Puch Alpine

Hi-tensile steel is a fairly weak mild steel, therefore, the walls of the tubing are much thicker and heavier than the tubing walls of a bike made of hi-carbon steel or chrome molybdenum. The only reason that a bike manufacturer uses Hi-ten is to reduce costs as is a very inexpensive steel in comparrison to the others. The only merits to Hi-ten is that it makes bikes available to people who otherwise could not afford a higher priced quality material frame bike, and that it is a good bike for commuting if you work in a high crime area and are forced to leave your bike outdoors chained to a sign post or telephone pole.

If I were you I would pass on the Puch, not only because it of the Hi-ten frame but also because the Sachs Huret drivetrain and the Weinman brakes are very obsolete. However, if you like riding on cheap vintage bikes, then it may be right for you. Just don't give more than $60.00 for it as that is all that it is worth in show room condition.

Thank for your prompt reply. It confirmed my gut feelings on this. I will take your advice and pass on this. I used to have an old Carlton with Reynolds 531c tubing. It was the most comfortable ride, I lent it to my brother who promptly split up with his wife, Bye, bye Carlton. I will keep looking.
Regards
Harry

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by kdelong [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Hi-tensile steel is a fairly weak mild steel, therefore, the walls of the tubing are much thicker and heavier than the tubing walls of a bike made of hi-carbon steel or chrome molybdenum. The only reason that a bike manufacturer uses Hi-ten is to reduce costs as is a very inexpensive steel in comparrison to the others. The only merits to Hi-ten is that it makes bikes available to people who otherwise could not afford a higher priced quality material frame bike, and that it is a good bike for commuting if you work in a high crime area and are forced to leave your bike outdoors chained to a sign post or telephone pole.

If I were you I would pass on the Puch, not only because it of the Hi-ten frame but also because the Sachs Huret drivetrain and the Weinman brakes are very obsolete. However, if you like riding on cheap vintage bikes, then it may be right for you. Just don't give more than $60.00 for it as that is all that it is worth in show room condition.

I guess someone should play devil's advocate ...

FWIW. In addition to steel having the benefit of 2400+ years of R&D, I would suggest that after allowing for improving road conditions one can draw a straight line between bikes made with hi-tensile steel (aka "gas pipe"😉 tubing and the first generation of carbon fiber bike frames whose ride was often engineered to mimic the ride of a steel frame in the manner that contemporary carbon fiber frames apparently mimic the ride of a good aluminum frame (i.e., stiffer than a CF frame from 10 years ago).

The clearest disadvantage of a hi-tensile steel frame is that it will be heavier -- often, much heavier --than a CroMo frame, but not by so much that it matters for rides under 10-or-so-miles ... heck, make that 25 miles.

With some effort, a vintage French frame made with "gas pipe" tubing can be brought down to about 24 lbs.

On the other hand, a contemporary WATERFORD with the same components can weigh in at about 17+ lbs. -- even less, if weight weenie components are used (I know someone who said his Waterford weighed just under 16 lbs despite the "standard" Brooks B17 saddle because everything else on the bike was a weight weenie component ... his relative frame size would be comparable to a 58+ cm off the peg frame) .

IMO, if you were to put the right components AND the right wheels on the particular Puch, you probably wouldn't notice as much difference as many might think ...

• BUT, I'm inclined to think that once the matter of head tube angle & fork rake are chosen, the rest of the frame is mostly there to hold the rider & components in a particular orientation.
  

Regardless, as mentioned, the components are obsolete -- useable, but they may leave a lot to be desired ...