Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - stainless steel?

is there a big disadvantage in using stainless steel for a bike frame? it seams
like the ideal material to me but since there are not many companies using it
maybe there is a problem that i am not aware of...

To me, it all depends on what you like. I prefer steel, but then again I prefer the classic/vintage bikes. Companies still make steel frames so I dont think there is any problems with them. The other stuff is lighter and I guess stronger, but get yourself a good steel frame, 531 tubing or whatever columbus makes and youll be fine. Im sure the experts here will pick this thread up and give you more info.

Steel is still king for street riding in my book. Nothing comes even close to matching the combination of strength, lightness and comfort of a steel frame. Other materials may excel at one quality (lightness, strength, stiffness) that is desirable for a particular application, but for all around street riding a good steel frame is hard to beat.

If I was in the market for a shiny shiny bike, it would be just as good as chrome. It does seem like a good material for a utility bike, something you could leave outdoors without so much worry about rust and no paint to chip.

The disadvantage is that its not a 'new' material. The 'big' bike makers are remaining profitable soley on the gullibleness of gearheads. the real guys (oops, i mean small manufacturers) still work with steel.

I think columbus made stainless steel tubing once, and alex moulton uses it their top of range frame.
They are more expensive material, and offer not so much advantage to cover the cost of manufacturing etc.

what i mean is why arent there any STAINLESS steel bikes. actually there are
but I know only one company that makes them so i was wondering what its
disadvantage might be. I know all the other benefits of regular steel. I ride a
steel road conversion at the moment and i love the frame but its old and there are
rust bubbles under the paint everywhere and i want to replace it with a bike
with trackends in the future. so i am looking around to see what options
there are.

I dunno, good question.
I would guess that stainless steel tubing doesn't share some of the desired characteristics that non-stainless steel alloys have regarding strength/weight etc. I know Waterford does use stainless steel lugs, but that's about the only application I've heard of in bike manufacturing.

thanks for the answers. you all are probably right and the main problem
might be that it still has "steel" in the name which sounds old fashioned to
some.

this is the only company i know of that does them:

http://www.marschall-framework.de/english/frames/frame_firma.html

stainless steel is more brittle than non-stainless, so it will crack before it bends if you hit it hard enough.
stainless steel isn't stainless when it comes to salt-water, it just pits instead of rusting [ask anyone with stainless steel glasses frames].
stainless steel is stupidly hard to machine.

those marschall frames *are* pretty though.

fsnl
sparky

Here's one. (http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/04bicycles/metaxTJ.html)

and another (http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/moultonns.html)

ask habanero if they will make you a tt frame with track drop outs.

Here's one. (http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/04bicycles/metaxTJ.html)



the first one is really nice. looks even more "nacked" than the usual track bike.

Here's one. (http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/04bicycles/metaxTJ.html)



the first one is really nice. looks even more "naked" than the usual track bike.

I asked my father (a machinist) this question about 25 years ago. At the time, Mongoose had some stainless BMX bars available. He wasn't sure, saying it was difficult to work, but so was titanium. His guess was titanium sounded more exotic, and would be a easier sell at a premium.

ti is also lighter stonger and more corrosion resistant than stainless.

I asked this question a while ago. If stell is so good, then stainless got to be the ultimate since it does not rus. But the reality is quite different. Stainless tubing is apparently *very* heavy, not to mention brittle. The tubing has to be thick to compensate for its brittleness. Secondly, it is difficult to machine and weld since it is hard. The difficulty puts off many frame makers. I think there are couple of other disadvantages. If the material is brittle and hard, like stainless steel, then the ride quality is not going to be good. Alos, I am not sure how amenable/porous stainless steel is for painting. Given these, there are still makers out there who make stainless frames. The guy at Vanilla cycles can make one for you. He uses stainless on BB, chainstay etc. if asked. There are couple of other makers (bohemian cycles?) that I do not remember right now.

