aluminum frames? -- not a troll

Are aluminum frames "still" "bad?" This LBS guy that I am gravitating to (by
virtue of geography and I bought my good bike there) will flat out NOT sell me
an aluminum frame. This would not be for my main ride. This is a back-up,
wet-weather, preeminently affordable yet raceable frame I am looking for. I'm
looking for a great deal on a new alu frame for my backup bike. Aside from my
good bike, I ride a '98 Raleigh R 500 frame that I want to replace because it
feels cumbersome. It has been mostly upgraded to an Ultegra drivetrain, and it
still has cheaper Mavic wheels. If I got a good frame I could borrow (hehe) my
wife's Rolf Sestrierre wheels if I felt like I "needed" them. LBS guy won't
sell me an aluminum frame though. He says they are all too stiff, something
bad about the dropouts, and break too easily. Mind you, I just got my wife a
Cannondale CAAD 5 R3000si (used). I just want a good, light frame I can put
miles on, race if I feel like it, and not worry about rust, without buying
stinking titanium for stinking Ultegra. Thanks much.

Jim

Jim Flom" wrote in message
...
Are aluminum frames "still" "bad?" This LBS guy that I am gravitating to
(by
virtue of geography and I bought my good bike there) will flat out NOT
sell me
an aluminum frame. This would not be for my main ride. This is a
back-up,
wet-weather, preeminently affordable yet raceable frame I am looking for.
I'm
looking for a great deal on a new alu frame for my backup bike. Aside
from my
good bike, I ride a '98 Raleigh R 500 frame that I want to replace because
it
feels cumbersome. It has been mostly upgraded to an Ultegra drivetrain,
and it
still has cheaper Mavic wheels. If I got a good frame I could borrow
(hehe) my
wife's Rolf Sestrierre wheels if I felt like I "needed" them. LBS guy
won't
sell me an aluminum frame though. He says they are all too stiff,
something
bad about the dropouts, and break too easily. Mind you, I just got my
wife a
Cannondale CAAD 5 R3000si (used). I just want a good, light frame I can
put
miles on, race if I feel like it, and not worry about rust, without buying
stinking titanium for stinking Ultegra. Thanks much.

Jim


IMHO, there's a lot of nonsense that goes on about alu frames, specifically
about "ride quality" and that type of stuff. There's nothing wrong from an
aluminum frame compared to any other frame. If you could perform some type
of blind test between an alu frame and other frame materials, I doubt many
would be able to tell the difference. There are good reasons to buy other
materials, but they're not related to ride. Steel can be straightened after
a crash, re-brazed if a dropout breaks etc. But you can get a very good alu
frame very cheap that will kick an equivalent steel frame's arse in weight
and stiffness. I've always liked steel (I'm old-school..) because of the
ease of repair, but I bought an alu MTB frame to see how it is and frankly
it's quite fine in all ways compared to steel. I think composites have the
potential to offer a better ride than more conventional materials because of
the construction methods. However, I'm not wild about most current
composite frame's durability.

My $0.02CDN worth,

Scott..

Troll


On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 00:35:43 +0000, Jim Flom wrote:

Are aluminum frames "still" "bad?" This LBS guy that I am gravitating to (by
virtue of geography and I bought my good bike there) will flat out NOT sell me
an aluminum frame. This would not be for my main ride. This is a back-up,
wet-weather, preeminently affordable yet raceable frame I am looking for. I'm
looking for a great deal on a new alu frame for my backup bike. Aside from my
good bike, I ride a '98 Raleigh R 500 frame that I want to replace because it
feels cumbersome. It has been mostly upgraded to an Ultegra drivetrain, and it
still has cheaper Mavic wheels. If I got a good frame I could borrow (hehe) my
wife's Rolf Sestrierre wheels if I felt like I "needed" them. LBS guy won't
sell me an aluminum frame though. He says they are all too stiff, something
bad about the dropouts, and break too easily. Mind you, I just got my wife a
Cannondale CAAD 5 R3000si (used). I just want a good, light frame I can put
miles on, race if I feel like it, and not worry about rust, without buying
stinking titanium for stinking Ultegra. Thanks much.

