metal matrix long-term failure rate - Specialized, Duralcan

I had one for a number of years and thousands of training and racing
miles. It held up fine. It is now someone elses and I still see it
at the races. The same can be said for a friend of mines.

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

Quoted message said:

I recall that metal matrix frames of the kind that Duralcan
manufactured and Specialized called M2, M2X, etc. were the
subject of some controversy in the 90s.

See http://tinyurl.com/2tuuu for instance

Their stiffness and low elongation factor was sometimes linked
to unfortunate failure modes and rates.

I am very curious, especially after coming upon a beautiful
'98 M2 Allez Pro frame for sale, whether the jury is in on this
material. Am I correct that bicycles are no longer made using
metal matrices?

Is this material as safe as, say, pure 6061 or 7005,
or is it been demonstrated to be a disaster waiting to
happen?

thanks,

Chad

Chad AT alumni DOT unh DOT edu

The only Specialized bikes that I KNOW had a problem with breaking were the M4
models. They liked to crack at the chainstay.

I've owned an M2 Road Pro, an M4, and now an E5 S-Works. I had the M2 for about
5 years without a problem, the M4 for 2-3 without a problem, and now the E5 for
about a year.

I had friends go thru a few M4s, but I must've gotten a good one...

HTH,

M

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

Quoted message said:

I recall that metal matrix frames of the kind that Duralcan
manufactured and Specialized called M2, M2X, etc. were the
subject of some controversy in the 90s.

See http://tinyurl.com/2tuuu for instance

Their stiffness and low elongation factor was sometimes linked
to unfortunate failure modes and rates.

I am very curious, especially after coming upon a beautiful
'98 M2 Allez Pro frame for sale, whether the jury is in on this
material. Am I correct that bicycles are no longer made using
metal matrices?

Is this material as safe as, say, pure 6061 or 7005,
or is it been demonstrated to be a disaster waiting to
happen?

Duralcan made the alloy. Anodizing, Inc. drew the tubes and made
the frames here in Portland. The first frames were the M2
Stumpjumpers had some failures of dubious cause which resulted in
the addition of gussets. There was no change in material. The
problem with metal matrix is drawing the tubes while maintaining
a good distribution of the ceramic particles. It took Anodizing
a while to get it right, but it got it right before the bikes
went into production. The straight gauge frames, like the M2
road bike, turned out to be pretty tough. I think they fell out
of popularity (and out of production) due to weight and the
demand for thin, highly shaped tubes. Butting was difficult with
MM, and making frames in the U.S. was not cheap. -- Jay Beattie.

It makes more sense to me to make complicated welded structures like
the frame out of easy to work with materials and save the difficult to
work with materials for non welded simple parts like the chainrings
and handle bars and maybe the stem and seatpost.

I'm especially impressed that Jay Beattie weighed in,
one of the original participants in the threads
from the 90s. Long-term R.B.T !

My intuition is that Al is stiff enough
already without adding oxide particles.

I think I may be picking up the M2 road frame,
we'll see how it behaves. Perhaps I'll report later.

Thanks to all responders.

Chad

chad AT alumni DOT unh DOT edu