Originally Posted by Buglady
I'm all for the steel frames. As you say, the ride quality makes up for the weight on a commute. I figure that having to concentrate hard looking for tiny little bumps would be tiring in itself anyway! I'm a lightweight rider so aluminum bounces me all over the place.
(My commuter is a 1984 Raleigh - lugged chromoly steel and it just *glides*. I love it. Just picked up a mid 80s Japanese steel frame - cromoly frame and manganese-alloy fork - to build up for randonneuring. I commuted on it a couple of days ago but I don't like to be on drop bars in traffic).
Last year I was Lusting after newer components again. I sold my Early 80's Chromo and got a New
Aluminum frame with the new components I hoped for--All I noticed was how light the bike was on the daily commute and how my MPH Average went up right away. I did not notice a change in the bump-on- the-butt factor at all. I have heard lots of riders say they notice that sort of thing, but I did not.