Originally Posted by
grimace308
youre talking about the people who ride to ride, not ride to look the part?
steel rides well. steel fatigues and repairs well. there is no mystery behind steel. its cool you and your father can afford high end stuff. steal is cheap. steel, while not at the cutting edge of technology, is just fine for the 99.999999% that dont get paid to ride a bike.
steel isnt perfect, but it isnt the dinosaur youre making it out to be.
Some of the FG/SS guys ride their bikes... I am one of them. 2 of my 4 bikes are SS.
Steel is a good material.... don't get me wrong. I have owned many a good steel bike; my old De Rosa with SL tubing with full Campy Super Record comes to mind. Beautiful and great ride. I still want to add an old Ibis road bike to round out my road bikes.
My point of the post was not to say steel is crap, but more that people who spout about how CF and Al are fragile and not durrable don't know what they are talking about. As others have tried to point out, its about the quality of the build and the design of the frame that matters far more than the actual material being used.
If you see some of the stress tests that Trek puts their new Madones through and the cycles those frames can withstand its nuts. They can handle far more stress than a steel/al/ti frame can (I need to go dig up the video).
Steel is wonderful in the hands of artisans like our local Steve Rex of Rex Cycles and Kimo Tanka of Innerlight Bikes. I was not saying Steel is a worthwile material to work with,...
Lastly, the whole "you can repair steel" argument is way overblown. There are some who tour cross country where that may make sense. Who is going to spend $150 to get a tube replaced + $150 for new paint to repair a $500 frame? If you spent $1500 for a custom frame... OK. But most bikes are throw-away after they are damaged to the point where you need repair.