Originally Posted by
phatkhat74
I really dont want another steel bike. I would prefer disc breaks but its not a must have. I do however want smaller tires than the 52mm width im currently ridding on. I see several bikes come with 25mm from the factory.
Thanks for the input everyone, its helping me see new options and ruleing out others.
It is either steel or aluminum at your current weight. I prefer steel for comfort. While I have test ridden some aluminum road bikes, the most recent being the Giant Defy aluminum frame with cf fork (which wasn't bad), I suspect that it might get fatiguing on rides over 2 or 3 hours. I weigh about 250 lbs, and I ride a steel Salsa Casseroll. Replaced the stock rear wheel with a 36 spoke model, and a touring hub. The stock wheel started to develop cracks around the spoke holes and it was just a matter of time before it would have failed. I have ridden on 32 mm tires for years now. It strikes me as a nice balance of comfort and performance. Thought about going down a size to 28 mm, but ultimately decided not to . If I weighed over 300 lbs, would probably consider going to a 35 mm tire.