Is Steel Real? | 6 Things You Didn't Know About Steel
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2017
- The popularity of high-end steel bike frames has risen from the ashes in recent years. Simon Richardson tells you 6 things you may not know about the traditional tubing material.
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Ex-Professional Cyclist Simon Richardson explains some key facts about steel bicycles and why they are still a popular choice for a traditionalist. Particularly those who wish to have a frame built to their exact needs.
Simon explores topics such as:
- Is Steel Real?
- Is Steel Heavy?
- Is Steel Comfortable?
- Is Steel Customisable?
- Can Steel Be Repaired?
- Can Steel Rust?
Let us know what you think of steel frames in the comments below! 👇
Watch more on GCN...
5 Things You Didn't Know About Aluminium 📹 gcn.eu/2W
7 Things You Didn't Know About Carbon Fiber 📹 gcn.eu/2Y
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Kir Royale - Arthur Pochon
Photos: © Bettiniphoto / www.bettiniphoto.net/ & ©Tim De Waele / www.tdwsport.com
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Let us know what you think of Steel 👇
Global Cycling Network I quite like it. my steel 80s road bike is super comfy and eclipses my very stiff aluminium frame for comfort over long easy miles
I've had carbon frames, titanium frames, steel frames and aluminum frames over the years. The only ones I didn't care for the ride of were aluminum. No more aluminum for me.
Medium Rick what didnt you like about aluminium frames?
Had a steel frame bike commuting to college . . . and still have it 20yrs later. It has big 1.5 inch tires and a great ride. Custom gearing but a little rust on the chain stays. Love it till the rust god takes it away. Did have one wreck, which destroyed the front wheel but no damage to the frame or fork. She is heavy but a blast to ride fast downhill with the tall gearing :)
Still riding steel bikes, mainly because I can't afford to replace them. :)
Let's be honest, for most of us the extra weight isn't coming from the bike. It's on our hips 😜
my extra weight is from a certain appendage
@@mikes1984 then I wouldn’t bike at all. Those saddles suck
What about people who are over 6'6" (2 m)?
😂😂😂😂😂
Mine is not coming from my brain lol
I was hit by a car while riding my 2002 Bianchi Chromo Lite. I dove away from the bike while the driver ran over my rear wheel. Crushed Campy wheel and rear derailleur. The derailleur dropout was bent in at a 90 degree angle. Took it to the shop and they bent the dropout back into shape with a crescent wrench. Checked the angles and have ridden it for six years since with no issue. Carbon frame would have been in pieces.
Charlie Dillon I assume this was steel not aluminium
The "Chromo" in the name implies it. (CrMo steel)
That a carbon frame would have been in pieces is just speculation on your part. A car ran in the back of me, completely destroyed the wheel and damaged the rear derailleur but did nothing to the carbon frame, not even a bent drop-out. The frame is still going strong over 20 years later. Who knows what would have happened if I had been on a steel frame; I don’t because I wasn’t. In some accidents frames get damaged and in others they don’t, irrespective of the material.
Did you have a replaceable derailleur hanger by chance? My point was my frame was bent to a full 90 degree bend, sat for a few days, and was bent back with a wrench. Carbon ain't doin' that. Anyway, glad you were lucky and got some good use out of your frame!
The hanger is an integral part of the dropout, but no, everything was fine.
As a builder of steel frames I have to say this is a really good article. I have to agree that a lot of people do rave about "how good steel rides "' and " the feel of steel". I don't disagree that this s true but believe that the geometry of the frame plays a huge part in this . This is where custom comes into it. If you want that feeling, approach a custom builder ( small self promotion here) and talk about your needs. Make sure they hear what YOU are asking for. Be prepared to pay more for that experience and possibly wait a while because a well made item takes time, but look forward to not being disappointing in the end
Since there has been a lot of chemistry on this channel I think that physics should make a comeback on GCN. Maybe even make a video about the laws and theories of physics that apply to cycling(maybe even doing some calculations). I am ofcourse willing to help make such a video. I will only do it on these conditions: I want a GCN bottle, a canyon Aeroad disc, Matt's wig, a bottle of chanel no. 5, a Norwegian flag and a Si v.s. Dan lightsaber duel on Mustafar with Dan playing Obi-Wan and Si playing Darth Vader(Anakin). These terms are ofcourse negotiable.
