Any experience with magnesium frames?
- Thread starter cdwilson
- Start date
There was one talked about around 10 years ago, but they never went too far. I seem to recall it was a one peice casting?? I think I saw some bikes made with magnesium tubing too recently but I can't put my finger on any names. Did you try a search on Google?
I found one company out of Boulder: Paketa www.paketa.com
Sounds kind of spooky to me - new meaning to the term "catastrophic failure" - but then I have never seen a Mag. frame
My Marzocchi does. I don't think they'd use it if it wasn't up to the task. It's curious that you don't see frames since it is light and strong. Too costly?oldfart said:
That and the whole "bursting into flames" thing that magnesium is prone to do now and then. Fork lowers = cast, frames = welded (generally). Damn, now I want to burn something. :evil:
Not going to happen. Mg won't burn without an igniter.Nate at RIT said:
I found another company: Merida www.merida-bikes.com
It looks like the woman's olympic gold medal and men's silver were won on Merida magnesium frames. Maybe they're onto something.?
It looks like the woman's olympic gold medal and men's silver were won on Merida magnesium frames. Maybe they're onto something.?
cdwilson said:
mag is a difficult material to make frames out of. it's difficult to weld. a few major companies have messed with it to only abandon the entire project. it works well for linkage systems b/c you can mill (machine) it or cast it....pretty light weight shiet. the other reason is extrusion processes of aluminum have been refined so much that the weight and strength is there so kinda eliminated the want or need for a mag frame.......
Although the resulting bright-white flame would be cool to see.MikeD said:
If Mg has a good strength-to-weight ratio, I would imagine it would be quite light, since Mg is light by volume both Al and Ti.