I asked this question a while ago. If stell is so good, then stainless got to be the ultimate since it does not rus. But the reality is quite different. Stainless tubing is apparently *very* heavy, not to mention brittle. The tubing has to be thick to compensate for its brittleness. Secondly, it is difficult to machine and weld since it is hard. The difficulty puts off many frame makers. I think there are couple of other disadvantages. If the material is brittle and hard, like stainless steel, then the ride quality is not going to be good. Alos, I am not sure how amenable/porous stainless steel is for painting. Given these, there are still makers out there who make stainless frames. The guy at Vanilla cycles can make one for you. He uses stainless on BB, chainstay etc. if asked. There are couple of other makers (bohemian cycles?) that I do not remember right now.

i see. the ride quality and weight issue could be the main reason there are so few. damn.. :)
stainless dropouts will have to do for me then. if I can ever make up my mind.

Stainless tubing is apparently *very* heavy, not to mention brittle.

Really? Is it significantly heavier than any other steel of comparable volume?

Stainless steel is about the same density as regular steel. Stainless varies from 7.47 g/cc to 8.03 g/cc depending on the exact alloy, and regular soft and cold drawn steels vary from 7.72 g/cc to around 7.85 g/cc.

However, I don't know about its rigidity, its possible you need more of it to get the same strength as regular steel...

As far as corrosion resistance, stainless steel benefits from a good repassivation of the surface after welding, which is tricky, and not always done right. It'll hold up against just about anything, but it has to be very carefully welded and machined to keep its corrosion resistance.

So anyway.. I don't know why there aren't more stainless steel frames.. I suppose people just don't expect the frame to last very long, so they prefer to go with cheaper steel and a good coat of paint. The stainless steel would only be useful on older bikes with bad paint, for appearances, or super corrosive environments (in which the frame would probably be your last worry, compared to what would be happening to your wheels and drivetrain.

It sure would be cool to have a stainless steel bike though... You'd just need to find a long enough hill so you could get it up to 88mph!

peace,
sam

Columbus used to make a tubeset called 'Metax' that was stainless. You can still find some if you hunt around like a madman for it. It's not much different to work with than 'regular' steel, what the main limiting factor is is that you cannot brass braze to it - you have to silver braze. Silver brazing requires a closer fit as silver cannot fill gaps like brass can. This is less of an issue if you TIG weld the man tubes, but none-the-less it makes brazing on things like cable stops a pain - not exactly conducive to mass production.

Stainless is not heavier nor significantly diferrent to modern bike tubing. I have a suspicion that it might be more difficult to draw into butted tubing, but I'm just guessing.

Also, there are many companies that do stainless lugged bikes, which look awesome. Expect to pay over 3 grand just for a frame though - we're talking gourmet ***** here - hand polished by a grumpy artisan in a shed somewhere with a 6 month lead time. Good stuff.

Me personally, I've done some Nickel plated frames, but I bead blast them first so they come out looking a bit like titanium. I've even nickel plated a couple of Aluminium trials frames, but polished the areas where the decals would be, put the decals on, bead blasted the frame, removed decals, plated - you end up with a matt frame but with polished graphics. Freaks people out.

Columbus used to make a tubeset called 'Metax' that was stainless. You can still find some if you hunt around like a madman for it. It's not much different to work with than 'regular' steel, what the main limiting factor is is that you cannot brass braze to it - you have to silver braze. Silver brazing requires a closer fit as silver cannot fill gaps like brass can. This is less of an issue if you TIG weld the man tubes, but none-the-less it makes brazing on things like cable stops a pain - not exactly conducive to mass production.

Stainless is not heavier nor significantly diferrent to modern bike tubing. I have a suspicion that it might be more difficult to draw into butted tubing, but I'm just guessing.

Also, there are many companies that do stainless lugged bikes, which look awesome. Expect to pay over 3 grand just for a frame though - we're talking gourmet ***** here - hand polished by a grumpy artisan in a shed somewhere with a 6 month lead time. Good stuff.

Me personally, I've done some Nickel plated frames, but I bead blast them first so they come out looking a bit like titanium. I've even nickel plated a couple of Aluminium trials frames, but polished the areas where the decals would be, put the decals on, bead blasted the frame, removed decals, plated - you end up with a matt frame but with polished graphics. Freaks people out.


I was always wondering why custom stuff is so expensive in the US. compared to europe people pay
less taxes and sometimes dont even have social insurances and still its more expensive.
this german company offers a fully polished frame with fork for 1460 euros. (and thats WITH 17% VAT)
I also like the look of a raw stainless steel frame with the golden lines around the lugs.
Do you have pictures of a nickel plated frame of yours?