What bike would you choose for robust high mileage but reasonable weight and ride quality?

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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Lewn777
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by Lewn777

Anyone do over 20,000kms a year? How long does your carbon fiber bike last before it starts to get damaged? About 20,000-30,000kms for frame and fork or longer? How many kms would you consider a 'lifetime' before you'd consider retiring a frameset even without visible damage? I do about 25,000kms a year 73-80kg (depending on time of year etc) and seem to be getting through a frameset a year or two before I see cracking or damage. Even if I don't see damage I worry about internal problems that without scanning the bike you'll never really know what's going on, and I don't know of anyone that scans bikes anywhere near me, so the bike gets retired to the trainer.

Idea 1: I've thinking about buying a new carbon bike like a Giant TCR, a bike with a good warranty and few reported issues. Although the warranty where I am isn't so good as north America, everything goes back to Taiwan and it takes weeks. Just suck it up and change the frameset every few years? As I have been doing for years already.
Idea 2: I've been thinking about a modern steel, alloy or titanium framed bike, but that is concerning because titanium welds can fail and a carbon fork is a failure critical item, that if it fails can mean death or severe injury so I don't really see the advantage vs fully carbon except maybe for flying/transport.
Idea 3: Buy a 'retro' bike frameset like a Colnago Master/Bianchi L’Eroica for general training but kit it out with a modern groupo, alloy rims and a PM and keep a fully carbon fibre bike as a race only/KOM machine. Are modern 'retro' bikes tough enough to take every day abuse or are they just for the occasional Eroica fondo?

Thoughts?

claus
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by claus

Lewn777 wrote:
Mon Jun 24, 2019 4:24 pm
Anyone do over 20,000kms a year? How long does your carbon fiber bike last before it starts to get damaged? About 20,000-30,000kms for frame and fork or longer?
About 25.000km/year.
Some of my Time bicycles have more than 100.000km without any problem.
Maybe there is a reason why Time gives a lifetime warranty?

Not sure what you are doing with your bikes (or what they are...) to damage them so easily/early.

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dgasmd
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by dgasmd

There should not be a “top mileage” to retire a bike. I have a Look that has well over 50,000 miles, and my Time must be close to 30,000+ miles. Both ride just fine and no issues.

In my mind, carbon fiber damage that is irreparable is the only true reason to retire a bike.

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Kayrehn
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by Kayrehn

Erm AFAIK carbon don't really get material fatigue so mileage shouldn't cause it to crack. So technically any carbon frame should be good till you crash it.

Metal frames are the ones which are susceptible to material fatigue and breakdown. I recall someone riding a ti frame till it felt soft and it turns out that the bb cracked due to wear.

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

I'm also a high-mileage rider (2018=14k mi./22.6k km, 2017=12.3k mi./19.9k km). I never replace frames due to wear and tear. I can ride the same bike until I reach room temperature. Obviously the wear the tear on a frame is largely due to the weight of the rider and the power output. I weigh 61.2kg and for sure I have much lower power output than you. FWIW both of my road bikes are titanium. Titanium gets a bad reputation due to cracks but that's because some builders focus on light weight over durability. A properly designed Ti bike for your weight/power output will outlast you. If you are truly consistenly breaking frames then I would look at a custom bike, since being custom in nature a builder can design a durable bike for you, whether in carbon, steel, or titanium.

This WW but let's be honest....a lightweight bike is just a less durable bike, there's no way around it. So if you want to more durable frame that will last just buy a heavier frame, and save yourself some money as a bonus.

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kgt
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by kgt

TIME is one of the companies you can trust if you want to enjoy your carbon frame for many thousands of kms. A Colnago C series too. Some custom carbon frames are very durable as well. I would stay clear from anything mass made in China.

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Leviathan
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by Leviathan

kgt wrote:
Mon Jun 24, 2019 7:13 pm
TIME is one of the companies you can trust if you want to enjoy your carbon frame for many thousands of kms. A Colnago C series too. Some custom carbon frames are very durable as well. I would stay clear from anything mass made in China.
absolutely. In fact you can judge the suitability for purpose of any cycling component on how far south in Europe it is made. :roll:

Imaking20
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by Imaking20

pdlpsher1 wrote:
Mon Jun 24, 2019 5:25 pm
This WW but let's be honest....a lightweight bike is just a less durable bike, there's no way around it.
I honestly don't understand why this is such a common anecdote on this of all forums. Why is a light frame "just less durable" with no way around it? What's the definition of durable then? And is that to say there aren't heavy frames that don't have issues?

Ex: I'm pretty sure the heaviest titanium frame I've seen RyanH own is the only one that had a weld failure.


I've got nothing to add to the OP's dilemma as I don't ride that many miles and I get bored with bikes well before anything fails. I just get tired of internet "wisdom" about light weight being evil - and if there's one place I'd expect to be able to avoid it - it's a forum called "weight weenies" with members who've spent years on 5kg bikes.

/Rant

AJS914
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by AJS914

Idea 1 - buy a bike from a major manufacturer that comes with a lifetime warranty - trek, spec, giant, etc. End of story.

Idea 2/3 - Personally, I've cracked or broken every steel bike I ever owned. My Litespeed did last decades before I sold it but some Litespeeds have been known to crack after many miles.

