[Closed] Retiring a frame..

When it snaps or you fancy something new.

I have a ten year old Saracen alu frame that has been hammered for many years and it will no be retiring any time soon. When it breaks is a good starting point.

retirement home for frames? i run a successful one. email in profile, send me a quick message and i will send you the address you need to send it to. good rates aswell @£80 per month

or just thrash it tul it brakes then hang in garage?

In the aircraft industry parts are lifed - Simplistically (I know it's mroe complex than this) they know the likely duty cycle and numbe rof cycles to failure and they retire parts in good time.
They also monitor parts for cracks and know the crack growth rate so can tolerate cracks in flight structures for a bit before they need replacing. (In fact all parts have cracks in them anyway, they are just too small for us to detect using non destrucive testing, the crack monitoring just tells you when one of them grows big enough for us to find it).

So how does this relate to your question?
It doesn't.

Ha ha (well I made myself laugh)

Ok maybe it does. The point is, you have got no idea what:
The design stresses are?
The duty cycle?
The predicted Life?
If any sub critical, or critical cracks are present?
And loads of other stuff.

This is no different from your state of knowledge about the frame when it was brand new. So I would just ride it till it breaks.

In the aircraft industry parts are lifed

aircraft..... yeah I can see the lifecycle testing thing as falling tens of thousands of feet to your firey death can put a crimp in your day

bikes..... ride it till it breaks

bikes..... ride it till it breaks

Pretty much what I thought.

Cheers all.

I'm looking at changing my frame, and am also undecided what to do with my old (2009) frame?
It's not worth enough for me to need to sell it, all I need is a cheap set of 140mm forks (or new ones for new frame) and I'd be able to build it up to a complete bike, which would affectively be its original spec....
But that's having two very similar bikes, just one slightly better than the other,
Tough to decide

My steel HT frame is away at the builders to go through it's Mk 8 conversion. Built in 1992 & only has 2 original tubes on it (RH seat & chainstays)
Fillet brazed frames never need to be retired.

Say you have a frame, at least 5yrs old, its alloy, been well ridden & well looked after.

That's all my bikes, 'cept the last two points 😐

Jeez, my alu Trek XO winter bike is about to reach it's 11th birthday, and it's fine.

I've just got mine powdercoated and turned it into a SS = brand new bike for just the cost of a powdercoat and parts-bin bits......*ahem* and some nice new wheels, brakes and carbon forks *ahem*

My steel HT frame is away at the builders to go through it's Mk 8 conversion. Built in 1992 & only has 2 original tubes on it (RH seat & chainstays)
Fillet brazed frames never need to be retired

Triggers. Broom.

esselgruntfuttock - Member

My steel HT frame is away at the builders to go through it's Mk 8 conversion. Built in 1992 & only has 2 original tubes on it (RH seat & chainstays)
Fillet brazed frames never need to be retired.

[IMG] [/IMG]
This was around 8 years old when it went the subsequent crash smarted a bit. If you ride really hard I'd say until it breaks but check for cracks more frequently that I did.

am also undecided what to do with my old (2009) frame?
It's not worth enough for me to need to sell it

Donate it to a local bike recycling group?

Better for it to continue a useful and happy life with a new owner than to lie alone and forgotten at the back of the shed.