Lifespan of a road bike?
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Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby Jace » Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:34 pm
Does one usually "outgrow" their bike before its retired?
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby mick243 » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:06 pm
My roadie is from 1992..... And there are plenty older that have done more k's
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby winstonw » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:32 pm
will also depend on cost of respray vs new bike. I had a professional repaint costed at $700 recently, for a carbon bike.
I don't tend to think carbon bikes would be safe for as long as steelies. My max for a carbon would be about 100,000km, which is 10 years at 200km/week. For a steelie, maybe double that. I'd want to be sure rust wasn't eating away at the steel though. I've seen a few guys in hospital after buying retro steelies that failed due to rust +/- metal fatigue.
the other consideration is you tend to ride less k's and less aggressively as you age. I've never seen a guy on a 40yo restored roadie hammering it down Brisbane's more challenging descents.
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby ironhanglider » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:46 pm
Cannondale say they expect only 5-7 years out of a road bike (even though their warranty says for the lifetime of the original owner). That means the middle of the bell curve is probably closer to 10 years. They rejected the claim for a friend's 11 year old bike purely on the basis of age (fatigue is normal wear and tear apparently).
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby Marty Moose » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:56 pm
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby Dimis » Fri Aug 16, 2013 5:57 am
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby DoogleDave » Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:21 am
YMMV
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby Comedian » Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:44 am
Depends how often and hard you ride it. And what it's made of.Marty Moose wrote:Just buy a new one every couple of years
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For a social/occasional bike rider who only rides two or three times a month it would likely last 10 or 20 years. Other people I know who ride a lot - and ride hard tend to replace bikes every couple of years. They also tend to crack carbon frames a lot ... so they may get longer out of a bike if the frame has had a replacement. Even if the bike is still operational people that ride a lot tend to upgrade every few years anyway. In the group I ride with maybe only 1 in ten would have a five year old bike as their regular ride.
Most people will be somewhere in between those two extremes.
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby foo on patrol » Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:09 pm
Foo
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby The 2nd Womble » Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:44 pm
Nawww...
Huge fan of booted RGers who just can't help themselves
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby ProCelebrityGolf » Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:52 pm
most important is when spouse gives you the green light to consider buying another
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby The 2nd Womble » Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:09 am
You married a "when", I married an "if". You win.ProCelebrityGolf wrote:distance travelled is largely irrelevant.
most important is when spouse gives you the green light to consider buying another
Huge fan of booted RGers who just can't help themselves
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby DaveOZ » Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:10 am
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby Duck! » Thu Aug 22, 2013 2:11 pm
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Re: Lifespan of a road bike?
Postby jules21 » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:59 am
a road bike isn't a uniform entity - it's made up on components, which will last varying distances. tyres and chain - 2-4000km, wheels - 20,000km if treated well and maybe a bearing replacement, cables - 5000km? - it varies. frame may last forever if you're lucky.Jace wrote:Just wondering how many Kay's one would expect a road bike to last for in a reasonable condition?
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