Road Cycling - AN6 aluminum

I was in REI when I saw a bike, the novara strada at a really good price. It had 105s all over, and it cost $900. With the exception of a couple deals from supergo, this is the best price i've seen for a full 105 bike.

The frame, however, is made of AN6 aluminum, which I've never heard of before.

what can you guys (or girls) tell me about AN6? I dont mean for this to be a frame material debate, but what is the deal with AN6?

Here is what Litespeed had to say about it Litespeed Aluminium \ Carbon (http://www.litespeed.com/english/technology/alum_carbon.html)

Originally posted by Bobatin
Here is what Litespeed had to say about it Litespeed Aluminium \ Carbon (http://www.litespeed.com/english/technology/alum_carbon.html) That says nothing about an6,but overdoses one on hype about the Litespeedproprietary Alite.

True :) I have never heard of an6 outside of an aircraft bolt and so after a search the Litespeed was all I came up with. It can not be much lighter than regular aluminium because the alloying elements are normally such a small percentage. The tensile and yield strengths are higher but that could also mean that it is more brittle.

If Litespeed is using AN6 it must be ok.

Not a bad price for a "full 105" bike. When I bought my 1999 Raleigh R600 (aluminum frame, full 105) I paid list price of $950.

Originally posted by Phatman
I , but what is the deal with AN6? If the decal had a manufacturer on it,you could possibly check their website.Otherwise, lower end aluminum frames are just that.Little or no real difference in the real world. If it FITS,has a warranty you can live with and the right parts, that is what really counts.REI has been pedaling the Novara brand for some time.Decent stuff for the buck.

Originally posted by RonH
If Litespeed is using AN6 it must be ok.
Yeah,but Litespeed does not use it 'as is'.

If the decal had a manufacturer on it,you could possibly check their website

The manufacturer is Novara...am I missing something?

Originally posted by Phatman


The manufacturer is Novara...am I missing something? Novara is the REI brand. Neither REI or Novara makes the bike.It's made probably by some major frame maker in the orient and that name is stuck on it. My reverence was to the tubing manufacturer. Like in Reynolds,Alcoa,Easton, Deddacciai,Columbus,whatever.Their lables are often on the bike. If you came up with an6 from some of REI's litterature on the bike,then you are out of luck.

gotcha. I understand.

rats...I didn't look when I was at the store. I doubt that it is made by a famous company like columbus, reynolds, or easton. All I saw was AN6...

BTW, I'm noticing that KHS is starting to make some of their high-end bikes out of AN6.

AN6 is a 6000 series of alumium, most modern bike frame aluminium is 7000 series. A good webisite to check out for the history of this technology is Columbus in Italy. The main site is being updated right now, still you can download a ".pdf" on Aluminum tubes and components -- while the site itself is mostly down. http://www.columbustubi.com/. Most of this is in Italian, but look on the left and you will see paragraphs in English.

In short, the original AL race frames of the 1970s were way too flexible. The first generation of truly rideable tubes was called Altec by Columbus. It was AL mixed with only magnesium. Next came Altec2, which is AL with magnesium and zinc. The state of the art today is called "starship" by Columbus and it's AL mixed with magnisium and silicon. Each improvement added both tensile strength and greater elasticity (how far the tube will bend without recovering -- returning to original shape). Starship can bend 14% before it permanently deforms, the original AL tubes only would bend 7%. Big improvement. Other tube companies have their own names for these. 7000 series and 6000 series generally refers to the grade of AL being used. These generally relate to the corrosion properties weight. But it is what the tube company does with the grade of AL that makes all the difference... what is added, how the tubes are designed and how the final product is cured and welded.