Steel vs Aluminium.....HELP!

[andym]

Don't be fooled by so called touring bikes just because they have eyelets for Cheap bikes in general are a bad idea coz after you've patted yourself on the for the bargain price, your'll spend twice as long felling bitter about lack of quality and weight.

Actually I'm very happy with all of my bikes. All with frames made in Taiwan. None of the frames costs more than £150. None of them has any fancy lugs, or filigree on the fork crowns, basic welding, paint is powdercoated. All of them ride just fine, thanks. I'm happy to toddle along singing 'I've got a brand new combine harvester'.

If you want to pay twice as much, and then have to fret over whether your enamel paintwork is going to get scratched on the train - well that's OK by me.

 

[Muddyfox]

I always thought that the welding of broken steel frames was a load of old bunkum. When you cycle past any remote town in Asia, you can see that the quality of welding might be jsut good enough for making a hand cart but not for keeping a bicycle together. It might hold your frame together til you get to the next town, but maybe it won't. Not only that but the frame is almost cerntainly not going to be aligned properly .

Tell that to the people that have Actually experienced these things whilst touring around the world

Simon

 

[Danny]

One advantage of steel is that you can get minor damage to the frame repaired. For example good bike shops can easily straighten a bent rear gear hanger on a steel bike, while the same problem on an alu bike means a new frame - something I have been grateful for as over the years I have managed bend my rear gear hanger more than once.

However I agree with Steve Austin that if your frame snaps in two you might as well get a new one.

 

[Crankarm]

Funny you should mention that. When my Dawes Galaxy rear drop out fractured, six miles from a newly made friendss address in Chorley, I was ferried to Bill Nickson., bike shop owner and winner of the 1976 Tour of Britain. I was back on the road within the hour.

Bill wasn't prepared to guarantee the repair though. I couldn't quibble as he didn't charge me.

When I had a repeat fracture in the same place but on a different Galaxy frame in Orleans last year I decided that it would be more expedient to buy a suitable replacement and settled for a Decathlon aluminium framed hybrid. The frame material did not figure in my selection criteria.

For my next bike (n+1) I was looking at getting a super Galaxy frame and building it up. Thanks for sharing your experiences. f and when I get another it won't be a Dawes Galaxy that's for sure. One frame fracture is inconvenient, two is unfortunate, but 2 separate occurrences on different frames suggests to me that there is an inherent weakness with the manufacture of Galaxy frames.

 

[Crankarm]

Warranty? travel insurance would cover it, i didn't say warranty

Unlikely if they took the view it's fair wear and tear if you've been riding down a river bed in a valley in a remote corner of the world with the bike fully loaded having been on tour for 2 years.

 

[bigjim]

Have a look at this. I think this guy is an inspiration regarding touring bikes. he seems to ride whatever is available, keeping things simple. Sandals and downtube shifters etc.

http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/weight.htm

 

[Yellow7]

I feel the 'type' touring one chooses to do should be taken into account on frame selecting.
If your touring a couple of weeks each year here & there then an alu frame should suffice, but for a big extended tour knocking up many thousands of miles then steel is the best choice as repairs can be done with basic welding gear.
If you want the best of both worlds (strength of steel / lightness of alu) then theres Titanium (K-ching ££)

Fair play to the lightweight touring chappy that BigJim highlighted, but surely touring like this limits the choice of countries to visit, I've got a big tour up n coming & certainly won't be leaving home without the stove, water filter, Ortleib bladder & several 1 litre bottles, dynamo battery charger, I take what I need, if there's uncertainty then it stays, but I certainly won’t be weighing each & every item & making a list….the only ‘thing’ I weighed before my last tour was myself…. I came back 4kg lighter at 78Kg.

 

[bigjim]

Fair play to the lightweight touring chappy that BigJim highlighted, but surely touring like this limits the choice of countries to visit,

You kidding? Have you seen all the places he's been? And more to come. His obsession with weight is maybe a little over the top but he has a lot of useful info and ideas. How great would it be to be able to tour on a lightweight bike? I wonder if he is a bit smelly at times with one set of underwear and one pair of socks? Bet he never gets invited out to dinner. He certainly does not seem to limit himself to a certain type of bike. He sounds a real eccentric and the more interesting for that.

Jim

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

One advantage of steel is that you can get minor damage to the frame repaired. For example good bike shops can easily straighten a bent rear gear hanger on a steel bike, while the same problem on an alu bike means a new frame - something I have been grateful for as over the years I have managed bend my rear gear hanger more than once.

However I agree with Steve Austin that if your frame snaps in two you might as well get a new one.

Like many I have a tool kit that as well as tools includes Zip ties, string, cleat bolts, rack bolts etc; I also have two hangers; incase my girlfriend bends hers.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

 

[Yellow7]

BigJim, after reading the following from that chaps website;
Of course, the same applies when you wash yourself. I'm still not sure why I feel good after a wash: because I am clean or because I am lighter?

"He sounds a real eccentric..." I'll confirm your statement!!

Mark