Life Span Carbon Forks

shansey

Looking at a 10 year old Trek 1500. I know they have carbon forks and bar checking for any noticeable damage I'd be concerned about buying an old bike with carbon forks.

Any idea how much to get a cheap replacement - even alu?

Or am I just being a clueless idiot?

Cee-Jay-Cee

They don't generally have a specific lifespan. It's not like carbon degrades over time and becomes dangerous. Check them over and if they're solid and free from cracks or missing chunks then your good to go.

godtabh

I'd be more worked about aluminum of that age (newer higher spec aluminum doesnt creep like the old stuff)

Alek

Carbon forks do age, becoming less stiff with time due to delamination of fibers on a micro level. Ive seen some study on this being quoted on the Internet... I dont know if there is any increased risk of catastrophic failure due to this, though.

godtabh

Alek wrote: »

Carbon forks do age, becoming less stiff with time due to delamination of fibers on a micro level. Ive seen some study on this being quoted on the Internet... I dont know if there is any increased risk of catastrophic failure due to this, though.

Up until recently only carbon frames came with like time warranties from some manufactures. More recently some aluminum frames come with like time warranties. Either way I'd probably take a 10 year old carbon frame compared to an aluminium frame.

shansey

it looked like it had been dinged quite a few times and I saw some flaking at the top so I decided to pass!.. Thanks for coming back though!