Columbus Niobium?

holli

My bikesponsor asked me which frame material I'd like to have next year and he said that Columbus has developed a new steel tubeset called Niobium. Does anyone know what kind of tubeset is Niobium? Is there any limits for weight or height of a rider? How is it with durability?

Thanks for answers in advance.

boudreaux

Originally posted by holli
My bikesponsor asked me which frame material I'd like to have next year and he said that Columbus has developed a new steel tubeset called Niobium. Does anyone know what kind of tubeset is Niobium? Is there any limits for weight or height of a rider? How is it with durability?

Thanks for answers in advance. Must be a big secrete.It's not listed on the columbus site. Unless you are a REAL porker,I wouldn't worry about weight limits,and If it's superlight weight dueability can be an issue,but that comes back to the manufacturing end as well as the tubeset.

ceeberjeebers

sounds like the nivachrome they used to make. Probably a Columbus version of Reynolds 831.

lodellama

As far as I can tell, it's Thermacrom with niobium in the alloy mix insted of vanadium. The substitution is supposed to make the steel more corrosion resistant and easier to weld. I haven't seen hard data, so I don't know for sure.

I've seen two tubesets made with the stuff: Life and Spirit. The former is roughly equivalent to Foco in lenghts, diameters, shapes, and wall thickness and the latter is similar to Ultrafocco, so the weight restrictions should be the same. I should probably mention that with the Niobium tubesets only the main tubes are niobium steel, the stays are made of Nivacrom or Thermacrom.

As for mechanical characteristics, the Niobium steel is not quite as strong before welding as Thermacrom, but it has greater elongation, meaning it can bend a bit further before it fails.

I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference if you rode similarly designed frames made of Foco and Life or Ultrafoco and Spirit back to back. Neither will have a wieight, or stiffness advantage. And neither is likely to suffer durability problems in the hands of a competent welder.

So, yeah, go for the new stuff. It'll make your sponsor happy.

boudreaux

Originally posted by ceeberjeebers
sounds like the nivachrome they used to make. Probably a Columbus version of Reynolds 831. Nivachrom is still on the books and probably not. Isn't it 853 and 631?