Steel is still the best

[jedblack]

it really is....

when you boil it all down in the end, price, durability, longevity, easey to work with, ... its still the best bang-4-u-buck

dont get me wrong guys... i think carbon/Ti are wonderul engineering marvels. I lust after them...

just saying steel is still a beutiful metal to have a bicycle in... all the hype today is for everything but steel...

I love steel

 

[Doug Miller]

just saying steel is still a beutiful metal to have a bicycle in... all the hype today is for everything but steel...

I ride a Guru Carbonio/Ti...all carbon high modulus carbon frame with titanium fittings and drop outs. Its a wonderful ride....but...I also ride a 1974 Raleigh Professional and a 1984 Rossin...both high quality steel bikes and I love them every bit as much as the carbon. The 531 steel gives a lively and comfortable ride and the big rake on the steel forks make for a nice upfront feel.
Yes Carbon is great for the long haul but give me a steel bike for any other ride...it feels alive!

 

[jedblack]

yeah... that what i was never able to "adapt" to on carbon...

Its like riding a corpse

"Steel just Feels"

 

[boudreaux]

Its like riding a corpse

And that'll get you 10-20 in some jurisdictions.

 

[Hooben]

I can remember back in the 80's all of the steel guys laughing at the new klein carbons and cannondale alum's. These days are different, but I'm like you...viva old school!

 

[Fat Hack]

I can remember back in the 80's all of the steel guys laughing at the new klein carbons and cannondale alum's. These days are different, but I'm like you...viva old school!

I was one of them, and we were still laughing at them in the mid nineties!!

Triathletes seemed to be the first to get right into alu, and they also
seemed to be the first to wear hhelmtes, so we called them
"flowerpot heads"

I tend to agree about steel, even though I own three alu frames, but for some reason, good quality "brand name" steel frames have become very expensive.

 

[Fat Hack]

The 531 steel gives a lively and comfortable ride and the big rake on the steel forks make for a nice upfront.......it feels alive!

Yes, a good 531c frame with a steel fork has a pleasant springyness, or a "springy pleasantness" that's difficult to describe to some young kid who's only steel bike was his first BMX

 

[jedblack]

I was one of them, and we were still laughing at them in the mid nineties!!

Triathletes seemed to be the first to get right into alu, and they also
seemed to be the first to wear hhelmtes, so we called them
"flowerpot heads"

I tend to agree about steel, even though I own three alu frames, but for some reason, good quality "brand name" steel frames have become very expensive.

yeah... its unfortunate, i feel that steel frames have been artificially price inflated. There is absolutly no way it cost $1300 to produce a stadard steel frame

its just to get you to spend more on the carbon or Ti setups... " hey, for only 1299.98 extra you can go all carbon or Ti"

i've got two great steel frames.... both rebuild vintage Bottechia & Colnago frames with 01' Chorus and 04' Record setups

would not give them up for the world (hmm.. ok, maybe the world)

 

[boudreaux]

yeah... its unfortunate, i feel that steel frames have been artificially price inflated. There is absolutly no way it cost $1300 to produce a stadard steel frame

BS! You have just been shopping the wrong places. WTF is a 'standard' steel frame anyway?

 

[JohnO]

just saying steel is still a beutiful metal to have a bicycle in... all the hype today is for everything but steel...

I ride a Guru Carbonio/Ti...all carbon high modulus carbon frame with titanium fittings and drop outs. Its a wonderful ride....but...I also ride a 1974 Raleigh Professional and a 1984 Rossin...both high quality steel bikes and I love them every bit as much as the carbon. The 531 steel gives a lively and comfortable ride and the big rake on the steel forks make for a nice upfront feel.
Yes Carbon is great for the long haul but give me a steel bike for any other ride...it feels alive!

My sentiments exactly. My almost-state-of-the-art CF Trek Y-Foil is fast and stiff, but I still spend time on a recently restored 70's vintage Falcon San Remo, just like I rode back in college. Like comparing the whiz kid to the British Gentleman.

So it only has 10 speeds instead of 20, it's only 4 pounds heavier (3 if you replace the Brooks Team Pro saddle) and just feels wonderful, supple but not flexy.