Don't back down. All of those terms are definitely reasonable.
I fully support your claims. Can Lasty please be Emperor Palpatine then? And if Matt wants to be included too, he can be Padme, so we can have the whole scene.
sulfuratus that was implied.
What will be in the GCN bottle, and what will be stuffed down the tubes of the Canyon. That is what we really want to know? How
Niels Heldens It is rare to be in the presence of true genius.
I own steel, aluminum and carbon road bikes. They're all fun to ride. But, I do have a soft spot for narrow-tubed steel bikes with box rims, likely because I grew up watching Le Tour in the late 80s on ESPN when I was on summer break.
My Tommasini Diamante has the Columbus Multi-Shape tubeset; my Casati Laser uses the Columbus Genius tubeset, and my De Bernardi uses the Thron tubeset. I like the Casati the best, but that is just because overall it's the perfect bike for me/
As a Materials Engineer, these recent videos are giving me stiffness in the pants. Where are you getting this information Si? Do you have a resident engineer in the GCN house?
It's steel relevant.
GCN I think the one bit about the steel bikes that was missed out, is how long they last in comparison to carbon and aluminum frames. Steel frames live multiple decades and I guess no other material but for Titanium will last as long.
Nikhil Ram Mohan i've got a relay bicycle that was made in Nottingham prior to the war still ride it runs good
Plus small dmg and aluminium or carbon is likely scrapped
I rode the same aluminium mountain bike frame for twenty years. As I am in my early fifties, I began to notice the frame stiffness more particularly over rough surfaces. I had an old 1997 full cromoly Gary Fisher Marlin frame and recently transferred all the components from the aluminium frame. The bike although slightly heavier is much more lively as the frame and fork flex slightly over rough surfaces making riding more comfortable similar to Reynolds 531, Tange and Columbus tubing. I should have done it years ago
Very much liking these engineering/design videos Si's been doing :D
Simon Richardson, a.k.a.. "Si Ri The Science Guy".
Your RUclips clips never disappoint! What a great service you provide. I ride an old 1989 Cinelli during the shoulder seasons, and a carbon Colnago during the heat of the summer here in Canada. I truly enjoy riding both bikes. You're absolutely right in declaring that one cannot reach the conclusion that one material is better than the other. It depends. At age 56, I'm finding a greater affinity for steel because of the forgiving ride quality. Speed, on the other hand, diminishes with each passing year. LOL.
Simon is consistently brilliant in these technical vids. Truly putting the "Si" in "Science". Or, err... "Si-ence". :/
Damn, you stole my joke.
can you review bamboo as a frame material
yes fam
I'm no GCN but I live by and have meet the guys at BOO Bicycles, I plan to hit them up in spring to try the lot, road, commuter, CX, and MTB.
They told me it shines best in MTB where you have a lot of torsional load on the frame that bamboo dampens a bit.
wouldn't you get sick of being chased by Panda's?
hahaha that comment made my day. but i dont think id have much of a problem living in Ireland. i hear the frame multiplies so buy one and you never have to worry about buying another frame again
or you buy one for your kid and it grows with them so you never have to buy them another bike. Until they get inadvertently munched by a Panda.
Definitely the most informative and credible source of bicycling information that I’ve seen.
I’ve watched most of your videos, as well as many others, and consider yours among the best.
Thanks.
Great Article, thanks. Steel connects you to the heritage and romance of cycling.
Just got hold of a Colnago Super frame circa 1982. She's a beauty.
American framebuilder Rob English showed his 9.9-pound stainless steel road bike at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show last year. The possibilities with steel are endless. Just like carbon "frubber" or whatever Simon said. :)
Mike Marino Rob is British ex pat
Having owned all materials, it really does come down to the engineering and in the case of steel, tube selection and most of all - geometry but my favorite bikes to ride are my steel bikes.
One of your better, entertaining, informing issues. Thank you.
Thanks for the info guys. Always great videos !
After having 3 bikes, steel (reynolds 631), titanium (3al2.5v) and a high-end carbon bike, one had to be sold. Maybe not in terms of speed, but in terms of ride enjoyment and pleasure of getting on the bike early in the morning, the steel and titanium bikes made the carbon redundant.
