 years or so--what can ya do?)

--
---
Eric Holeman Chicago Illinois USA

David L. Johnson said:

I have one bike that has far outlasted the company that made it, and had one that died an early
death -- but I bought it at a swap meet so no warrantee.

I had a Centurion (nicer model - "ProTour" from 1977) that I commuted on for about 10 years, and had
a rear dropout snap at the chainstay in 1994.

The company who owned the "Centurion" name had stopped using it, and was only selling as "Diamond
Back" at the time. I inquired at the local Diamond Back dealer, and was promptly offered a choice of
a few hybrid frames that were not of the same sort. The dealer then called the mfr, and arranged to
have new dropouts brazed in locally with repainting of the stays - all at zero cost to me.

I was seriously impressed, especially since I had bought the bike in a different state (where I
lived at the time), 17 years earlier. Needless to say, I try to steer business to this shop (Scott's
Cycling in Salem, OR), this incident is representative of the good service I've seen there.

Regards,
--
Mark Janeba remove antispam phrase in address to reply