In article <[email hidden]>,
Steven M. Scharf said:"David" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...Quoted message said:Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed reading his book, but I found the way
the book protrayed aluminium frames as being nothing more than a few
years throw away investment wrong. Aluminium bikes are sold in the
millions now, overtaking steel no doubt.How many are sold has no relation to the durability.
And that you need statistics to back up the frame's durability by
knowing how many are being sold and returned and the number of lawsuits
filed against the defective material. Many respected bike makers make
aluminium bikes and continue to make them. So obviously, aluminium is
durable enough for the masses.
Quoted message said:Actually, most touring bikes are still steel, even the lower cost ones like
the Fuji Tour, and the REI Novara Randonee. And you overstate the rust
problem. If you take reasonable care of a steel bicycle, not leaving it out
in the rain all the time and applying some wax, it will last a very long
time.
Yes indeed, but Opus, De Vinci and Norco make aluminium bikes that are
low cost, ride well and work well. And some people these days don't
buy specific touring bikes. They use whatever bikes they have to do
their tours, no doubt made mostly of aluminium.
As for taking reasonable care of a steel bike.. What sort of touring
do you do?? Not leaving it out in the rain all the time and applying
some wax. I guess you never toured in the wettest climate have you.
Try to find some shelter on the Queen Charlotte Islands just to keep
your bike dry. Maybe you need a big poncho for your steel touring bike
as you ride, because, it rains there a lot!
Let me tell you that most cycle tourists don't give a damn about caring
for their bikes. They don't. They don't wax the bike and neither they
do baby it from getting rain water, because they don't have time.
There are other pressing needs than stopping to wipe the frame from
rain water or to keep waxing it.
Quoted message said:
"No aluminum is going to hold up as well as steel. That being said, most
manufacturers will give you a lifetime warranty on aluminum frames, and in
reality, the failure rate is quite low."
Still, I can't explain as to why my aluminium touring bike with over
30,000 miles on it is still going strong. And so does my friends'
Cannondales..