Jim

"Jim Flom" wrote in message
...
Are aluminum frames "still" "bad?" This LBS guy that I am gravitating to
(by
virtue of geography and I bought my good bike there) will flat out NOT
sell me
an aluminum frame. This would not be for my main ride. This is a
back-up,
wet-weather, preeminently affordable yet raceable frame I am looking for.
I'm
looking for a great deal on a new alu frame for my backup bike. Aside
from my
good bike, I ride a '98 Raleigh R 500 frame that I want to replace because
it
feels cumbersome. It has been mostly upgraded to an Ultegra drivetrain,
and it
still has cheaper Mavic wheels. If I got a good frame I could borrow
(hehe) my
wife's Rolf Sestrierre wheels if I felt like I "needed" them. LBS guy
won't
sell me an aluminum frame though. He says they are all too stiff,
something
bad about the dropouts, and break too easily. Mind you, I just got my
wife a
Cannondale CAAD 5 R3000si (used). I just want a good, light frame I can
put
miles on, race if I feel like it, and not worry about rust, without buying
stinking titanium for stinking Ultegra. Thanks much.

Jim

Sounds like somebody had a bad experience with an aluminum frame.

For all those people that say titanium is too stiff, go look at a castellano
fango - it actually uses aluminum plates as its pivot mechanism, similar to
how cannondale scalpels use carbon fiber. My point? Design has FAR more to
do with how a bike rides, how strong the bike is, and if the bike feels
stiff or not. You can make a whippy aluminum frame or a steel frame that
feels harsh. If you're going to be riding it a lot in the rain and
nastiness, then either go with steel and make sure you put framesaver in
there and deal with any scratches and dings quickly, or get a sturdy
aluminum one.

The store I work.. well, worked, I stopped yesterday 'cause I'm going back
to school - anyway, we sell tons of cannondale road bikes. If it says
anything to you, three of the guys who work there just ordered new bikes (an
R6000, and R5000, and an R2000). One is switching from an R1000, one is
switching from a Gunnar steel bike, and one is switching from an Aegis
Carbon bike that was just a bit rich for his blood, I think.

Of the broken frames I've seen in the shop, one was mine (aluminum entry
level hardtail, small crack at a fairly nasty looking dropout weld), one was
a triathlon bike that was too small, so it had huge amounts of steerer tube
sticking out (it was a trainer only bike, so it worked for quite a while
like that), a couple older steel frames that rusted through, one new steel
frame that pulled apart at the head tube/top tube after a crash, a couple
aluminum mountain bikes that were just abused, and one aluminum one that got
run over by a car. There are a very few frames out there that seem to break
a lot, but they're 100% attributable to bad design, and I personally don't
know of any aluminum road bikes on that list.

Get whatever feels best. If you feel a difference between steel and
aluminum, and like the steel, then by all means get it. But don't let the
salesman decide for you.

Jon Bond

"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"swamprun" wrote:

Troll

Actually, Swampy, not a troll. Jim Flom is a long-time participant in
these here newsgroups.

Pretty sure he was joking.

Bill "or she, I suppose" S.

"Jim Flom" wrote in message
...
Are aluminum frames "still" "bad?"

Aluminum frames are fine, generally speaking.

This LBS guy that I am gravitating to (by
virtue of geography and I bought my good bike there) will flat out NOT
sell me
an aluminum frame.

We have a dealer like that here in Urbana. He *hates* aluminum frames.

