I was getting beaten up by my Reynolds 531 custom frame the other day and wondering why there is so much "steel is real" belief if this is how it rides. Then it came to me.

When steel was the only practical bike frame material, no one talked about it being better than anything else. There was no anything else for it to be better than. Then when glued-and-screwed, small diameter Al frames came along, no one was saying that steel was more comfortable than them. Everyone who rode them knew the Alan and Vitus frames were cushy.

But when oversized Al tubed frames grew in popularity, Kleins and Cannondales, and shook all your fillings loose, then there was a suitable foil to compare steel frames to. Suddenly steel was the comfortable choice, THOUGH ONLY BY COMPARISON. Somehow that little detail got lost along the way. Then corollary myths developed that the molecular properties of steel gave it the edge, a springiness or liveliness and vibration damping characteristics. All true, but only in comparison to the horrible alternative, huge diameter Al frame tubes.

Even as the steel myth was being perpetuated, so was the dead feel rap against CF even though that was only a temporary feature common to the earliest examples of CF frames if it ever existed at all. Now there is no such complaint, at least not among objective observers.

So now there is the enduring myth that steel is the comfortable choice even though carbon fiber and modern aluminum frames beat it for comfort routinely. What I can say is this: I have ultralight carbon, very light Ti and standard steel frames, and the steel rides the worst. I have experienced sweet riding steel frames. The Ritchey Breakaway is one example. But even that one doesn't beat out my CF and Ti bikes for comfort.

My conclusion: ride steel if you wish. I will always have a steel bike and will continue to enjoy it. But don't make the mistake of thinking that steel is a magical bike frame material with properties that no other material can match or less likely exceed. It makes all kinds of bikes from crappy to excellent, just like the other three major materials, CF, Ti and Al, do.