steel frame lifespan

barndog said:

Hello,

Recently purchased a Trek 820 steel frame and was wondering if could get some experienced opinion on how long this thing might last. Most likely, I'll probably upgrade to an aluminum frame when $ permits but was thinking about keeping this bike as a secondary for friends and relatives who might want to ride with me. Its not a high end steel by any means (just high tensile), but if I keep the paint pretty much on this thing and keep it clean, how long can a person expect it to last? I don't live in a salt air environment and probably won't be exposing it to too much hard elemant riding. Any info is most appreciated. Thx.

Metal frames are usually built to last a very long time. Many companies now even slap a lifetime warranty on them, which means it should last as long as you do!

On the other hand, if you use the bike for rough trails, i.e. barreling down the side of a mountain at 30 mph, then you might see a few years out of your frame at most. 😉

I have seen friends who have broken their frames though, usually during downhill runs. The first thing that usually gives are the welds at the headset.

If you have a suspensionless bike, you shouldn't worry too much as the cheapo aluminum or steel rims will probably collapse first. 😄

High tensile steel is a very, very low end frame material. It is usually found on Huffy and CCM brands of hardware store bikes, I am surprised that Trek even offers a high tensile steel model.

Any halfway decent steel mountain bike frame uses Cromoly. The more expensive the frame, the more butting and improved welding techniques they use.

The problem with high tensile steel is it tends to bend or flex quite easily. Now, with moderate riding on tame trails, it is not like it is going to snap in half on you or anything like that, but what you will notice is around the welds and at the ends of tubes, the flexing will crack the pain very quickly, and the paint will start to flake away. And everyone knows what happends to bare steel. Rust. Take a look at most high tensile steel bikes a couple years after they were bought, rust around all the frame joints.

The other thing you will really notice with a high tensile steel frame is the drop-outs, rear derailleur hanger, seat stays and chain stays are quite soft. As you ride the bike over a couple years, you will start to notice your rear shifting becomes sloppy. Chances are your rear triangle will be bent slightly out of alignment making it impossible to adjust your rear derailleur to give crisp shifting.

Trek does honor its' lifetime frame warrenty if it snaps in half on you, but I doubt they will replace a frame that is slightly bent out of shape from normal riding. Ditch this frame as soon as you have the funds to upgrade.

Cheers,
Juba