This would not be for my main ride. This is a back-up,
wet-weather, preeminently affordable yet raceable frame I am looking for.
I'm
looking for a great deal on a new alu frame for my backup bike. Aside
from my
good bike, I ride a '98 Raleigh R 500 frame that I want to replace because
it
feels cumbersome. It has been mostly upgraded to an Ultegra drivetrain,
and it
still has cheaper Mavic wheels. If I got a good frame I could borrow
(hehe) my
wife's Rolf Sestrierre wheels if I felt like I "needed" them. LBS guy
won't
sell me an aluminum frame though. He says they are all too stiff,
something
bad about the dropouts, and break too easily. Mind you, I just got my
wife a
Cannondale CAAD 5 R3000si (used). I just want a good, light frame I can
put
miles on, race if I feel like it, and not worry about rust, without buying
stinking titanium for stinking Ultegra. Thanks much.

He wants you to spend the big bux on a Ti frame from his shop, of course.
Go somewhere else.

-Barry

On 12 Aug 2003 00:35:43 GMT, (Jim Flom) may
have said:

Are aluminum frames "still" "bad?" This LBS guy that I am gravitating to (by
virtue of geography and I bought my good bike there) will flat out NOT sell me
an aluminum frame. This would not be for my main ride. This is a back-up,
wet-weather, preeminently affordable yet raceable frame I am looking for. I'm
looking for a great deal on a new alu frame for my backup bike. Aside from my
good bike, I ride a '98 Raleigh R 500 frame that I want to replace because it
feels cumbersome. It has been mostly upgraded to an Ultegra drivetrain, and it
still has cheaper Mavic wheels. If I got a good frame I could borrow (hehe) my
wife's Rolf Sestrierre wheels if I felt like I "needed" them. LBS guy won't
sell me an aluminum frame though. He says they are all too stiff, something
bad about the dropouts, and break too easily. Mind you, I just got my wife a
Cannondale CAAD 5 R3000si (used). I just want a good, light frame I can put
miles on, race if I feel like it, and not worry about rust, without buying
stinking titanium for stinking Ultegra. Thanks much.

My advice: shop elsewhere. There most certainly are very good
aluminum frames available which do not cost a fortune; several of my
friends have examples.

--
My email address is antispammed;
pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.

schreef ...

My advice: shop elsewhere. There most certainly are very good
aluminum frames available which do not cost a fortune; several of my
friends have examples.

Second the "shop elsewhere" phrase. Everywhere in Bicycle Land you'll
find this kind of Ye Olde Schoole of Thinkinge guys who will claim they
have 33 years of experience. Yeah right: that's 3 years of experience
which date back 30 years :-(

--
Regards,
Marten

I really have to laugh at people who HATE aluminum frames so much.

Its not just because I have 5 of them right now. Heck, in the last 20
years I have only owned one aluminum bike but now, all of a sudden, I
got a good deal on a 'dale, so did my girlfriend and a guy we ride
with.

Then, both my girlfriend and I found great looking 'dale frames on
E-bay and so I now have 3 bikes to build up.

Back to the point of hating aluminum frames. :-)

These people who call Cannondale 'crack-n-fail' and all the other
silly, nasty, things they say, what do these people think about when
they are flying on an airplane?????


Lewis.

*************************
(Jim Flom) wrote in message ...
Are aluminum frames "still" "bad?" This LBS guy that I am gravitating to (by
virtue of geography and I bought my good bike there) will flat out NOT sell me
an aluminum frame. This would not be for my main ride. This is a back-up,
wet-weather, preeminently affordable yet raceable frame I am looking for. I'm
looking for a great deal on a new alu frame for my backup bike. Aside from my
good bike, I ride a '98 Raleigh R 500 frame that I want to replace because it
feels cumbersome. It has been mostly upgraded to an Ultegra drivetrain, and it
still has cheaper Mavic wheels. If I got a good frame I could borrow (hehe) my
wife's Rolf Sestrierre wheels if I felt like I "needed" them. LBS guy won't
sell me an aluminum frame though. He says they are all too stiff, something
bad about the dropouts, and break too easily. Mind you, I just got my wife a
Cannondale CAAD 5 R3000si (used). I just want a good, light frame I can put
miles on, race if I feel like it, and not worry about rust, without buying
stinking titanium for stinking Ultegra. Thanks much.

Jim

Aluminum frames are fine, and inexpensive too,

Andres