One other thing that is more a matter of age than frame material - the fit and finish. My old Falcon has beautifully chromed stays and fork, and Campy dropouts with their hard-as-a-rock finish. Frame lugs are chromed, the paint is mirror smooth, and it is topped off with an elaborate name badge on the fork tube. They were proud of this bike when they built it, and it shows. Compare that to the rather perfunctory finish put on most Treks (mine included), or Lemonds, or Kleins, or Cannondales, or... they look like they have been punched out of a cookie cutter, even the expensive framesets. We may have learned a lot about frame material in the last 30 years, but we've sure forgotten how to finish the product.

 

[jedblack]

BS! You have just been shopping the wrong places. WTF is a 'standard' steel frame anyway?

well please .. Mr. supersaver, enlighten us as to where your "super-mega steel frames deals are" we all would love to know

WTF is a 'standard' steel frame anyway?

you've gotta be F$*%& joking, the person with over 3k post on this board and just gave me a recommendation on BB sleeve removal...

 

[boudreaux]

well please .. Mr. supersaver, enlighten us as to where your "super-mega steel frames deals are" we all would love to know

WTF is a 'standard' steel frame anyway?

you've gotta be F$*%& joking, the person with over 3k post on this board and just gave me a recommendation on BB sleeve removal...

Start with www.gunnarbikes.com. and www.GVHbikes.com just for grins. And yes, define just WTF a 'standard' steel frame is, a KHS 300, Iron Iorse Victory,Supergo R853,Jamis Quest, Bianchi Veloce, Bianchi Imola, or a Serotta CSi?? Inquiring minds NEED to know.

 

[jedblack]

Start with www.gunnarbikes.com. and www.GVHbikes.com just for grins. And yes, define just WTF a 'standard' steel frame is, a KHS 300, Iron Iorse Victory,Supergo R853,Jamis Quest, Bianchi Veloce, Bianchi Imola, or a Serotta CSi?? Inquiring minds NEED to know.

sure you can buy gunnar or GVH, i also hear Kia makes a good steel frame

all the frames you have stated have on thing in common "STEEL"... therefore by default there is a 'standard'

word around the campfire is www.websters.com has a good reference on "standard"

 

[boudreaux]

sure you can buy gunnar or GVH, i also hear Kia makes a good steel frame

all the frames you have stated have on thing in common "STEEL"... therefore by default there is a 'standard'

word around the campfire is www.websters.com has a good reference on "standard"

I guess it's easy to be a common idiot and full of it as you have proven.

 

[jedblack]

awwwww.... Hey , Thanks

I love you too....

 

[MattAussie66]

What about narrowing the argument....

"Steel is best in a custom frame?"

For only slightly more than the off the peg price you can usually get a
full custom Steel frame - with whatever fork/seat angles you want
and without silly stem length and setback seatposts.

A custom steel ride will be chalk-n-cheese compared to an
ill-fitting-off-the-peg Carbon, Ti or Al.

I suppose this isn't a problem if you have an off-the-peg body
- but weirdo's like me (long body - legs like tree stumps), have
a problem . I was lucky enough to find a carbon frame that
nearly fits - but there weren't too many options for me.

I also ride a 1990 tange (CrMo Steel) tubed frame as a commuter
that is a heap closer to my shape - but it's 10lb heavier so I am
unlikely to say that it feels alive.

Another thing to consider - I would guess that steel doesn't come
"alive" until you get over the 56cm frame size, as the smaller frames
are too stiff - (here come the flames).

This could all change if the Carbon guys start getting their act together
on custom monocoque, or the price drops on custom Ti.

ttfn
Matt

 

[jedblack]

My sentiments exactly. My almost-state-of-the-art CF Trek Y-Foil is fast and stiff, but I still spend time on a recently restored 70's vintage Falcon San Remo, just like I rode back in college. Like comparing the whiz kid to the British Gentleman.

So it only has 10 speeds instead of 20, it's only 4 pounds heavier (3 if you replace the Brooks Team Pro saddle) and just feels wonderful, supple but not flexy.

One other thing that is more a matter of age than frame material - the fit and finish. My old Falcon has beautifully chromed stays and fork, and Campy dropouts with their hard-as-a-rock finish. Frame lugs are chromed, the paint is mirror smooth, and it is topped off with an elaborate name badge on the fork tube. They were proud of this bike when they built it, and it shows. Compare that to the rather perfunctory finish put on most Treks (mine included), or Lemonds, or Kleins, or Cannondales, or... they look like they have been punched out of a cookie cutter, even the expensive framesets. We may have learned a lot about frame material in the last 30 years, but we've sure forgotten how to finish the product.

Bravo, Well Said !