Life span of your Mtn. bike

I bought and sold 6 bikes in under 2 years when I first started riding:
Cannondale F5
Felt FX1 Cyclocross
Santa Cruz Superlight
GT Zaskar
Niner SIR
Pedal Force MT

Then stuck with a Yeti 575 and Orbea Alma 29er since 2010 until just this summer. Transitioned my FS to a Devinci Troy and my hardtail to a Nukeproof Scout. Hoping to keep those for another 6+ years. Never broke a frame, but destroyed one fork (damper exploded somehow). Not super strict on cleaning and lubing the bike, and I go through ~1 cassette and 2-3 chains/year. I only recently started this whole Strava thing, but it says I'm doing about 1,200 miles and 130,000ft climbing per year.

My road bike from 2009 has about 16k miles total, and needed very little. In 9 years, I've gone through 3 sets of tires, 3 sets of cassettes, and 5 chains. Great to ride super smooth Irvine roads.
 
I don't know where the carbon is only good for 4 years thing comes from. Airplanes are made from carbon...they last DECADES. The roadie I bought from Jason is over 10 years old, still rolling strong.

As for wear characteristics, I would put carbon as having BETTER longevity than aluminum. The only issue, and I mean only, is usually a carbon bike will fail catastrophically whereas aluminum bikes will crack and you can limp home. That said, I through my XC bike down a rocky trail so hard once that as I was laying in pain on the ground, all I could think about was how I just ruined my carbon frame, it was trash. When I inspected it, all I found was chips in the paint. That was about 2 years ago. I on the other hand couldn't use my upper back muscles for about a month; no bunny hops, manuals, wheelies, etc.
 
I bought my rockhopper in 2012, still riding it..... will be for the foreseeable future. There's some scratches, a couple dings from laying it down on rocks that I did not in fact hop.... but for an entry level bike it has been one damn sturdy frame and kit. Especially considering it's supporting 200 lbs of rider.
 
I'd definitely buy a carbon bike, the opportunity just hasn't presented itself. I almost bought an SB-66c when they were first being released, but got hosed by the shop and was lucky to just get my deposit back. I'm good with new bikes or frames every 3-4 years. The best way to upgrade is to know the guys that are buying new bikes every year :D
 
I rode Palm Canyon Epic with my Arizona friends this past weekend. None of them had ridden PCE and I offered to host the ride. We stayed in end of season rental condo's in La Quinta rented 2 months ago. But this is not a ride report ( more or less ) . Last March my daughter Courtney and I did this ride with Crazy Bear shuttles. This time I rented a Uhaul trailer and Courtney shuttled us to the top of Ribbonwood and the 74. While my ride last March I was on my 29'r wheel combo I remember feeling beat up and I sunk into the sand by the palm trees and walked a good portion of that area. This time I put on my 27+ wheel set sporting 27.5 x 2.8 Maxxis DHF front and Recon 2.8 rear. Wow! I just love the forgiving ride down hill. I was able to power through sand I sank in previously with 29r wheels and was able to ride through sharp chunk easily. I talk about how much I love my Santa Cruz bike so the question is.. should I buy another frame while I can still get it? 29'r/ 27 + works for me. It's like have 2 bikes in 1. ** Side note: PCE in the riverbed is overgrown. The trial is not defined/ not groomed beginning of season- I got cut up from nasty razor like bushes. My legs look like I got in a fight with a weed whacker and lost. Leg protection would've fixed all that and of course trail maintenance. Also, it was 10 degrees to hot- 90/95 degrees. We skipped Hahn trail due to one in our group was overheated but we all completed the ride together.
 
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I’ve broken a few bikes...‘06 sc heckler...cracked in 2009, got a half price crash replacement- sold that a year later
Replaced with ‘10 banshee rune, cracked that a year later- got a warranty replacement - sold that immediately
Replaced that with a used ‘07 sc bullit, also that year (2011) got a used sc butcher (great bike).
In early 2012 the bullit cracked so I got a new 2011 transition blindside. Rode both these bikes (bs for park/dh, butcher for trail) for a while until the end of 2013 I saw the writing on the wall sold the butcher and went 650b: Rocky Mountain altitude. Rode that until I sold it mid-2018. Also in 2016 I realized I could 650b the blindside, that was a fun experiment. So had 2 bikes during that time, summer 2018 I sold the altitude as a complete and got my current and only bike: ‘18 banshee rune v2 as a frame only, put all the parts from the blindside on it and a new mrp ribbon, gonna keep this one for a long time. Still have the blindside frame as a backup. Have zero interest in a carbon frame, just can’t justify the extra expense.
 
kazlx said:
I'd definitely buy a carbon bike, the opportunity just hasn't presented itself. I almost bought an SB-66c when they were first being released, but got hosed by the shop and was lucky to just get my deposit back. I'm good with new bikes or frames every 3-4 years. The best way to upgrade is to know the guys that are buying new bikes every year :D
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Lol, looking back at this. Now have carbon bike.....aaaand bought it off of a friend upgrading for a steal haha :whistling:
 
2005 Santa Cruz Superlight: ridden an average of at least twice a week; 1500+ rides 10-40 miles per; mileage probably 20,000+. Others; GT Zaskar, OS singlespeed, Kona Honzo and Niner One9 of indeterminate use. Just started riding a mid-80's Diamondback Axis rigid; magic carpet excursion in Mammoth last week.
 
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mike said:
It sounds like you answered your own question there, Steve. :geek:
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Backcountry.com has a frame for sale 10% off list price. Mustard color or black. ( $ 2,700.00 ) The Path bike shop says 2019 SC's Hightower 29r will accommodate 27+ wheels but you might want to switch to a longer fork. ( 160mm ) I'd rather have the same flip chip frame. I'll keep looking.
 
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