is aluminum nearly dead?

i asked an LBS why they didn't stock one of the bikes that they are dealers for. they said the bike co. doesn't have a carbon frame option and going forward, that's where it's headed. i was like really? the price is going to come down enough so that all keen mtn bikers are going to be buying exclusively carbon bikes? seems to be a stretch, but i can't deny seeing more and more every day. given the cost i won't be upgrading either of my 2 steeds anytime soon.

eff that

I hope not. I just ditched my carbon AM frame and moved back to AL/steel. Carbon has no soul.

As long as carbon still comes at a hefty premium, aluminum better not be dead.

i know i was in one shop in Squamish last week and dude told me they don,t stock 26" tires anymore and that the 27.5" is the shit and your missing the boat if you are not riding one , my response i will stay on land and enjoy my 26" .

carbon is a fad right now same as aluminum was back in the day when it first came out . everyone was on moly frames and companies started flooding the market with aluminum . funny 20yrs later i,m still seeing moly frames listed forsale for the next model year .

FYI i,ll be adding a moly frame to my collection before a carbon and it may more then likely be a 26" as well .

Carbon prices have plummeted for standard carbon fibre, something in the neighbourhood of $10/lb. for Ultra High Modulus (lie the genuine stuff), is still like 50-100x that price, which MAY (may) explain the $5k Sworks frames.

With carbon fibre getting cheaper and cheaper, I just hope that our favourite MTB manufactures are diligent in selecting carbon factories that have good ethical standards. You know, ones that have their workers wear gloves and masks.

So everyone will be ditching their alu bikes for carbon the way everyone is ditching their 26'ers for 29'ers which is good for the used market?

Obviously one should buy a 29" carbon right away to get ahead of "the game"

What are the durability advantages of Carbon vs Aluminum. I know a few years ago, a carbon road bike could be considered to have a life of about 5 years (Al was typically about 10). I know carbon fabrication, design and technology have improved, but is this an issue any more? I also know that some manufacturers have claimed that that their carbon frames have superior stress/strain modulus properties. I guess we won't know for a few years. However, given many serious riders update their bikes every few years it may be moot.

A CF road frame being used by a professional racer should have a working life of around 2 years barring any catastrophic crashes.

For an amateur rider this is typically 5 years

The reason is that the resin eventually degrades from high cyclical number of flexure, causing the frame to feel 'soft' - which may not cause any safety related structural issues but would be noticed by a keen rider

The thing that has finished off many CF frames I have processed for all of the big and small brands has either been crash damage, or a defect caused by design flaws or manufacturing QC issues.

Sometimes the frames are just too light(marketing overruling engineering), or are built by a vendor working to cost constraints using poor quality materials, bad handling of materials or defects introduced during layup or curing.

If you consider a typical medium size CF road frame has 3,500 km of CF filament and 400-500 swatches there is much to get wrong. Many small brands use generic pre-impreg. cloth and can use various grades across a single frame to save money, they can't / won't tell you exactly what it is.

Seen many fail from metal components moulded into the CF causing local corrosion typically BB shell, HT or cable guide

Seen many aluminium alloy frames fail too, typically from fatigue caused by repeated loading during normal use, even on commuter bikes only 3 years old

Main thing is to buy from reputable brand so that their 'limited lifetime' warranty is honours 4 years into ownership. Crash replacement scheme is nice bonus too, as crashes agree a certainty in cycling!

So everyone will be ditching their alu bikes for carbon the way everyone is ditching their 26'ers for 29'ers which is good for the used market?

Obviously one should buy a 29" carbon right away to get ahead of "the game"

Lol carbon 29ers are dead too. 27.5 carbon is the new bank robbing buzz.

eff that

True dat. And in case th local LBS can still get new customers and keep the old ones, nice. If not, well, what can you say.

Oh no I've just brought an aluminum 29er. No problem it looks like fun!

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/243228/

I hear the 2015 S-works demo will be coming in at $12 000 USD. My guess is that the vast majority of people will still demand a cheaper aluminum bike.