Currently have aluminium folding bike, an Airnimal but had been looking at a Ti frame and been wondering about the $. But a good frame can last decades. Is Ti likely to be surpassed? No? Then perhaps it's a good investment?
I found Ti frames to feel a bit dull, while steel has more life. Carbon and aluminum are not my thing.
Sure Titanium can last ( at least it is the reputation i've heard), the one i used was comfortable too given the bike geometry. But 5000 euros into a bike i can't justify.
If i compare to the carbon frame i ride atm, it is durable too ( repairable i should say), comfort come from the tubeless ready tyres...
Steel bikes are cool to ride i agree. I've got a vintage one ( belonged to my father) i use from time to time: i'm not this much into road and prefer gravel or mountain bike and so mainly alu and carbon.
If i compare to the carbon frame i ride atm, it is durable too ( repairable i should say), comfort come from the tubeless ready tyres...
Steel bikes are cool to ride i agree. I've got a vintage one ( belonged to my father) i use from time to time: i'm not this much into road and prefer gravel or mountain bike and so mainly alu and carbon.
The frame material is not specific to where the bike is used. My gravel bike is steel. My road bike is steel. My mountain bike would be steel if I were into mountain biking.
Mbrennwa,
You would be in trouble to find a steel mountain bike imho. For maybe ten years i only seen al/carbon available for mountain bike. It must be possible to find custom but i'm not into paying the price of a second hand car for a bike.
You would be in trouble to find a steel mountain bike imho. For maybe ten years i only seen al/carbon available for mountain bike. It must be possible to find custom but i'm not into paying the price of a second hand car for a bike.
My latest bike is a steel framed mountain bike (bought cheep from a charity shop), although it won't stay a mountain bike for long, I've already got some drop bars, 2inch slick white walls and a single speed sprocket.
That kind of steel mountain bike usually weighs as much as an E-bike. I used to ride them back when my budget for a bike was $100. You bought them at Toys-R-Us and WalMart. I hope you manage to find one better - especially if youre going to be putting money into it.
Ive often wondered just how fast one of the elite TdF contenders could get one up to, before the rear wheel rattled itself apart.
Ive often wondered just how fast one of the elite TdF contenders could get one up to, before the rear wheel rattled itself apart.
Yes, they're often a bit heavy, I may take an angle grinder to it to externally butt the frame like I did with my TT frame.
The weight of the frame is hardly relevant. If a frame is 500 g heavier, eat a few burgers less to compensate.
It might be true for a road bike, for a mountain bike it's not especialy when you are tall and big ( i'am 1,85m and a bit less than 110kg, could have played into rugby team but rather was initially a swimmer just to have an idea of my overall shape, i'm not this fat!).
And as i have broken some mountain bike steel frame in my youth ( when i was 10kg lighter) i'm concerned about them for 'offroad' wrt my weight and kind of ride.
But ymmv.
If you are skinnyer then yes it must not be an issue.
And as i have broken some mountain bike steel frame in my youth ( when i was 10kg lighter) i'm concerned about them for 'offroad' wrt my weight and kind of ride.
But ymmv.
If you are skinnyer then yes it must not be an issue.
Back when I rode with a frame pump I would reach down and pull it out to deal with chasing dogs on country rides.
You can’t compensate a 45 pound bike by losing weight. And those frames are way more than any 500 g heavier.
Ive had some really nice lug steel frames that weighed not much more than aluminum. Last one was a Serotta - the but unfortunately I ended up destroying the fork to get the goddam quill stem out of it. I’d only been riding it three months, but that did include a Ragbrai. After that, no more steel. Only a full carbon fork with aluminum threadless stem. When that gets too corroded from sweat you just throw it away and keep everything else. $100 and you’re back in business. I just expect to go through one a year - on every other re-cabling.
I was referring to the FRAME, not the entire bike.
A well made, modern steel frame does NOT weigh way more than 500g. My DIY steel frame is 1.8kg, and a comparable aluminium frame would be 1.3kg or so. 500g difference is less than 1% of the total system weight (compleye bike + rider).
It's an important point. Unless you're competing, the extra watts in shifting that 500g really isn't relevant.
Most of us, I suspect, could be fitter. Better to invest in improving that IMO...
You must have never had the misfortune of riding a Wal-mart bike. See to it that you don’t. It’s enough to make one give up cycling. Frame itself damn near 10 pounds. The Serotta was 18, the current Litespeed is about that.
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I the weight difference between my 1984 road bike with Columbus tubing and my much newer carbon frame flat bar bike is less than a pound. Both come in around 22 lbs.
I dropped a Lynskey on a heaved section of pavement 30 feet from the open garage door of a bike shop. A tech saw the whole thing. He said a carbon frame would have folded on that impact. Luckily damage was limited instead to an single exploded Shimano shifter, or $400.
The Lynskey gets pounded hard including shattered pavement and curb jumps and is rock solid so far, though I'm not close to clydesdale
Gravel bikes typically run such large vibration soaking tires that I would expect the benefit of Ti to be minimal. My alu Giant cross bike on 37s rides very differently than my 1994 Cannondale on 25s. Though stripped to a fixed gear the latter is still ~15 lbs of pure fun.