Frame Materials

The strength and ride quality of a frame have a lot more to do with how they're designed and constructed than the material they're made out of. There are some broad inherent differences between aluminum, steel, titanium, and carbon fiber, but what makes one better than the rest is highly subjective.

I suggest buying one bike of each material.

DiabloScott said:

I suggest buying one bike of each material.

lol I wish i had that much money. :P

also i was curious about the Merlin CR 3/2.5 TiWorks bike. It's a carbon-fiber titanium hybrid
merlinbike.comcr325.aspxOpen ↗

Has anyone tried it out or own one? Feedback would be great.

Duracellis said:

lol I wish i had that much money. :P

also i was curious about the Merlin CR 3/2.5 TiWorks bike. It's a carbon-fiber titanium hybrid
merlinbike.comcr325.aspxOpen ↗

Has anyone tried it out or own one? Feedback would be great.

I have never used titanium on my road bike before, but from using it on my bmx bike I have learned that 6/4 titanium is a much better choice. If you can afford it, go 6/4, its a bit stronger and less flexible.

Duracellis said:

I was curious about frame materials. I have read a lot about how 'dreamy' titanium is and heard a lot about carbon fiber.

it's getting a lot tougher to generalize about materials because they've all improved so much since (say) ten years ago, especially aluminum.

The mostly redundant generalizations, which you've probably heard, go something like this: alumimum is cheap, stiff, but too uncomfortable, and will break too soon. Titanium is comfortable, but too expensive and too flexy, and not as strong as steel. Steel is comfortable, usually affordable, but too heavy and will most likely, eventually rust. Carbon is stiff AND comfortable, but too expensive and could fracture suddenly.

Ten or 15 years ago, aluminum was usually uncomfortable, and still suffers from this reputation, but, in the opinion of many, it's improved 5-fold since those days. A good, modern steel frame will only be 200 or 300g heavier than aluminum, but can still rust. People still complain about the odd ti frame being too flexy, but others say that Litespeeds are the stiffest bike they've ever ridden. The top-end carbon is still very expensive, but there's more and more affordable carbon coming out of Asia.

So, the best thing to do is what you've done, which is enquire about the chracteristics of specific bikes, such as the Merlin 🙂

ToffoIsMe said:

I have never used titanium on my road bike before, but from using it on my bmx bike I have learned that 6/4 titanium is a much better choice. If you can afford it, go 6/4, its a bit stronger and less flexible.

That's not always the case. Manufacturing practices and frame design frequently negate this. A pretty good discussion of this can be found at:

http://www.spectrum-cycles.com/624.htm

As good posters will tell you, it's not the material, it's the design. Titanium has one great quality in that it's a metal that doesn't rust, if you like the bare metal look. Carbon fiber can look industrial or organic depending on the way it was designed. Both materials are expensive.

I happen to have a custom carbon fiber bike. Custom is the key word: the bike it designed precisely to fit my body perfectly and has the type of ride quality that I prefer. I could just have well gone custom steel for that matter.

Any bike designer works with the full understanding of the material they are desgining with. Same goes for bridge builders who go steel or concrete. The point is, it does not matter if it's 3/2.5 or 6/4 titanium, alumium or scandium (simply an aluminum alloy), bonded or lugged carbon, silver brazed, welded or brazed lugs steel, the designer chooses the gauge of tube, method, length, angle and such to deliver the performance desired. Any high end bike can be designed as a very lightweight bike for weight weenies. Seems carbon is the current king in the absolute weight weenie department. Bikes for the rest of us can be made out of anything.

Ever see how beautiful the lugwork and paint on a Columbine bike is? There is a lot more to a machine than the material it is made out of.

supergrill said:

That's not always the case. Manufacturing practices and frame design frequently negate this. A pretty good discussion of this can be found at:

spectrum-cycles.com624.htmOpen ↗

[font=Verdana]I just finished reading that article, very informative I must say.

And to reply to Insight Driver's post, I am not a 'weight weenie' by any means (I know you were talking in general). I am looking for a smooth, comfortable bike with high performance capabilities. If I ride an uncomfortable bike, or an ugly one for that matter, I'm not going to go out training as often or with as much enthusiasm if I am self conscious about my bike or it hurts to ride, thus, making riding a drag.

I hear that frame dimensions, design, and construction are the main things but building materials are also important, if to a lesser degree.[/font]