Originally Posted by
rando_couche
AFAIK,
"OS2" IS OX platinum - just a specific set of diameter/wall thicknes specs that Waterford uses. Having owned and ridden a couple of Gunnar (Waterford's "economy" line) frames, one first-gen OS and the other OS2, I've found the OS2 to be a bit TOO stiff for my liking. And I'm not a small rider: 62cm frames, 6'3" and 180-200 lb. But then it seems I've always preferred "springier" frames, even in my racing days. That said, I highly recommend anything that Waterford builds. They know their stuff.
SP
OC, OR
Reading between the lines
HERE, I don't believe that's always true. I think Waterford uses True Temper OX Platinum, Reynolds 853, and possibly other air-hardening tubing in its "palette" of "OS2", and tailor the specific tubes used to the customer's requirements.
The Gunnar website sheds additional light on "OS2"...
Gunnar Bikes Material
Originally Posted by Gunnar website
Material
We rely on heat treated air-hardening steels for every Gunnar – mainly True Temper OX Platinum but also Reynolds 853. We order these alloys custom drawn to our rigorous specifications. We thoughtfully select the diameter and wall thickness of each tube to provide the right balance of strength, light weight, durability, and performance, according to the specific requirements of the style and size of your Gunnar.
Air-hardening alloys represent a significant advance in metallurgy. It is designed to be enhanced by TIG welding. “Air-hardening” refers to how the material responds to TIG welding. As it cools down, it becomes super-heat treated, but in a way that avoids becoming brittle in the weld zone. Traditional steel alloys, such as 4130 chromoly, embrittlement means that the joint (which receives the most stress on the bike) – is weaker than the parent tube. This limits how light a tubeset can be welded and still maintain structural integrity. Air-hardening alloys eliminate this problem and indeed the super-heat treated weld zones provide a nice balance with the heat treated parent tubes.
We didn’t stop there. We took advantage of these properties to develop a whole new system of tubes we call “OS2″. These tubes let us tune the ride the way we like at frame weights not possible with regular chromoly. It performs even better than the traditional tube dimensions using our air-hardening alloys.
By system of tubes we mean that we don’t just limit ourselves to one top tube, one down tube, etc. We instead offer a number of top tubes and downtubes, which we mix by size and application. This lets us provide you the same ride qualities throughout our range of sizes, so the big guys don’t have to live with wimpy frames. Also, we use heavier tubes for high-stress applications like anything off-road or unsupported touring.
The result are bikes that are a pleasure to ride, a pleasure to own and a great long-term investment.