Originally Posted by
Fasteryoufool
I disagree. There is a perception out there that lighter is better, and it's taken over the bicycle buying public to the great detriment of bicycling in general. If lugged steel frames of the same weight and strength as CF or aluminum could be built cost-effectively, we'd see bikes shops filled with nothing but bikes with lugged steel frames - given a ride on three bikes (steel, aluminum and CF) that all weighed and cost the same, no sane person would choose to ride aluminum, and very few would choose to ride CF.
However, while a steel frame can get close to the weight of aluminum with sufficient strength, they're generally very expensive, likely because they're not mass-produced, and so the average person chooses aluminum.
And lets not even get into the real average bike purchaser... the department store buyer. They know NOTHING about bikes, or they wouldn't be shopping there... but they "know" aluminum is lighter, and lighter is "better". Of course, none of them have ever grabbed one of those POS bikes and put it in a scale. I remember some department store mountain bike (can't remember the brand, doesn't matter) got weighed in a shop recently, and tipped the scale at... ready for this? 48lbs.
48 friggin' pounds. My '84 cromoly Schwinn Sierra tips the scales at less than 30.
But aluminum is lighter.
Three identical frames in the same size, using the best their materials can offer, frame only, guess what the frame weights come out to:
Carbon Fibre reinforced plastic, 1100g (2.5lbs)
Aluminum alloy 1500g (3.25lbs)
Steel (Cromoly) 1800g (4lbs)
Now these are the best the material is capable of, and yes, the difference is less then 2lbs.
Lugged steel does have one area where it has a huge advantage over anything welded, and that is it's ability to be repaired. Suppose you need to replace the top tube, a brazed frame simply needs to be warmed up to brazing temperature, the old top tube removed, the lugs cleaned up, a new tube installed and braze it in, this could even be done by a plumber or pipe fitter. Repairing a welded frame, can probably be done, but it's going to be a lot harder to do, and the weld is going to be bigger.
Another issue with welds, few welded frames are cleaned up after manufacture so the welds look pretty ugly. Lugged frames were often cleaned up after the brazing so that they looked nice.