I agree with you. I have everything from Tange Prestige, True Temper, Reynolds to Ti to Carbon as well as aluminum. I absolutely love my Reynolds 531 steel bike. But my GT Edge Ti is insanely comfortable. The carbon bike feels dead to me. I know a lot has to do with your tire width and pressure, but man, I love my steel and Ti bikes. I also admire the craftsmanship that goes into building a steel or Ti bike.
How does the Reynolds 531 stack up against Reynolds 520? I'm considering buying the 2017 Jamis Renegade Expat but I'm second guessing the 520.
Sorry, I meant Reynolds 853, not sure why I typed 531. Not sure about the 520, never rode it. Good luck with your choice though!
@@pastagreyhound
853 = Brilliant Tubes
Also, a steel frame, being ferrous, will set off the traffic control switch that is buried under the pavement at the intersection. Other materials aren't going to work so well.
Are you being serious though? No wonder the lights didnt turn for me when I was on aluminum bike lmao
This is actually a great technical summary of the properties of steel 👍🏼
Great series of vids. Concise, correct and informative.
That's a sweet ride in your video there GCN
The informative shows on steel, carbon, and aluminum frames have been great. Has there been or will there be one on titanium?
Thanks.
After watching your video, reason I bought my Mongoose Maurice Plus 2018 last week ago - thanks to your very informative video - from Philippines 🇵🇭
Great vid, GCN. Brilliant job, Si.
Still loving my On One Inbred after 16 years.....
I ride steel everyday ... unless you're riding for competition there's really not much difference
un less your racing super enduro bat shit intercontinental masacisam and then steel ftw
Brian Cartoscelli I race a carbon Sava bike but my training is 90% on a GMC Denali 6061 30 lbs alloy. People always ask me why are you so slow during training but win on race day? I point to their bike and say : Is that the bike you trained with ? Their answer is YES . I tell them next time take a backpack and add 18 lbs to it then go train and tell me how it goes. They storm off looking pissed.
If you train for same amount of the time, it doesn't matter on what bike, because the watt you produce will be the same just at lower speed.
if you train at same distance then you are right, because you maintain the watt output for longer period time on a slower bike
Sorry for my English :D.
Sharif Naddaf Indeed it's the same 40 km course. On the Carbon it feels like a joke. On the 14 kg road bike it is a challenge. In my opinion ( just me ) a 6 kg bike does not add enough resistence to train for maximum output on shorter courses. 14 KGS with 175 lbs + 25 km wind going 32 km/hr is not that easy to pull off. And you will need some legs to pull that off for 40 km straight. Not many can pull it off specially on a 14 kg bike with 32c tires . That is the type of training I do. This is why I train on a heavier bike as the resistence is passed to the legs much faster and your body has to maintain a constant flow of oxygen to maintain those speeds. Some pros actually do this type of training. They use the same bike but loaded with bottle weights. This type of training is never discussed because it really is only for top level cyclists who want to have that extra edge. Looking at Chris Froome for example if we both did a short 20 km course with 14 kg bikes Chris Froome would be dropped in the first km. However if we both did a 200 km course on 14 kg bikes ( full max output ) I would be dropping out at 70 km and would DNF. Different bodies , different tools. Long distance smaller weight and lighter bike. I am built more for track cycling so 200km runs are not possible ( at full max output).
Idk the times for pros haven’t changed much since they still all rode steel so I think in reality it’s just like carbon, quality is what matters not material
This is more informative than some classes I had in engineering college. Well done!
An excellent video, interesting and entertaining to watch. Keep em coming Si. One thing you forgot to mention is they are bombproof and you can customise them yourself. As a youngster starting back in the dark ages of the late sixties we used to get old frames strip the paint off and build them up into one off masterpieces. These we used to train and race on. Great fun and made a decent machine accessible even when you didn't have a sponsor or deep pockets. Also provided a great grounding and understanding of the basics of how to maintain your own bike. I can clearly remember on great masterpiece of an old Claud Butler frame lovingly stripped of its old rusty paint, sanded down and hand sprayed. A new set of transfers bought and put on then. the greatest expense was a set of decent secondhand Mavic hubs and rims with some tubs.
I'll stop swinging the lamp now. great video as I said.
