Million dollar question
 

OK, here's the question everyone wants to express an opinion on...and I can't get enough opinions.

My current road bike is a lugged Columbus EL-OS Marinoni from 1992. I love everything about it except the weight. I've never had the pleasure of riding a carbon or Ti bike, so I don't know what I'm missing.

I do fast club riding/racing and randonneur riding- a strange mix, I know. My priorities are therefore good handling for racing, low weight for climbing, and comfort for a 600 km brevet.

All the hype is about carbon's ride quality and shock absorption. Bikes like the Specialized Roubaix and Cannondale Synapse seem optimized for what I like to do...but I'm old school and don't trust carbon. What if I nick it?

So...if you were me, what frame would you buy? Ti with carbon fork/triangle? Ti frame and triangle with carbon fork? Columbus Spirit? (Gasp) Reynolds 953, if we ever see it?

It sounds like you already have the bike you need. Unless you are going for record attempts or national championships, the weight won't make a bit of difference. Ride and enjoy! The requirements for racing and randonneuring are quite different. So, if you do decide to get a new frame, I'd look at something for randonneuring since you already have a racing bike. The good news is that there has recently been an explosion of interest in randonneuring designs and there are several good bikes on the market (mostly lugged steel).

Even the pros go steel when the going gets rough. The average rider could be in this kind of catagory if he regularly rode on somewhat rough surfaces, and/or was on the heavy side:

http://www.bike-zone.com/road/2006/a...roubaix_bikes1

Depends on what your budget is. Sounds to me like you just need a long-legged, relaxed long distance roadbike. Companies are slowly getting the hint that short and steep does not equal better, so there are some options out there.

Being as you put your question in the 'Framebuilding' section you KNOW you're gonna get pretty much all 'Pro-steel' answers. I think you already know what you want - To stick with steel.

I ONLY ride steel on my roadie and my track/fix. I've had an aluminium bike and ridden (but not owned) carbon fibre - I definitely prefer steel. Its all personal choice.

Apprently you can get custom bikes made from anything these days. It's pretty amazing. :rolleyes:

*rofl*

But how much is a few pounds of weight savings really going to help on a hill, especially if you're a regular ol' mortal who eats real food and drinks real beer (translation: carries more than a few pounds of extra fat)?

I drilled out my water bottle and saved over 1/2 a kilogram.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the posts...a nice gentle reality check from most of you, although the one tip I really decided made sense was to drill out my water bottle...

I do have a question for Thylacine, though. You offer steel, lugged steel, "super steel", Ti, and Ti with carbon stays. Clearly you need to cater to a range of clients. But how do you rate these options on the weight vs comfort vs durability scale? And what do you prefer to build/sell- because you know the client will be happy for years to come?

Drill out the bottle? Most people just flip the lid to get the water out. ;)

Tough question PRJ. I don't believe in 'bad materials' only bad design, so that's why I don't like to limit what we sell to one given material or construction technique. There's things to be learnt from everything, so limiting yourself is - from where I'm sitting - doing yourself and your customers a bit of a disservice. Marketing boffins like to assume everyone is stupid and they recommend to companies to specialise before they diversify, but that's what we do - we specialise in design. It's a tough sell in an environment where people like to personally identify with a material and particular construction technique, but that's our slant on things and we're sticking to it!

So the answer to your question is basically that. I think what custom companies should do is base everything around fit, budget, and the customers' needs, and temper that with their knowledge and expertise and that of other experts outside their own field of expertise. Sometimes that means steel, sometimes Scandium, sometimes icypole sticks and crazy glue. ;)

I'm personally of the belief almost nobody needs anything 'better' than a 20lb steel bike with Chorus and traditional x3 laced wheels, but then again custom bikes hardly fall under the category of a 'need'.

I must say though I can see why people get 'Titaniumitis'. It's just such a nice material, quite like steel without the harsh resonance.

and why, indeed, shouldn't anyone have their titanium/carbon frames, their carbon wheels and bars and their 20 speed superbikes. Just because they're not necessary, doesn't mean they're not nice to have, and perhaps to ride.

The difference between a really light frame (1000-1200g) and a really "heavy" modern road frame (1500-1800?g) is not even two pounds. Pick your parts carefully and you can make up this difference easily without sacrificing strength and often without adding to the cost too much. Riding a frame/fork which is too light for your weight and riding style detracts from the ride and limits you. If you're bigger, you can push a heavier bike around anyway. The flyweight guys on the Grand Tours are not in the same market as most of us!

- Joel