Need advice on road bike frame material - alum, composite, or comp/steel

I am shopping for a new road bike and have been looking at various
frame materials - aluminum, composite and mixed composite/steel.

I am looking to ride 2-3 x/during the week (20 miles) and on the
weekend (30-50 miles) working up to riding centuries. I have heard
some of the advantages of each but I am trying to understand the best
type of frame material for what I am going to do. Due to the weather,
I have not been able to get out on a bike test ride the differences.

What are key things that I need to consider? Questions I need to be
asking at the stores?

FYI - The bikes I have been looking at a Aluminum (Trek 2200),
Composite (Trek 5200/Specialized Roubaix) and composite/steel (Lemond
Buenos Aires).

Thanks
Mike

In article ,
says...
I am shopping for a new road bike and have been looking at various
frame materials - aluminum, composite and mixed composite/steel.

I am looking to ride 2-3 x/during the week (20 miles) and on the
weekend (30-50 miles) working up to riding centuries. I have heard
some of the advantages of each but I am trying to understand the best
type of frame material for what I am going to do. Due to the weather,
I have not been able to get out on a bike test ride the differences.

What are key things that I need to consider? Questions I need to be
asking at the stores?

FYI - The bikes I have been looking at a Aluminum (Trek 2200),
Composite (Trek 5200/Specialized Roubaix) and composite/steel (Lemond
Buenos Aires).

Those are all good bikes by good manufacturers. Don't worry about the
material; give them a test ride, and pick the one which fits and rides
the best. The material is immaterial.


--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

On 11 Feb 2004 04:15:40 -0800, (Mike) wrote:
I am shopping for a new road bike and have been looking at various
frame materials - aluminum, composite and mixed composite/steel.

Take it to rec.bicycles.tech; we haven't had a good frame material
war in there for, oh, I'd say a couple months.

What are key things that I need to consider? Questions I need to be
asking at the stores?

Here's one key thing to NOT consider: Frame material. Go to
groups.google.com and read the thousands of messages of previous
frame material wars. You'll find out that material is an immaterial
concern (hah! .

I'm partial to Aluminum, because I really hate the way that steel
corrodes; aluminum corrosion is IME less common, and less bothersome
when present. If I wasn't limited to inexpensive materials, I'd be
willing to give titanium a try...love that brushed finish.
--
Rick Onanian

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 07:57:52 -0500, David Kerber
wrote:
The material is immaterial.

Doh! I hoped I was the first to say that...
--
Rick Onanian

In article ,
says...
On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 07:57:52 -0500, David Kerber
wrote:
The material is immaterial.

Doh! I hoped I was the first to say that...

Too bad GGG!

--
Rick Onanian


--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 04:15:40 -0800, Mike wrote:

What are key things that I need to consider? Questions I need to be
asking at the stores?

Echoing the other two respondents, frame material is not the first
consideration. Fit is most important, and after that (IMO) components.
Well, the bike should also fit your needs, of course. You don't want a
race-light bike with no rack fittings for touring, or a touring bike for
racing. I currently have 3 bikes that I ride regularly, a titanium road
bike (Habanero), a steel track bike, and an aluminum mountain bike. They
are slightly different due to material, maybe, but considerably different
due to design. They all are just what I need.

Ride the bikes before you buy. Be sure you have the range of gears you
need, and that the shifters, etc., work the way you want them to. Make
sure the shop is willing and able to properly adjust the bike to fit --
including changing the stem (a commonly-needed change that shops tend to
charge for, but shouldn't IMO). Make sure the bars can be placed at your
height, don't just take what is there. Swapping a saddle can reasonably
cost extra (original equipment saddles are often cheap, and not sellable
on their own).

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass.
_`\(,_ | What are you on?" --Lance Armstrong
(_)/ (_) |

(Mike) wrote in message . com...
I am shopping for a new road bike and have been looking at various
frame materials - aluminum, composite and mixed composite/steel.

Hi,

If I were You, probably I would chose the aluminium bike. (Or more
preferably even a cromo bike). Composite frames are not too much
lighter than better aluminium ones but they cost significantly more.
Aluminium frames can also be repaired easier. Personally I also find
aluminium more comfortable. So I would buy the aluminium bike, and
spend some extra money on buying a lighter set of wheels.

Frank
www.plitkorn.com

"Ferenc Lovro" wrote in message om...
Composite frames are not too much
lighter than better aluminium ones but they cost significantly more.
Aluminium frames can also be repaired easier.

Easier than composite frames? I've never repaired a CF frame, but I didn't
think it was supposed to be too hard. If the aluminum is heat-treated,
repairing cracks is a problem (since it needs to be tempered after welding).
If it's not, then I suppose it shouldn't be too hard. I'm told though when it
cracks, it's likely fatigued elsewhere, and prone to crack again.

Steel is easy to repair. Aluminum is probably the best value, if it doesn't break.
Steel and Ti can be good values in a lifetime frame. And I guess CF is
probably the lightest.

Thanks for the advice...interestingly, the stores seem convinced that
the frame material is very important.

The shop I went to yesterday wants me to road test 4 different bikes -
all have similar components, wheels, etc - the difference is frame
material - aluminum, aluminum compact geometry, carbon,
carbon/steel...They think that I will be able to feel the difference
of the frames in ride quality, acceleration, etc. This makes sense to
me. My current bike is a cro-moly and I don't feel that it dampens
out alot of the road vibration (which is why I bought it over an
aluminum bike).

I'll check out the other discussion group....I did a search in this
group and didn't see alot of recent links on frame material
comparisons....

Mike

The shop I went to yesterday wants me to road test 4 different bikes -
all have similar components, wheels, etc - the difference is frame
material - aluminum, aluminum compact geometry, carbon,
carbon/steel...They think that I will be able to feel the difference
of the frames in ride quality, acceleration, etc. This makes sense to
me.

Before you test ride the bikes, you might check out this article on our
website-

http://www.chainreaction.com/roadbiketestrides.htm

It's all about how you should test-ride bikes. What to look for, how to
make sure they're set up properly. It's entirely brand & material neutral,
and has helped quite a few people with their bike choice dilemma.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com