I in love with my columbus steel bike, I like how I feel every pour on the road. It weighs just under 10 KGs, for me it's as light as a feather, no need for carbon
I love the history of steel as a bike frame material, it goes back 150 years. It might not be the best, but it is the original, and I really like it !
really enjoyable, thank you
I've built two frames. Both OX Platinum. My XXL road frame is just over 4 lbs. Bike is 19 with pedals. A great material to work with!
I started with an aluminum frame and moved to steel. Never looked back, steel is more comfortable. And at 8kg for the whole bike it's pretty light
But it's no longer durable.
Shannon Trainer yes it is. Way more. Can carry. Tons of cargo too, that’s why touring bikes are made out of it.
@@shannontrainer5857 It's easily the most durable material you can make a bike from while aluminium being the least durable.
Kandi Klover That’s because those use much thicker steel. The Trek 920 is made out of... wait for it... aluminum.
@@shannontrainer5857 I would never call a trek 920 the best bike.
I steel ride in winter my steel Bianchi 1998. When temperature is low (2°c-5°c) i feel the frame stiffer. But, when temperature change, out of the saddle i literally feel the frame torsion. Ma opinion is; power transfert is the worst point. Comfort... i don't now, in winter i ride less... Great video, thanks!
I still have a Spectrum built for me by Tom Kellogg in 1986. It's 8 spd. DA equipped built for Crits. It is STILL the quickest handling, fastest responding, bike I own. Every time I bring it out I wonder why I'm not on it more.
Excellent review on frame types. :)
I've had 2 custom steel frames previously and a few factory made and got a carbon bike for last season. I was quite underwhelmed. Naturally the lesser weight does make it slightly faster uphill and on fast accelerations, which was expected, but the overall character of steel and it's capability to soak up uneven tarmac and sort of spring load your energy (if that makes sense) makes up for the weight penalty tenfold.
The steel vs aluminium/carbon comfort is certainly a common feature bonus that I've heard about. The thing is, you can engineer all of the materials, within limits, to specific ride qualities. I just wonder how much of this is about customer preferences vs. actual material performance.
That said, I've never ridden a steel frame road bike, they went out of mass market before I got interested. Getting one just for the experience (and switching frames once in a while) is certainly tempting.
nimeq titanium should give you even more comfort, at lower weight. I got myself a titanium MTB frame, and it definitely feels great. I'll definitely consider it for a road bike but it would be great to see a video where they talk about it, since they are less common and it's hard to find a bike to test
As much as I love my two classic steel frame road bikes, I would jump at the opportunity to ride a titanium frame. As you said, though, they are exceedingly rare (even in bike-friendly Minneapolis) and they are expen$ive.
I've ridden and raced different steel, carbon, titanium and aluminum frames since I first started racing in 1987. By far, the most agile and high performance ride has been a Scott CR1 (saunier duval edition). This is in comparison to a Basso Gap (columbus SL), Kellogg (ishiwata 020), Giant Team TCR, and a Merlin Road, in addition to others such as Devinci, Fetish, and cannondale. I still have all these bikes, btw, in addition to several others. My comment is - if you didn't have your mind blown by the performance of a well--built carbon frame, you weren't riding a well built carbon frame. There really is _no_ comparison. There is a reason the pro's ride carbon, and it isn't because they're paid to. They ride the bike that will help them win. This is why you sometimes see a pro riding a bike with a name on it (usually the teams frame sponsor) that was built by someone else - and it's never a steel frame anymore.
Zen Cycle - Complete BS!
Loads of high level national cross and road races are won on titanium, steel, and aluminum bikes each year.
Pro's ride what the sponsors give them, and by and large the largest bike companies out there that have the $$$ to sponsor pro teams are pushing carbon fiber bikes because that's what they mass produce and make the most $$$ off of.
I've ridden a Crumpton, a Parlee, and a custom Calfee and none of them blew me away with their performance. Used to have a Look 585 carbon fiber frame, a pretty well regarded frame ridden by several top euro teams. Nothing overly amazing about it either. Have ridden both Specialized S Works, and Cannonale CF bikes (both have been ridden by multiple TDF Pro teams). Again, nothing that blew me away or suddenly out of the blue made my performance shoot to the moon.
