Alloy frames going "dead"...

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jez-4-bikes-max

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Here's a wierd one.

Back in the day I remember reading in MTB mags about how alloy frames were reknown for going "dead" as they aged. I.e they lost all zest and ended up feeling dull to ride.

MBUK (and the like) implied this was down to extensive use and over time this would happen to all alloy frames.



We dont hear much talk of this these days. Is that because its a myth?
 
I don't know. I've a good pal with an original Aluminium O, owned from new, original paint (so no low bake or whatever has wrecked the heat treatment) and it's done I guess 30,000 miles or more off-road.

He is adamant that it's gone dead and not like the frame was at first.

The explanation was always something about micro-cracking and work hardening.
 
My Zaskar is now some 40,000+ miles old and still 'feels' pretty much as I got it.

It all depends on the specific alloy used as they all have different characteristics as they get older - some alloys are more suitable than others.

6061 aluminium:

http://www.suppliersonline.com/propertypages/6061.asp

specifically Zaskar 6061-T6

http://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMa ... m=MA6061T6


My steel 531 '70s Peugeot PX10 was a git to ride untill stomping up a hill one day, something went 'ping' and the whole bike became alive once more...

My mate, an ex RAF aircraft engineer (Hunters) did explain it to me but me being me forgot most of it... :roll:
 
Mr Sadoff mentions it today

Scandium Mountain Frame
For top level competition one cannot beat the light weight and lively ride of Scandium. The wear life of this material is shorter than Elite or steel so most of these frames are for dedicated race bikes
[Please enquire about size and color specs.]
$1600
Click to expand...
 
On of my old riding friends experienced this on a Coyote Ultralite he used to have. When he bought it it was sharp and lively and easily the best bike our group had between us. Fast forward 5 years and it had become sluggish and less sharp in the steering.

He wasted a lot of money changing headset, cranks and wheels and even dug out the original, unused rigid forks to try, but in his own words it felt like a 'cheap bike from halfords' compared to the fairly modest GT Backwoods I had just bought. The rest of ud found it the same way.

This guy was a much more serious rider than me and put that bike through 10 - 15 years of my riding in the the 5 years he had it.
 
Hey who cares! I'm not getting any better with age either! My collection are far more nimble than I am :LOL:
 
Myth.

It was once common in roadie circles to say that a frame (steel in those days) would "go soft" after a few seasons. It's all in the mind. Until the frame actually cracks or bends, there's nothing you can do to a frame by riding it - or ageing it - that will change the way it rides.

Fatigue's another matter, but again, fatigue doesn't change the ride of a frame until the cracks appear. When Paul Sadoff talks about the "wear life" of scandium, he's talking about its fatigue life - the number of flex cycles before it breaks.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/frame-soft.html
 
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