Smokin Joe
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- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
I've never bothered about what material a frame is made of as long as it's not cheap crap. They all have their merits and drawbacks, if they fit well they're nice to ride.
Yes and if it's for touring a few scratches hardly matter.Old steel frames can be had quite cheap, even 531, and still ride well. I have returned to all steel for my 26" tourer, a rather old Trek 950, a lugged MTB frame with quite similar geometry to the Trek 520, with 1 1/8 True Temper Cro-Moly tubing, double butted. I don't think Trek has taken that much trouble with a steel MTB since.
Yes and if it's for touring a few scratches hardly matter.
Good morning,
I certainly agree that older bikes can be great to ride, although I wouldn't want go back as far as the
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/bsa-tour-de-france.239856/
BSA restoration thread.
I had a similar bike as a youth, a Raleigh Shadow, same frame, brakes and wheels but 5 speed, this was during the period that Raleigh, BSA, Sun, Carlton etc were all just different paint jobs.
For years I have avoided progress and mostly ride a 531 steel/downtube shifters era machine, but 6 months ago I was tempted by a lonely looking used full carbon/Di2 jobbie.
I really wanted to see what I was missing, I now happily swap between the two, the lighter frame is a noticeable improvement but I am equally happy with the steel frame, but Di2 is a genuine, real upgrade, for me at least.
The ease of changing gear for just a few seconds as I go down a dip and then back up again means that I ride faster but with less rests.
Although I can't imagine it ever being Shimano's intention, changing onto the small chainring when approaching a busy roundabout and then changing back up even before leaving the roundabout is a real nice way to negotiate it without being knocked off by impatient cars. :-)
The sad thing is that the only real improvement, for my type of riding, is the also the most expensive, carbon frames and steel frames are pretty much on par price wise. Clipless and toe clip pedal are also similar prices assuming you believe that clipless is an improvement. :-)
Di2 requires at least Ultegra components, as there is no sign of Di2 105. :-(
As a piece of useless info; a couple of years ago I put a new Ultegra front mech on the steel bike, when they introduced the long pivot arm, and it is a really fast change with downtube shifters and may be worth considering for your Peugoet if you use both chain rings often.
Bye
Ian
I don’t know what relevance the TdF link has to the thread . Would you care to clarify?
I prefer the old ones but, for a stupidly hilly fast ride, I'd take the 17lb carbon thing. It's ugly and noisy and not all that plush, but 5lb less uphill makes it worth it.
They don't do the job any better than aluminium chainsets and the weigh more.Can someone educate me about the downsides of steel chainsets?
I had the idea that steel might last longer, and hence sometimes used on certain rings?They don't do the job any better than aluminium chainsets and the weigh more.
Why noisy?I prefer the old ones but, for a stupidly hilly fast ride, I'd take the 17lb carbon thing. It's ugly and noisy and not all that plush, but 5lb less uphill makes it worth it.
For a stupidly hilly fast ride, I'd choose a different cyclistI prefer the old ones but, for a stupidly hilly fast ride, I'd take the 17lb carbon thing. It's ugly and noisy and not all that plush, but 5lb less uphill makes it worth it.