Framebuilders - The right tubing for the right girth.

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tortoro
06-18-10, 03:38 PM
I'm looking to purchase an older steel racing road frame. I'm 5'11" weigh 185-90 lbs. Is Columbus SL too light for me? Which tubing would best support my weight without flex? This question could be applied to Reynold and Tange as well. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

unterhausen
06-18-10, 04:39 PM
Flex is overblown as a criteria, particularly for steel frames. You might be happier with one of the OS tubing sets depending on how strong you are. SL will work fine.
bobbycorno
06-18-10, 04:53 PM
Flex is overblown as a criteria, particularly for steel frames. You might be happier with one of the OS tubing sets depending on how strong you are. SL will work fine.

Yep. In fact, a frame that's too stiff can be worse than one that's on the flexy side. Not only will the ride be needlessly harsh, but a lot of folks (yours truly included) contend that such a frame will feel sluggish and fatiguing to ride.

SP
Bend, OR

tortoro
06-21-10, 08:26 AM
Flex is overblown as a criteria, particularly for steel frames. You might be happier with one of the OS tubing sets depending on how strong you are. SL will work fine.

Forgive my ignorance, but which frames were made with OS tubing?

best,
vc

Toronto
Scooper
06-21-10, 08:42 AM
Forgive my ignorance, but which frames were made with OS tubing?

best,
vc

Toronto
OS (oversized) tubing debuted around 1990. The way to tell if a specific frame uses OS or "standard" size tubing is to measure the tubing diameter with a caliper.

Standard Tubing: Top Tube = 25.4mm, Seat Tube = 28.6mm, Down Tube = 28.6mm

OS Tubing: Top Tube = 28.6mm, Seat Tube = 28.6mm, Down Tube = 31.8mm
unterhausen
06-21-10, 01:58 PM
I would say that SL would be just fine. I rode an SL bike until recently, and I have ridden it when I weighed upwards of 220 pounds.
FROryder
06-30-10, 04:03 PM
I'm looking to purchase an older steel racing road frame. I'm 5'11" weigh 185-90 lbs. Is Columbus SL too light for me? Which tubing would best support my weight without flex? This question could be applied to Reynold and Tange as well. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!
Not a builder but I'm the same height and weight, my '85 Gios Torino constructed with regular dia. Columbus SL was way too flexy. Sunday ride bike only, impossible to sprint and climb due to the ghost shifting to a higher gear when putting the power to the pedal. Very comfy compared to my Marinoni Special built with SP. Can't comment on frames built with OS, never rode one.
Scooper
06-30-10, 06:00 PM
Because SL was so flexy when used on larger frames (~58cm and bigger), many framebuilders used a mix of SL and SP on larger frames, typically with SP down tubes and seat tubes. Schwinn did this on the mid-to-late eighties Waterford built Paramounts before they went to True Temper OS tubing in 1989.