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You can't directly compare since all three materials require different building constraints.
Steel is naturally 'springy', aluminium is stiff, and carbon fibre largly depends on who made it and what they were aiming for. However, a new all steel bike should still be rideable in 30 years time, the aluminium and carbon fibre bikes will have been long recycled.
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Steel is naturally 'springy', aluminium is stiff, and carbon fibre largly depends on who made it and what they were aiming for. However, a new all steel bike should still be rideable in 30 years time, the aluminium and carbon fibre bikes will have been long recycled.
Funnily enough,I am in the process of restoring a Carlton road bike made from Reynolds 531 tubing.Not an easy task I can tell you.Having stipped it down to bare steel and primed it with zinc paint I have finally managed to get the top coat and varnish on. It`s surprising how difficult bikes are to spray,all those angles! Getting the correct decals for it has not been too easy,luckily Ebay have some sellers of this kind of stuff. The date on the Vinemann calipers is 1980,so it must be 30/31 years old. Comparing it`s weight with expensive modern bikes it comes out very favourably. It certanly makes more sense than paying north of £800 for a modern road racer. I have had the bike from almost new,we have grown old together!
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Reynolds 531 tubing is a good foundation for a bike. They only switched to aluminium because it can be welded cheaply, whereas welding thin steel tubing requires a skilled (expensive) welder.
But a bit of slick PR, combined with the masculine looks of the thick aluminium tubing convinced the public that aluminium is a superior material. It isn't.
What choice of tyre are you going to use-I take it you're still on 27*11/4?
Good luck with the restoration!
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Sorry, but there's a lot of rubbish being talked here. Yes a 25 year old 531 ten speed is all the bike you will every need - fair enough, but don't get too carried away. Look again at you old bike and you will see it's got alloy wheels, bars, stem, gears, cranks etc, so no reason to think an alloy frame won't last. I'm running a 25 year old Klein frame, with not issues and it's been hammered.
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I've got a 12 year old steel framed mountain bike. It works fine. Keep them nice (i.e. wash the thing after covering it in mud) and dry it off to stop rust and they'll last for ages.
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With respect, I didn't evoke the fatigue limit argument against aluminium-chiefly because I don't think it has much relevance to cycle frames. But alloy frames are no lighter than quality steel ones.
The stresses imposed on cranks and headsets are not necssarily directly comparable to thin tube frames. Virtually all automotive engines use aluminium heads-but not one uses an aluminium crank...
But can we both agree that disc brakes are a waste of space, money and weight??
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531, good stuff. Should never had got rid of mine, plenty of room in the garage. But she's gone.
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What's steel like with regards to comfort/vibration compared to aluminium and carbon fibre? >> My 1983 Raleigh Road/Racer was, (the era just before 'mountain bikes')I think, ordinary steel tubing rather than 531 etc Reynolds. But I do remember the comfort of it 'flexing' on road trips. By comparison, the current Giant Hardtail Mtb feels a 'single-solid' unit. Basically a steel racer will brace and flex ever so slightly, and when bought properly bike & rider are as one. I never quite feel that with the Mtb, you're sat on it. Cannot comment on carbon fibre and price prohibitive for mere mortals. The other simple but amazingly versatile component is the drop handlebars of a steel road bike, these offer so many combinations of comfortable positions that a flat-bar Mtb will feel a bit inhibiting. There are probs a lot of folk out there riding 'mountain bikes' mainly on roads who'd be amazed at how much better a drop handlebar Road Bike would be. And yes, steel does feel good. It is also reassuring that many of the good well known names for steel frames are high quality small British makes:- Bob Jackson, Woodrup, and Ellis Briggs in Leeds/Bradford area alone.
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Just opened a cycling magazine-there's an advert for a chainwheel-even including a discount,it's £2,800.I almost fell off my Duckett.Were the brakes Weinmann centre-pulls?
Edited by jc2 on 09/07/2011 at 08:58
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As has been said, MTB/ATBs are quite unsuited for most on road use, provide little variation for posture/hand position & are vastly over complicated (15-18-21 speeds, suspension, disc brakes etc.) for their likely use.
My personal favourite combination was/is: well constructed Reynolds 531 frame with reinforcing flanges at flex points , drops, 5-speed internal hub gears (without 'twistgrip' gear changer) , Brooks b17 saddle, full mudguards, 27 (700) rim diam. x 28mm (or 1.25inches) width tyres, toes clips (most important!) for pedalling efficiency.
I favour buying best quality bottom bracket/headset/front hubset you can afford (I personally like Campagnolo for their longevity & quality of steel in the bearing faces).
Keep it 'shabby' looking & it won't draw too much attention - most thieves tend to go for the garish 21-speed mountain bikes thingies these days.
You'll then have a long lasting, easy to maintain & adaptable all-purpose bicycle.
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" Keep it 'shabby' looking & it won't draw too much attention - most thieves tend to go for the garish 21-speed mountain bikes thingies these days."
Agree. I have a Scott G Zero in full stars n stripes livery. Subtle it isn't. At £3K new, even in our quiet neck of the woods, I would hesitate to leave it parked outside our nearest shops. Even the saddle is a couple of hundred quid to replace.
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toe clips are great! Whilst not quite as effective as lock-in pedals, the fact that you don't need special footwear tends to outweigh this.
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I started off commuting on my old mountain bike. Not ideal for use on the road, but good enough for short-ish trips. Replacing the knobbly tyres with slicks made a big difference.
Switched to a GT Traffic 3.0 which is great for commuting. Aluminium frame, no suspension, 700 x 40c puncture resistant tyres, security skewers for the wheels and fork. Got it for less than £400.
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I've seen a few early 90's steel frame bikes rust from the inside out!
I had an old Dawes Ambassador I got out of a skip, rode ot for a few years until I got my present alloy framed Ridgeback, the Dawes was far nicer to ride, and nobody who rides to work and back will have any need for 24 gears!
Got an old Townsend Reynolds 501 framed bike in the shed, needs new wheels and a crankset, I wonder if it'll ever be worth anything?
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...will have any need for 24 gears!
Which is a good thing because there aren't really 24! A lot of the ratios are unusable (excessive cant on the chain), and of the rest, quite a few are duplicated. A 14/32 5-6 speed cassette on the rear and 2 chain rings at the front should provide all the ratios you need. Ultimately you can multiply the torque all you want but you can't multiply power. Bicycles are unstable at low speed and for any given speed, you need a fixed amount of power to get the bike up that steep hill. Searching for the magic ratio is a fruitless exercise.
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fruitless exercise.
It's not fruitless if riding the bike keeps you fit ;-)
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toe clips are great! Whilst not quite as effective as lock-in pedals, the fact that you don't need special footwear tends to outweigh his.
>>Agreed, a pair of Karrimor Summit walking shoes have a fairly rigid (not too flexy) sole ideal for clips. Just £20 at Sports Direct (who own 'Karrimor') And you can walk normally and not look a T*T when you get there.
Must get some miles in while it's dry, and light.
Edited by Jog-on on 11/07/2011 at 23:12
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I was out tonight trying my rather dubious sounding new 'Kendo' tyre. Looks the part (It is an early 80s bike) with the gumwalls but the tread compound doen't feel as reassuringly soft as the old Michelin. Perhaps I'm being a brand snob.
Nice little ride though, warm evening, but no sun beating off the tarmac-really felt like giving it some beans. Sadly, I've worked up a good thirst...
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