At the end of the day it is always about the engine, and no carbon fiber frame including a Scott is going to suddenly make anyone worlds faster or worlds better. Components and wheels have gotten so light that any reasonably well built steel or ti frame with a CF fork and a nice set of light CF wheels and can easily be brought down to at or very near the UCI weight limit so there is no huge weight advantage either when you look at the total bike package.
I have a steel Vanilla as one of many examples that with Dura Ace and my Zipp wheels is 14 lbs and change in a size that would be the equivalent of what most frame makers call a stock 57 size. And that bike rides as fast and as well as any of the "high foot" CF frames I have ever ridden including the Look, the Parlee, the Specialized, and the Crumpton, which are all regarded as very good CF frames.
A guy name Alejandro Valverde (not a bad rider, LOL) rides a Canyon Ultimate, yet often trains on old school steel frames, and is on record saying he could easily ride several of those frames in races and be competitive with the right groupsets and wheels.
That Saffron is a beauty!
Marc-André Lavoie A customer brought a Saffron into my shop. It was one of the prettiest bikes Ive ever seen !!
Excellent video! As an old "Biker" friend would say.. "there's only two kinds of bikers in this world... those that ride Harleys, and those that don't"! The advantages... and the disadvantages are not "cut & dried", more personal preference. I learned a lot about steel, thanks.
Dear Simon, thanks for this video which makes justice to modern steel frames technology.
Quality content, keep this bloke on payroll.
The fancy internal cable routing- doesn't that open up the tubes to rust internally?
Well done, Simon.
WOW, you just brought me back to my Strength of Materials class in engineering school.
Still riding my 92 Merckx Corsa,Columbus SL,team Motorola scheme and loving it,there`s rarely a ride that I go on that I don't have to clean off other riders saliva off it from all the drooling.
Steels not real,it`s unreal.
My 1990 MASI is the same,Ive ridden it a whole lot and it doesnt have a scratch on it,killer paint and clear coat still looks new. Quad butted reynolds 753,silver soldered at low temp,internal lugs,MASI did some good work.
That's one beautiful bike you have
Rave +1 :-) Still riding my 1980's frames on club rides with no problems at all.....
Phil Ward
Me TOO
The welds on that frame are f'ing amazing. A hell of a lot of care went in to making that frame.
Thank you for featuring a Campy equipped bike. Gets old seeing same old SHRAMANO equipped bikes.
My bicycle(2014 Trek 520) and I survived a car incident. We are still moving great today. A Will of Steel along with a Frame of Steel make a perfect match.
My three first bikes were steel, the third one (my first serious one) were chromoly. I loved her.
I'm enjoying my 7005 alum bike with T800 carb fork. But I have to say there are still lots of moments when I'm missing my custom Tange 1 cromo bike. Indeed, there is a certain magic only a good steel frame can deliver.
I don't know who thinks about GCN's video subjects but he (or she) needs a hefty raise. Good job !
Thanks for your most interesting video. I enjoy your work. Much that recommends steel is lightly touched on here. Research over, say, the past five to ten years has suggested that a bike with the right kind of flex -- a flex that steel bikes with thin walls delivers -- yields higher performance. It gives back, especially during intense performance, say, hill climbing. Jan Heine in the U. S. terms this phenomenon "planing". You just hinted at this with "springiness". I suspect that the blind devotion to stiffness has gone by the way side in light of what I mention this. Also, the weight argument against steel is real, but not strong. Often it's the equivalent of the difference between a water bottle full or empty.
Nice video. Thanks. I will always choose a steel frame over an aluminium frame. I still have my Fuji quad-butted steel frame from 1985. Excellent frame!!!
Regarding the comparison of tube size and thickness, I think some important points were omitted. Because aluminium is so much weaker than steel and aluminium has the nagging problem of fatigue (which, unlike steel and titanium, accrues at very low levels of stress), aluminium tubes must be made much thicker than steel. In fact, mechanical engineers are forced to design aluminium frames with much higher safety margins to account for this. So there is precious little weight advantage for a quality aluminium frame vs. a quality steel frame.
