[tech.knockout]

After some research I come across steel tubing such as reynolds(alot of hype about a model called 853) columbus etc.

Their range of wall thicknesses are rather thin (and were designed to be - lightness)
I have a feeling these arent meant for downhilling, are these just road bike tubes?


To make a downhill steel frame what kinda tubing should I be specifying?

 

[lanman]

I'm using just regular old aircraft quality 4130, most of the frame is made of .035, but the downtube is .049. I got my tubes at www.aircraftspruce.com

 

[acair422]

i'm working on welding a hardtail, but if your welding a DH frame, kinda scary u don't even know wat kind of tubing to use, ask brooklyn machine works wat they use, seems to work damn well

 

[paranoid56]

so, when you guys are welding this cromo are you all TIG welding? just checking
Shane

 

[buildyourown]

Check with henry james (www.henryjames.com). He stocks all of the True Temper tubes. They make a tube comparable to 853 called OX platinum. These tubes are hard to work with because they are REALLY hard to cut. If you are building a bike that doesn't have any stress in the middle of the tube (like a pivot) you can use a heavier wall butted tube. True Temper makes a Versus and a Versus HT that come in heavier wall thicknesses.
Straight gauge 4130 is great. It's cheap, easy to work with and comes in lots of sizes. You pay a weight penalty though.