[MtnBikerChk]

Everyone I know that's buying new frames are going with Carbon. I've read Sheldon's section on frame materials but I think his Carbon section may be a bit outdated. On paper, I would think Ti would be more popular (light and stiff) but I think I'm mostly seeing steel and carbon.

So why would I want to trade my aluminum frame for any of these fine choices?

 

[rvanderveur]

Everyone I know that's buying new frames are going with Carbon. I've read Sheldon's section on frame materials but I think his Carbon section may be a bit outdated. On paper, I would think Ti would be more popular (light and stiff) but I think I'm mostly seeing steel and carbon.

So why would I want to trade my aluminum frame for any of these fine choices?

MtnBikerChk,
Great Question. Well, all of the materials offered today offer a wide array of positive attributes and some negative ones as well. There's always a yin to the yang so to speak.

Steel offers a great, refined and lively ride quality combined with high durability and low weight(with quality name branded tubing, Reynolds, True Temper, Colubus ect...) Steel basically sets the ride quality standard by which all other frame materials are judged.

Aluminum at the high end is usually a bit lighter than steel (a pound maybe two) and in general is a bit stiffer. However, Aluminum dose not have near the durability of quality steel, Ti or Carbon.

Titanium offers a great refined ride quality like steel at a touch lighter weight(at the high end, some times it's a wash) and very high durability. Ti is very strong and basically dose not corrode. Steel, if it is exposed to a lot of wet riding with no care, can rust. A little TLC goes a long way though.

Depending on how the Ti frame is made it can be fairly flexy. Burly clydesdales have been know to shy away from Ti where most at average weigh ranges, Ti is just fine.

Carbon is real neat for the engineers at the bike companies and manipulate the makeup of the carbon material to net the ride quality they want. And this is true for Steel, Aluminum and Ti as well but, with Carbon to a much higher degree.

So if the engineer is looking for uber light with refined ride quality then with time invested in research and development he/she and make the ride quality they are striving for.

So the holy grail of a bike frame would be light, stiff(in torsion to reduce flex at the bottom bracket and head tube) with a refined ride quality and be very durable. This is where there are some misconceptions about carbon. Many think it's not durable or strong, if it's well made this is not true, carbon can be made to be many times stronger than many of the other materials offered today. However, this dose not mean there is no weakness. Carbon Fiber frames and components do not like to be scored(scratched deeply) or absorb a severe impact.

For example, your riding on the road and fall and the bike slides along a curb on the frame. Not good for there may be a deep scratch in the carbon fiber resulting in a stress riser(potential failure). Or your riding along and you crash in a rock garden and the bike slams down on top of a big pointy rock and it chips the finish on the frame. Not good, this most likely(but not always) damaged your frame.

Again, there's always going to be some sort of Trade off. Here is a quick rundown:

Steel: Pro's- Refined, Lively ride, very durable, Light weight(newer steels).
Cons- can corrode if exposed to harsh elements and not cared for. Can be flexy for heavier riders(depending on the build and tubes)

Aluminum: Pro's - Lighter than steel and Ti (at the high end), Usually cost's less than steel/Ti/Carbon, Firm/stiff ride(if that is what you are looking for)
Cons- Not as durable than Steel or Ti and Carbon(barring abrasions/impacts), Firm, Stiff ride, shorter life span compared to the other materials.

Titanium: Pro's- a bit lighter than steel, refined ride, super durable.
Con's: Expensive, can be heavier than Aluminum and carbon.

Carbon Fiber: Pro's- can be made lighter than metal frames (if made properly by a quality bike company) Refined ride, stiff, very durable (barring abrasions or severe impacts)
Con's- Dose not like abrasions or severe impacts

So there is a quick rundown of the more popular materials.

If you were to make a fashion decision I would rank the materials in this order:

1- Carbon Fiber
2- Titanium
3- Aluminum
4- Steel

If you were to make a High performance decision meaning lightest weight/stiffness I would rank in this order:

1-Carbon Fiber
2-Aluminum
3-Titanium
4-Steel

If you were to rank in order of performance / value. Meaning, best ride for the buck so you can get higher grade components ect...

1- Steel
2- Aluminum
3- Carbon Fiber
4-Titanium

Now, this is my own opinion so other's may not share the same views.
And just because a bike is steel dose not mean it is heavy, I've seen many 22lbs steel mtb bikes and vic-versa just because a bike is carbon or ti dose not mean it is light or high quality. I've seen many 28-30lbs carbon or steel bikes out there. Also your component spec will alter your overall bike's weight significantly. Your frame will weigh X and it will always weigh that however, you can switch up your wheels or seat and alter the weight drastically.

Hope this helps
Rob

 

[maddog17]

if your thinking custom go here to check out all the builders

http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com/nahbs2009/Build01.htm

plenty to choose from and all your choices are covered. who or what you choose is the question. the previous post makes some good points. i think the pro's and con's were covered pretty well. i'm not a fan of alu road frames and that's due to when i started to race. back then alu was a pretty harsh ride. steel was the way to go. Ti was just coming out but was too costly for me and carbon was in it's infancy. over time frames have gotten better. i've heard that alu frames aren't as harsh as they were, Ti is still pretty expensive and carbon has almost all but taken over. i'll always like steel, it gives a great ride, easily repairable and with proper maintenance will last for a long time. my Wojciks about 15 yrs old and still going strong. with tube designs today a builder is going to be able to tweak the feeling. i think that carbon will give the most flexability in that regard since they can layer the carbon as it's needed to give the rider the feel their looking for. if money is no object then carbon's the way to go. the only real drawback is repairing it. i've read posts in other forums about people getting their carbon frames repaired but i cant remember seeing b4 and after photo's. so to what extent it's repairable i don't know. that's my problem with it. plus it's expensive. yes there are cheap frames but i wouldn't trust them. if i were to get a carbon frame, i would go with a Parlee or Crumpton or Serotta. i work with a guy who was working for Parlee and i feel more at ease with carbon after talking to him about how they build frames. Serotta's reputation speaks for itself and i've read a lot of positive things about Crumpton. maybe Suspect Device can shed some light on newer alu tube technology.