P.S. As much as I like steel, my first choice today is composite. My main road bike has a composite carbon frame and I'd love to try one with graphene when it becomes affordable. Si hit the nail on the head when he acknowledged that much of a frame's ride quality is in the design and quality of manufacture. Most of my experience has been with high-quality frames for general-purpose racing. When comparing steel to aluminium to titanium to composite, you must make sure that you are comparing apples to apples. There is a huge variety in each (especially aluminium and composite).
my first proper road bike was a steel Scapin. same frame ridden by Gibo to win in the giro 2001. Lovely bike, still have it
So cool to see an old school frame well done like that
Steel most definitely is real! 👍. I ride a Mason Resolution and the ride quality is absolutely beautiful! Yes my Madone is lighter and faster, but I feel it lacks one important quality that the Steel Mason has LOADS of... Character! Just sublime.
Good to hear about the Resolution....I was looking at getting a Mason bike
I still have my first custom built Ciocc from 1985... it's a thing of beauty and rides like a dream. 6 speeds in the rear with Shimano 600 SIS first itteration. Only issue after a 1/4 century was having a drop tube shifter fail and I found a new old stock one at a local bike shop that has been around longer than I have (and I'm about to turn 56.)
Steel IS real! Its tried, true and proven for 100 plus years. Its recyclable and EASILY repairable in most places in the world. IF steel fails it bends before breaking, it doesn’t shatter and throw you on the ground.
Working in a shop I rarely see failed steel frames. We warranty or do crash replacements on carbon frames all the time.
The bike industry simply cant afford to properly engineer ,produce and ensure the quality of composite bikes. They use consumers as guinea pigs. They give you crap like press fit BBs and internal cable routing and call it an upgrade!
How do I know? I worked as a machinist building carbon components for satellites. I know what manufacturing carbon requires and its NOT affordable!
Its merely marketing BS that youre fed.
Interesting. I’ve found that it’s the consumers who ultimately push the sales of carbon by demanding lighter materials, hidden cables, etc. It costs millions to manufacture the bikes so manufacturers simply aren’t going to do it if the demand is not there. True they will Do a test run of bikes to gauge demand but it’s ultimately up to the consumer. If the vast majority want alloy, then it’s what will dominate the market.
Touring bikes are made of steel. They are reliable, low maintenance, and robust. You can beat/abuse them and they keep on going. Even after riding in the rain and not lubing the chain or anything but occasionally pumping the tires up for 2 years.
Kandi Klover when you’re talking about not maintaining a bikes components (chain, derailleur, tubes, etc) you’re not really comparing frames anymore lol. Those components can be swapped out and have no relevance to this discussion looool.
When looking at what is available as perhaps an long term upgrade or replacement in case of theft or destruction for my “entry level” steel bicycle, I am reaching the conclusion that I need to hang on to my current bicycle for as long as I can, because they don't make them anymore as they used to. If you want steel including the fork and a horizontal top tube, your choice is almost nothing. It seems to be down in choice to the amazingly beautiful “Superleggera” made by Wilier (nice one!). The only option with choice and local availability seems to be titanium, which is rather expensive. The whole market for mid range bicycles which last well, seems to have gone down the tubes of aluminium or carbon fibre, and they all look like children's bikes with a sloping top tube, even though most people on “road bikes” (race bikes) are not competing in races. If anyone knows about more full steel road bikes, please leave a clue.
People who aren't even racing, care too much for the last bit of speed, while disregarding the environment and the longevity / repair of the item. My “road bike” is 11.5 kg, which is just a few kg heavier than aluminium ones, which is about 2-3% of the total weight. This is marginal for all but people in competition, isn't it. Try beating the feeling of overtaking people on top end plastic bikes, on the beautiful harmony of a “real” bike, obviously a little heavier than theirs ! ;-P Literally everyone who sees my steel bike says “whoaaaa that is beautiful !” Conclusion: an entry level Bianchi (gold race special) made in 2000, is today at the top of the line in bicycles for people who are not competing. Because the building overall frame building just went *down* so much since then, just as it did for fixed gear commuter bikes, once Gazelle gave up on their craft (they now build their old version again, which is and will always be a superb bicycle). Most people want shiny throw away crap. You see this everywhere. The market for quality is tiny.
I guess titanium is the future than, since it combines most of the benefits. I read alimunium does not deal with metal fatigue and eventually gives way. For me that's a non-starter. I don't even look at aluminium frames anymore after that, plus it is apparently hard to repair. Who needs a bicycle which will eventually fail, even if that is in 20 years, but for sure ? I don't understand people.