I've also done the vintage bike thing with a modern group. To me these are better as Sunday cruisers. In the end you end up with a heavier and more flexy bike that just doesn't perform the way a modern bike does. (IMO, of course.)

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

Imaking20 wrote:
pdlpsher1 wrote:
Mon Jun 24, 2019 5:25 pm
This WW but let's be honest....a lightweight bike is just a less durable bike, there's no way around it.
I honestly don't understand why this is such a common anecdote on this of all forums. Why is a light frame "just less durable" with no way around it? What's the definition of durable then? And is that to say there aren't heavy frames that don't have issues?

Ex: I'm pretty sure the heaviest titanium frame I've seen RyanH own is the only one that had a weld failure.


I've got nothing to add to the OP's dilemma as I don't ride that many miles and I get bored with bikes well before anything fails. I just get tired of internet "wisdom" about light weight being evil - and if there's one place I'd expect to be able to avoid it - it's a forum called "weight weenies" with members who've spent years on 5kg bikes.

/Rant
I’m not trying to say WW is evil for all of us. Most of us on WW can get away with light parts. But someone like the OP who’s breaking a frame a year do you tell him to get a lighter or heavier bike? When nothing breaks there’s no problem. But when something breaks perhaps the broken part is not durable for the intended use.


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kgibbo1868
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by kgibbo1868

I would consider finding a local builder who has a good reputation and will work with you to get a "forever" frame. I think a high quality frame can be made of many different materials and if done well should be able to last a lifetime. I think this is true of Carbon, Alm, Steel, and Ti (prob not bamboo..... ). Where are you located??
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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

One of my riding buddies has a custom steel Caletti with Campy mechanical group. He’s a strong and powerful rider. His bike is lighter than my Ti bike as he doesn’t have too many gadgets like I do. When you see the bike in person you know instantly it’s a serious bike. He does races. I know some of you will laugh at steel but that bike certainly falls into the ‘forever’ bike category.

Here’s his steel bike

Image


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jfranci3
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by jfranci3

“Less durable” materials will be designed with more safety factor. “More durable” steel bikes will just fail at the welds. For durability, you’re far better off buying a mass produced AL or Carbon bike than any leightweight steel bike on the market as the factory will have loads more testing and trial & error. Just like cars, higher volume scale allows perfect quality.
The most likely areas to fail because of use would be where things bolt to the frame rather than the frame itself. The seat clamp or deraileur hanger or bottom bracket or dropout would likely fail first during maintenance. Really, it’s going to break in an accident when you hit something.
The lower end carbon bikes will have thicker walls, than the higher end units. Modern tire sizes and pressures will help to.
Last edited by jfranci3 on Tue Jun 25, 2019 1:09 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Lewn777
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by Lewn777

pdlpsher1 wrote:
Tue Jun 25, 2019 12:09 am
Imaking20 wrote:
pdlpsher1 wrote:
Mon Jun 24, 2019 5:25 pm
This WW but let's be honest....a lightweight bike is just a less durable bike, there's no way around it.
I honestly don't understand why this is such a common anecdote on this of all forums. Why is a light frame "just less durable" with no way around it? What's the definition of durable then? And is that to say there aren't heavy frames that don't have issues?

Ex: I'm pretty sure the heaviest titanium frame I've seen RyanH own is the only one that had a weld failure.


I've got nothing to add to the OP's dilemma as I don't ride that many miles and I get bored with bikes well before anything fails. I just get tired of internet "wisdom" about light weight being evil - and if there's one place I'd expect to be able to avoid it - it's a forum called "weight weenies" with members who've spent years on 5kg bikes.

/Rant
I’m not trying to say WW is evil for all of us. Most of us on WW can get away with light parts. But someone like the OP who’s breaking a frame a year do you tell him to get a lighter or heavier bike? When nothing breaks there’s no problem. But when something breaks perhaps the broken part is not durable for the intended use.
My current bike is 7kg. The difference between that and entry level weenie would be carbon tubs, but I use alloy clincher and endurance tires and medium tubes for obvious reasons. Sure the forum is called 'weight weenies' and I certainly prefer lighter stuff, but caveat one - it must be strong enough to be functional. With that logic I still use lots of titanium parts and have a carbon railed saddle, post, bars SRAM/DuraAce mixed groupset. I, like many other forum members I really enjoy analysing weenie builds in an engineering sense, but only use stronger and more robust ideas. Still there are loads of things people can incorporate such as titanium cleat bolts, stem bolts etc.

What I'm going to do is buy a mass produced Asian made carbon fibre bike with a good warranty. I would like a C60 or C64/Time but I just can't afford it at the moment. Then I'm going to improve the components on my steel frame CX commuter to the point where I can enjoy riding it much more should the main bike need a warranty claim.

I'm still interested in more opinions of anyone that has a fully steel retro bike. Still trying to figure out the point in getting an artisan made 'forever' frame and then the builder slapping a Made in China carbon fork on it.

by Weenie


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kgibbo1868
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by kgibbo1868

An Enve / Whisky / 3T fork are high quality components that should last a lifetime unless they are crashed. If something was to happen to the fork it can easily be replaced as well. An artisian frame builder is unlikely to slap on a garbage fork imo.
2019 Baum Ristretto
Pain is my friend!

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