Originally Posted by
Hondo6
A Tour de France racing frame will have very different design criteria than does one intended for consumer use over multiple decades - or it should, in any case. The TdF frame only has to last a month, maybe 3 or 4 if it's used for training prior; a consumer frame should last considerably longer than that.
I have the same Time VX Special Pro frame ridden by the Bonjour team in the 2003 TdF, which I bought new. I still ride it regularly.
World Tour riders subject their machines to a tremendous amount of abuse, and push them to the limits. It makes no sense to build a frame with a shorter intended life span, and possibly endanger the riders, especially since the bikes are already bumping up against the UCI minimum weight limit. As I understand it, most pros are on the same couple of bikes for a full year, not just a few months.