Originally Posted by
Darth Lefty
In 1981 that opinion was already 70 years wrong, as proven by all the not-steel airplanes. But maybe that's why Kleins and Cannondales weren't made in England, they had to be from somewhere else so they could be a pound lighter than steel frames
No, you would be wrong still. An old friend of mine went to Yale, then worked directly under the head of the USA's air-force during WWII on many projects including the B-29 bomber, and he oversaw the missions to Japan at the end of the war carrying nukes, then continued as a pilot and advisor to the air-force into the late 50s. A few years before his death he told me he would never go up in an aircraft that had more than so many hours on it because the aluminum had a finite life. Military aircraft do not have to have a long service life, and they get billions of dollars in maintenance and parts replacement. And airliners are constantly phased out and replaced with new models, and also receive very heavy maintenance, and they still crash from failure here and there.
I agree an aluminum bike can give years of service, but depending on the weight of the rider and the severity of service, it's life will vary, and it will never be as strong as steel pound-for pound. You can look up the engineering data in hundreds of places, if you think you can understand it.....