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#21
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
In article
, "Leo Lichtman" wrote: "(PeteCresswell)" wrote: Is there anything about Al that makes it "better" than steel besides fabrication costs? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Do you know why they build airplanes out of aluminum? :-) So they can maintain a fastidious schedule inspecting every structural part for fatigue? -- Michael Press |
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#22
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
In article ,
"(PeteCresswell)" wrote: Per Lee: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool steel fan.... Is there anything about Al that makes it "better" than steel besides fabrication costs? I That depends. Do you know of any 1000g steel frames? Aside from that, I'd argue that it's easier to build a light, aero frame from Al than steel, though carbon fibre might be even easier, if pricier. These are racing-oriented virtues, and subtle ones, but since you asked. Regarding fabrication costs, I suspect steel can still be welded (or lugged) more cheaply than Al. At the very bottom of the market, steel persists. The rise of aluminum in very cheap bikes has, I suspect, the same impetus as the gradual downward move of aluminum rims onto cheaper and cheaper bikes. When my parents bought me a mountain bike when I was 14 or so, its aluminum rims were a key feature that distinguished it as a pretty good (C$400 at the time) though not top-of-the-line (would have had indexed shifters) machine. These days, aluminum rims are available on a wide variety of department-store bikes. That said, I did find this very cheap kids' bike: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...51&cat=5304&ty pe=5&dept=4171&path=0%3A4171%3A133073%3A5304&xsell =2513008#long_descr Steel rims, steel frame. BTW, I'm recommending this to all my friends: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...46&cat=133073& type=5&dept=4171&path=0%3A4171%3A133073#long_descr Retrogrouches, thrill to the quill stem, non-brifter shifting, and classic weight (listed 29 pounds). That said, I think this bike has real potential: 29 pounds is about 6 pounds heavier than a guideline Sora-equipped bike, but a fair bit of that is in the components. -- Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/ "I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos |
#23
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
(PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Lee: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool steel fan.... Is there anything about Al that makes it "better" than steel besides fabrication costs? I yes - the ability to fabricate & use much bigger diameter tube and therefore address shimmy through increased torsional stiffness. |
#24
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
I forgot long ago, but it may have changed since the integrated
manufacturing with Trek. OK, they are not totally integrated but I am sure they trade "best practices". I also bet that the aluminum welded Treks are made on the same production line as the (aluminum) Kleins. |
#25
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
On 2005-08-12, jim beam wrote:
(PeteCresswell) wrote: Per Lee: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool steel fan.... Is there anything about Al that makes it "better" than steel besides fabrication costs? I yes - the ability to fabricate & use much bigger diameter tube and therefore address shimmy through increased torsional stiffness. So... what makes you think that steel tubing isn't available in larger diameters? :-) -- John ) |
#26
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 21:05:09 GMT, John Thompson
wrote: On 2005-08-12, jim beam wrote: (PeteCresswell) wrote: Per Lee: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool steel fan.... Is there anything about Al that makes it "better" than steel besides fabrication costs? I yes - the ability to fabricate & use much bigger diameter tube and therefore address shimmy through increased torsional stiffness. So... what makes you think that steel tubing isn't available in larger diameters? :-) Dear John, It is! Or rather, was: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ... 4#long_descr The tapered-end gaspipe of the classic Fury Roadmaster is 43 mm wide on the downtube and 38 mm thick on the top tube. Each untapered leg of the fork is a robust 32 mm wide, the same as the main frame tubes on my 1998 chrome-moly Schwinn LeTour touring bike. There is a slight weight and aerodynamic penalty, but as Butch Cassidy remarked, that's a small price to pay for beauty. Carl Fogel |
#27
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
un ited bicycle institute has a al-steel-carbon poll
was surprised to find walmort cyclists not polled as steel was 47% , al 17% |
#28
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
John Thompson wrote:
On 2005-08-12, jim beam wrote: (PeteCresswell) wrote: Per Lee: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool steel fan.... Is there anything about Al that makes it "better" than steel besides fabrication costs? I yes - the ability to fabricate & use much bigger diameter tube and therefore address shimmy through increased torsional stiffness. So... what makes you think that steel tubing isn't available in larger diameters? :-) real "tube", as in seamless drawn tube, is very hard to make in really big diameters with realistic weights. to keep weight down, the walls need to be thin, and once they get below 0.3mm or so, they have usability issues. much bigger diameter pipe [not to be confused with tube] is common on cheap stuff, but that's a whole different weight ballpark. afaik, the biggest decent quality tube is a baseball bat tapered down tube about 34mm diameter, unless you go for tandem tubeset. aluminum tubesets routinely have down tube diameters of 45mm & up. |
#29
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Why are Cannondale welds so smooth?
Ryan Cousineau wrote: In article , snip BTW, I'm recommending this to all my friends: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...46&cat=133073& type=5&dept=4171&path=0%3A4171%3A133073#long_descr Retrogrouches, thrill to the quill stem, non-brifter shifting, and classic weight (listed 29 pounds). That said, I think this bike has real potential: 29 pounds is about 6 pounds heavier than a guideline Sora-equipped bike, but a fair bit of that is in the components. Yea, those twist-grip shifters bagged on to the bars near the brake levers ought to be just the ticket. |
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