Framebuilders - Steel

Hi,

In another forum I made a comment about the harsh ride I get from my Steamroller. Somebody replied that a light steel frame is more comfortable to ride. Whereas the Steamroller has thick walled OS steel which results in a less comfortable ride. Any truth to the light vs thick steel statement?

Hi,

In another forum I made a comment about the harsh ride I get from my Steamroller. Somebody replied that a light steel frame is more comfortable to ride. Whereas the Steamroller has thick walled OS steel which results in a less comfortable ride. Any truth to the light vs thick steel statement?

I'm not a metallurgist, or an engineer, but I believe it has more to do with frame geometry and how "springy" the steel is, and not so much how thick the tube walls are.

I've for an old Varsity that I ride regularly, it weights a ton, and the 1010 steel tubes have very thick walls, but it is surprisingly comfortable to ride.

Tubbing size and wall thickness mater, particularly the diameter of tubes. Stiffness increases to the cube of diameter, everything else being equal. Geometry of most main triangles isn't going to be terribly variable, but the rear end and forks can affect things. And tires are a biggie.

Traingular trusses, in the right proportions come pretty close to the stiffness of solid strutures, so they aren't going to yield much in the vertical plane.

Hi,

Somebody replied that a light steel frame is more comfortable to ride. Whereas the Steamroller has thick walled OS steel which results in a less comfortable ride. Any truth to the light vs thick steel statement?

This is 100% true. A thick steel frame will definitely ride more firmly than a thin walled frame.

That said, the frame thickness is less important than the fork in terms of ride quality...which is less important than tires.

Good luck.