I've recently taken up cycling again after a 15 yr break & 10 before that , I'll try to stick with it this time - for healths sake !
My question relates to a basic MTB I bought 15 yrs ago , a generic "Ivanhoe Cycles" bike, I remember the salesman told me it was a CrMo frame and it does have a "1020 HiTen" sticker on it.
I weighed the bike after reading the"how much does your bike weigh" thread and its 30Lb now Im thinking it should be lighter if it was CrMo because the tubing should be thinner .
I also have a 2001 Norco Bush Pilot w FS (alloy frame) and a Shogun Metro SE hybrid (steel frame) and they both weigh about 27Lb and they are much more bike than the 15yo job
Then again I have just finished building up a road bike on a 30 year old frame (I know I know - you dont put money into a POS) and its only 21 Lb and I assume it is ordinary steel.
SO is a CrMo frame heavier than mild steel ? Is there a way of testing what steel a frame is made from or do we just believe what the seller tells us ??
SO is a CrMo frame heavier than mild steel ? Is there a way of testing what steel a frame is made from or do we just believe what the seller tells us ??
If a frame does not have a tubing sticker on it,noone knows exactly what it is, outside of a lab test.Everything being equal,the higer strenth the steel, the lighter the frame could be made. Hi-ten is heavy,bottom of the barrel stuff.Not much more desirable than plumbers pipe.. Generic cromo is relatively low strength and pretty heavy too. There are many better higher strenth and lighter grades of cromo. There is also chrome vanadium, and manganese moly steel aloys, among others.
