Originally Posted by
RoadGuy
I haven't bought a "new" bike from a shop since the early 1990s. I was surprised when I read that aluminum steering tubes are not common anymore. Although people are popping up saying that they are still readily available. Aluminum legs on forks are still common as far as I know. It's the aluminum steering tubes that I'm asking about. Maybe the guys that posted that they don't exist anymore were mistaken about the availability. I haven't looked at new bikes or replacement forks lately, so I don't know first hand what the current market is like.
Well, that explains a lot. Up until a year ago I worked in a high end road and mtb shop and almost all cheaper bikes came with alu steerers. Cheaper to make and still relatively lightweight. Aluminum is most certainly not used anymore on the blades (except ultra, ultra cheap bikes which have a steel steerer and alu blades) Just to avoid confusion, I'm strictly talking road bikes here. Even the entry-level bikes come with carbon blades, they are just made from a cheaper (heavier) grade of carbon and more of it is used to make it strong enough.
Some of them are real boat anchors, but hey, the salesman can tell you that ' it even comes with a carbon fork!'
Higher end bikes have full carbon forks (including the dropouts) and can weigh as little as 300-350 grammes. But they require an expander insert plug as you cannot install a star-fangled nut in a carbon steerer because it would simply disintegrate if you did. The expander plug somewhat negates the weight savings of a full carbon fork.