Drew wants to know which is the best material for frame building, Carbon, Alloy, Titanium or Steel. We look at the pros and cons of all the different materials and what our choice would be, although if you are a regular reader you probably already know what that is!
Question: I’m having some confusion over what frame material is preferable for a good quality road-bike. The ideal price for the frame would be in the $1500-2000 range but I’ve seen newer steel, carbon and titanium frames at this price; aside from test-riding, are there any suggestions that come to mind for specific frames/manufacturers? Also, do you know anything about the newer steel tubing (S3, Reynold 900-series) and whether those are a good option?
Thank you.
Hi Drew,
This question keeps coming up and will reoccur until the end of time, I’m sure.
OK we will run through the materials.
Alloy is great, cheap and responsive, but to make it better it should be mated with a set of carbon forks and if money allowing, carbon chain stays or/and seat stays. If you look back even as little as five years ago you will see nearly all race frames where built like this.
Titanium if built properly it will last for ever, it’s said if a titanium frame doesn’t break in the first month then it never will. It’s light and stiff, but expensive, again if matched to carbon front and rear ends makes for a very nice ride without much harshness. Many people say titanium/carbon mix is the top choice for the road, but I’ve also spoken to riders who have found titanium feeling dead, not giving a lively ride, so maybe it’s not so good, especially at the price.
As you will have realized if you have read some, or hopefully all, of our articles, is that we prefer carbon frames. Carbon is comfortable, handles well in most conditions and looks good. You can pick up carbon frames at a reasonable price, but you get what you pay for, there are different processes and qualities to consider. At the moment carbon is most riders’ choice and we go along with that.
Steel was the only choice of frame materials not that long ago, it was heavy but, usually reliable, stiff for many years and could be any color you wanted, now though you don’t see much of it around. The new steels you mention are very light, this lightness is achieved by making the walls of the tubes thinner where it is not needed and also with the mix of metals used to make the tubes. This all makes it more difficult to braze the tubes together, temperatures have to be watched very carefully or the steel can become brittle and weak. Only an expert can use these materials, so this can be expensive.
This is our opinion, based on our experience and experience of the many riders we have spoken to about their bikes. The trouble is that if you ask ten cyclists about frames/bikes you will get ten different thoughts.
You ask what we would recommend, when it comes to carbon our choices are Time, Specialized or Giant, there are so many to pick from its very hard. We also like to look of Trek’s new Madone and the Ridley range, Look and BMC are also innovators in the art of carbon frame manufacture. There also many small producers of artisan carbon frames, these are very pricey and you should think very carefully before spending that kind of money. Be careful of small producers of carbon frames who couldn’t possibly afford to set up a frame production, they are probably importing from Taiwan or China. Many good frames come from the far east, but the bigger importers will have a very strict quality control, will have had their own designers draw the plans, would make sure that no corners would be cut and would not pass on to the customer any badly made or any frames with defects.
Well that’s our thoughts and choices on frame materials and manufacturers, stick to a known brands with a guarantee back up. With a famous brand you may be paying for the name, but you are also paying for their experience and manufacturing know how. The top brands can’t afford any breakages as word soon spreads through the trade and among the rider customer. Talk to your co-riders and team mates, as much in put as you can get should help you in your decision, or worse confuse you even more. We have said before on Bike Cycling Reviews that choosing a new frame or bike is one of the nicest and the worst position to be in both at the same time. In the end you need to like what you are looking at, design and color can sometimes be the deciding factor as we may never know the exact production methods in manufacture. Good luck and let us know what you decide or if you need more help.
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