Revisiting the video almost one in year on the future for show to my dad the polar seccion modulus. Cool. Thanks guys!!!!
I have a late 80's Bianchi Campione, an early 80's Motobecane (fixed gear), and a 2002 Motobecane -- All lovely steel. The Bianchi is a dream to ride. These days I spend most of my time on a 2014 Lynskey (w/ campy Chorus/Record build out, Chris King headset, Wound Up forks, Fizik saddle, Campy Eurus wheels). It's all about comfort.
Nice video Si, a few things I would like to point address, fatter tubes are not more prone to buckling assuming that the wall thickness is the same. Fat tubes are generally going to be thinner to compensate for the weight, because increasing diameter increases stiffness more than increasing wall thickness. However, if you make the wall thickness too thin, then you start play with potential impact problems, so you have to balance it.
Next point, "elastic response" might be easier to explain as a material damping coefficient. Any material can be described as a spring and damper system. This results in a (very slight) suspension effect. A direct comparison is your modulus is your spring rate and your internal damping coefficient is well, your damping coefficient. So think of changing tube sizes, shapes and materials as changing the pressure, compression and rebound settings on your mountain bikes shock.
If I finish my homework, maybe I will do a design of experiments on frame design: comparing over-sized BB's to standard, how and where seat stays attach to the bike and seeing how that effects vertical compliance and torsional stiffness (popular buzz words in the cycling industry). It might take a few weeks to complete but if you guys would like to do a video on the results, I would be happy to share them.
Wally May Yeah we'd love it, thanks!
Same here
it's snowing where I live and I tried biking and I fell in a hole -_-
LameBeluga _23 That is precisely why you look as far ahead as you can and not 2-3 feet in front of you.
Thoughtyness so looking into the sky would be the best ? while technicly the sky is the most far away objekt i can look at ? doesn't sound that save to me :P
Thoughtyness The point was that the hole was not visible due to snow covering it...
Hilarious comments here
Is the bike okay?
one of the best presenters period.
Passoni Light Steel is my ride and it is nothing short of amazing.
5:12 ' Carbon fribreh frame '
thanks for that pmsl niice
0:44 'Maganese'
I agree that steel is real. I ride Trek 520 for one year and it's more comfortable than the couch. Now I can go 100 km on "washboard" gravel without any problems.
Great vid. I have 2 old peugeots one UO8 that is steel and a PS10 which is 531 reynolds. They ride wonderfully!
I built a 15 lb bike with extra oversized 853 steel. Okay John Slawta built the frameset but I picked out all the parts and assembled it.
You missed the most important point. That silhouette!!!! How often do you see and ugly steel bike?
Upcoming: Titanium.
There already is titanium like on Litespeed bikes.
Upcoming²: Magnesium
Magnesium
Upcoming: Scandium the least known frame material
Great video!
I have now 4th steel bike and its great!
Steel is real but Ti is fly!
steel is an amazing material i only ride steel if you never rode a propper steel bike i highly recomend you do
Ages ago I commissioned a custom steel frame. One day I saw a stock bike that was the same size, so for curiosity, I put mine right next to it to compare tube lengths and angles. I couldn't see any difference. But that doesn't mean other custom frames are just hand made versions of stockers. It did show me that I could have saved a load of money by finding a store bike that fit me.
Have a Nishiki Modulus SRT it's steel. Got it 1996 still runs great. Looking at Bianchi and Cannondale carbon or aluminium. Nice Presentation 🚲👍
There is most definately something to be said for a well made steel bicycle frame. I've seen some beautiful lugged steel frames in my day. But I'm an equal opportunity bike snob. I like beautiful bikes regardless of frame material.
Oh I was so pleased to read your comment. I just think that steel bikes are aesthetically pleasing, and thought I must just be some kind of nut!
steel is plush and very good for rougher roads and its easy to fix if you know how to weld
Well to be fair you can weld aluminium too but chances are it will brake there in 1000km.
@@Bartooc Aluminium will break sooner and the frame will never feel as good after 10 years. Steel however, can feel as good as when it rolled off the shop.
Excellent!
I built a cinelli mash work and love it.
Love my Surly LHT. For a touring bike I don't think there's anything better than steel.
graphine.
