Thread: Why aren't you riding a steel bike!?
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Old 03-07-11 | 09:43 PM
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cyccommute
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Originally Posted by RunningPirate
As for his position, I've read (on the internet, no less!) that aluminum frames can fail suddenly, though not quite a briskly or devastating as carbon is said to do. I wouldn't know as I'm not a metallurgist; maybe he was, for all we know. Maybe he was the East Coast Regional Shill for Rivendell.
Being something of an expert at making bikes fail...6 frames, 4 actual frame failures...and breaking numerous parts, I can tell you that I trust the failure mode of aluminum far more than I trust steel. Aluminum has never 'shattered' or failed catastrophically on me. It always seems to tear and release energy slowly. Steel, on the other hand, has always broken without warning and with a rather loud 'ping!'
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