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@EdwardZ
Depreciation should never be an issue. One needs to, however, distinguish between consumables and durables in bicycles.. A number of components should be replaced on used bicycles.. handlebars for example.. But we are talking about frames.. The new and used market are not really connected so sometimes one can get a new frame for a price that is hardly more than what a used one might cost.. The main reason to get a used frame is to get something that one wants that is no longer available...
This is horribly absurd. While a mild steel frame as common to Indian and Chinese roadsters can indeed last longer than any comtemporary racing frame, a properly made steel won't last longer than properly made alu or ti. The big difference between steel and alu is not the failure but the modus of failure. Steel fails more gracefully.
The problem we have seen with some Alu frames is not the material but the use of the material. A number of frames were quite simply "stupid light". Stupid light is not restricted to alloy but can be done with steel just as with carbon--- and there is a lot of "stupid light" carbon out there.
And old steel? During the bike boom of the 1970s a lot of very poorly made frames were thrown onto the market. The main reason that many of these frames are still around is that they were not ridden but spent most of their life in people's basement. Quality control of lower cost alu frames, by contrast, is typically much better many of cheap mass produced lightweight steel frames that one found in the 1970s and 1980s.
Does an old frame ride better? Again.. the opposite is probably the case.. A lot has advanced since the 1960s and 1970s.. This is especially true for larger frame sizes. Back when I started riding being tall was a big disadvantage as big frames were quite noodles. On my old 531DB steel frame my wife used to be shocked watching the bottom bracket sway when I pushed. First time she saw it she thought it looked dangerous and was scared as if the frame was going to buckle under during my sprint. Then came OS steel frames. My Merckx MXL does not sway! These days its no longer a disadvantage to have long legs. Riders are taller. Today's alu frames offer not only stiffness en par with my Merckx MXL but also lower weight. Don't get me wrong, I like steel and can give a number of arguments for a number of steel tubesets but in the early Y2K some of the most interesting frames were alu and not steel.
In the vertical there is hardly any difference btween my 531 frame and any of my modern steel and alu bikes. The difference is in the lateral stiffness.