Hey there BikerJP!

IMHO, CF is a great frame material for racing. It's light, strong, and durable. Unfortunately, it does have some impact-resistance issues, as published by Calfee Design and is well-known throughout the industry. This is the very reason why many MTB manufacturers offer XC MTN bikes in CF, but they don't offer CF in DH racing MTN bikes. The Santa Cruz V-10 comes closest to being a CF DH racing MTB, but only the front end is CF. The rear end is aluminum. It was designed that way for a reason. However, I am certain that within a few years, the impact-resistance problem will be resolved. There's no question that carbon is the bicycle frame material of the future.

When speaking of light steel, all chromoly steel is "light" when comparing it to carbon steel or hi-tensile steel. When we begin to discuss the various types of chromoly steel, we then begin to address the fact that different grades of chromoly steel are processed differently in order to enhance the strength of that particular grade of chromoly steel. An excellent choice in chromoly steel is 853 chromoly. It doesn't have to be custom-made or anything extravagant. As a matter of fact, you can either purchase it as a bicycle, or as a frameset.

Jamis makes the Eclipse in 853, as a road bike. Its ride, I'm told is both smoother and faster than the Jamis Quest. The Jamis Quest is made of 631 chromoly steel. I've ridden the Jamis Quest and it was one of the most comfortable rides I've ever had in my entire life. The Jamis Eclipse is purported to be even smoother than the Quest, so that must make for a very heavenly experience, indeed. The Jamis Eclipse retails for $3400. However, its frameset costs $1300. The Jamis Quest retails for $1875. Jamis does not offer the Quest as a frameset at this time.

As you already know, if properly cared for and kept dry, a steel bicycle will last for decades, and that's even with continual use. Nobody can say that about any other bicycle frame material, other than titanium!

Also SOMA makes a Smoothie chromoly steel frameset that is highly regarded, as does Surly with the Pacer frameset. Both the Smoothie and the Pacer's framesets cost below $500. Again, you don't have to buy a custom bike.

Why buy a custom bike, when you can purchase an excellent frameset and do a custom build, yourself?

Good Luck!

- Slim

PS.

All grades of steel used for making bicycle frames weigh approximately the same. However, bicycle manufacturers take advantage of the added strength factor given to the chromoly steel alloy when constructing bicycles. They are able to make the bicycle lighter due to the fact that the chromoly alloy is stronger than hi-tensile steel. They therefore, exploit the strength factor by decreasing the thickness of the tubular walls and double-butting the tubes, together. Stronger steel tubes, require less material. Less material translates into less mass.