A 183g graphene frame.
famous for its chainstays that crumple with kick stand clamps. Might as well have carbon. Really though I like steel, just don't know why surly is so stubborn about saving a few grams on their chainstays. Seems they've just become dug in on being right on it.
I’m a big guy and steel is all I ride. Everything else wobbles and twists with every crank
Have you tried a high end carbon bike? One with thick tubes? I have a full carbon bike Nike (used to have chromo, steel, and aluminum). All the bikes were fun and I rode them all into the ground, but one think I noticed about the carbon bike is it’s intense stiffness. Tho I’ll say, some carbon bikes are designed to flex in certain areas to give the rider more comfort, it’s called Carbon Fiber Tuning. They can make the bike as stiff as they want, or make it flex. Try to find a stiff carbon frame (race variant, they don’t flex so much)
Sorry just realized this is a year old reply.
@@KillersFromTheWest Do you have a specific name of bike that has stiff carbon frame, what do you ride?
The polar section modulus was well presented.
I've got a stack of steel roadies...
1989 Raleigh Record Ace [ Reynolds 653 ]
1985 Raleigh Road Ace [ Reynolds 531 ]
1985 Raleigh Competition [ Reynolds 531 ]
1985 Raleigh Sirocco [ Reynolds 501 ]
that bike is so sweet! Loving that saddle too!
Steel is the way to go. I would take steel over aluminum any day.
steel frame +campy = perfection
+ Columbus Gilco.
Carbon plus 105=perfection without rhe pricetag
I had them all. Carbon frames, aluminium frames and steel frames. In my humble opinion no material can beat the ever lasting effect of a steel frame. Just got an old Columbus Aelle frame from the 1980th, the colour was removed and I measured the frame before reinking it. Apart of some small barely visible dents there was no sign it has ever been used before and it was perfectly straight.
So if you don't want to compete with pros or ambitous amateurs a steel frame is always a good choice - as you may also inherit it...
I love steel bikes. I own four of them and there really is a difference in ride, they have a very nice ride and have a spring feel to them that propels you forward. Steel is real.
i had steel ram but i changed it to the aluminum its way easier to climb uphill with alimunium so i coulndt belive myself.
That bike is making me stiff.
I rode a 50 pound Schwinn Fastback Stingray with a 5 speed stick shift as a kid. I did 10 miles a day on my paper route. I have considered all 30 lb. bikes a blessing ever since.
My first road bike was a Peugeot PY10FC and can absolutely relate to that Steel Feel, went to aluminium then carbon after that but have always had a longing to go back to my roots ;-)
Steel all the way for myself
It sounds like you're an advocate for carbon fibre throughout most of this, given how reluctantly you were to tout the benefits of steel.
Rust is mostly solved by using stainless steels, such as Reynolds 953 or similar. Repairs on steel are much easier to guarantee, carbon repairs are a very risky business, and carbon itself is prone to many invisible flaws straight out of the factory.
Alex Paulsen Well it's tricky because steel just doesn't trump carbon in many areas at all. Yes stainless doesn't rust but man alive is it expensive. You can buy cheap carbon but not cheap stainless.
Also, from what I'm told stainless is hard to re-weld, whereas actually carbon repair is very secure.
Can't argue with your last point but mas sproduced steel bikes also break.
Simon Richardson 21 years later and my steel frame is still going strong. Composites are the future of lightweight bicycles, but the touring and randouneuring guys will definitely have a strong bias to "reliable" old steel. Either way, both are still more enjoyable than aluminium. Carbon repairs are still a specialist repair, especially if you want to be able to trust it. Any good frame builder can probably reweld one of their own frames and guarantee it.
It's perhaps the only thing I don't like about GCN and how cycling is evolving: all the buzz about technology and materials, all the needs and wants you're talked into (electronic shifters, hydraulic brakes, sliders on your frame, 'aero'). That's not what cycling is about for me. That's as fascinating as hearing a carpenter talk about windows.
I have a Budnitz Chrome Molly and it is a very comfortable ride !
I have 4 hardtail mountain bike frames all steel. 2 custom built. Reynolds 853 and True Temper OX Platinum (which is no longer made). I have owned Aluminum and Carbon frames. But will always prefer steel frames. Can't beat the ride quality and they last forever. Sadly once the custom builders I know are gone so are the custom steel frames.