Frame material break down from RAGBRAI
 

Having just finished and bored while traveling, im posting a breakdown of frame materials.
10000-20000 bikes per day for 8 days. Obviously not all were seen, but i saw many thousands each day.

36% carbon frame
46% aluminum
15% steel
3% titanium

Surprised to see so many full carbon and also to see so many steel.

you counted all frames you saw?

At first your post title made me think you talk about frames that broke. Like in many frames actually broke to make some statistics...

15% steel seems really low. Then again I don't pay much attention to al and cf...

It a guesstimate based on what I saw each day.
I am a nerd and am fascinated by frame design(shape, material, construction).

yeah, it may be low. All my road bikes are steel though and I didn't want to overestimate what I prefer. It was shocking how many modern masi, surly, all city, and soma frames there were in addition to all the vintage('95 and earlier) frames there were each day.

but there were still at least double the aluminum and carbon frames compared to steel.

The numbers seem about what one would expect. The marketeers push what they can make the most money on, aluminum & carbon, making them the most "popular" in the consumer's head, so that's the bulk of the offerings in the LBS. While steel and Ti are more pricey(to build)..fewer buyers(higher prices, perhaps tighter margins)..and marketed very little, relative to C & Al.

It would be interesting to see the numbers above relative to the distribution of bikes sold in the US by frame type. I'm sure those numbers are around somewhere.

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How'd you spot the titanium rigs, from the sight of the frame or the badging?

Earlier this summer I was taking a break along the trail at the local watering hole and noticed a woman ride up with a well used looking non descript touring machine. I noticed the simple decals on the forks that read "Lynskey". I commented to her about what a nice bike it was. She agreed, started to walk away then turned around, locked it up and walked away inside :lol:

Did you ride your newly built bike?

No bamboo? No magnesium?

What was the fastest frame material?

How many where red and black :)

titanium were pretty easy as they are titanium looking in color.
lynskey, motobecane, moots, and litespeed were most common. I saw a few firefly, seven, and even talked with a lady from cedar rapids area riding a Holland ExoGrid which is a super cool looking and creative bike.

yes, I ride my new bike.

Especially since most bicycles in the U.S. are sold at big box stores to customers with little or no interest in long distance, racing, "training" or club cycling events.

I doubt that most of the bicycles sold in the U.S. have that much in common with most of the bicycles used in RAGBRAI, by frame type, brand name or cost.

much is probably true in this statement.

RAGBRAI isnt a glimpse into cycling overall in the US, it's more of a glimpse into cycling within the upper half of costs.
its bike shop level cycling, for lack of a better term and therefore excludes much of what is sold in the US each year.

"What is sold in the US each year" I assume includes kids getting first bikes from wherever Mom and Dad can afford them so they can simply learn to ride. Doubtful that means much in this conversation. The OP is simply trying to give an overview of what he observed during RGBRAI. Nothing scientific. Where I ride CF seems predominant. But it's a small sample. Means nothing.

"Originally Posted by fishboat https://www.bikeforums.net/images/buttons/viewpost.gif
It would be interesting to see the numbers above relative to the distribution of bikes sold in the US by frame type. I'm sure those numbers are around somewhere."

In my head I discounted/excluded the big box junk, kids bikes..throwaway segment..etc.., though I didn't say it. It's fairly obvious that including this segment would blow up any conclusions drawn about the purchasing behavior of "cyclists"..those with an active interest in cycling and longer rides, rather than kids or those that ride a bike as an occasional novelty 2-5-10 mile pastime.

I crunched big data for a living, and now do it on an occasional consulting basis...you can be sure industry groups like:

https://www.nbda.com/articles/indust...-2015-pg34.htm

have the specific workup I referenced, and the OP inferred. This would be higher priority/ground zero metric to work up from their base data.

I'd love to access their raw data file..it would be fun to work up.

I do group rides with three different local groups, and it is pretty uncommon to see any newer bike that is not one of Specialized, Trek, Giant or Cannondale. Add in a sprinkling of Fujis, most undoubtedly purchased from the local Performance dealers, and that is probably 95% of the pack right there. How many steel road bikes do Specialized, Trek, Giant or Cannondale still make combined? I'm too lazy to look but my guess is probably not many.

Marketing works .. Race Team Sponsorship of bikes is in a bike companies marketing budget...

People who purchase bikes at Big Box Stores may not have an interest in many organized bicycle events but the selection of bikes that they have is influenced by those events. A cross-section of Big Box Store bikes is pretty much indicative of the broad types of bikes sold. Mountain bikes dominate with a few road bikes thrown in. And the vast majority of them are going to be aluminum. There are very few new steel bikes outside of kids bikes being made and sold in steel.

Of even less statistical significance, the breakdown of bikes in my household is as follows:

20% carbon
30% aluminum
50% steel

On group rides and charity rides around here there's a lot less steel and a lot more carbon. As with RAGBRAI, this reflects the choices of folks who ride quite a bit and presumably pay attention to what they're buying. I wonder how many in that category of people - and most bf members - are swayed by marketing, or are simply experienced and informed enough to have distinct preferences and then buy accordingly.

Thanks for doing that and posting it. I find stuff like that interesting.

I'm sure this is true. In my household, we're around 80% steel, 20% aluminum. That said, of the brands mentioned above, I only really notice the CD Slate and G Toughroad if I see them. Otherwise, my eyes perk up when I see Surly, Soma, All City, or other steel rides, and if not steel, purpose designed machines like the Cutthroat and Warbird, but I don't really notice the others so much. Not sure why. It just is.

The vast majority of the bicycles I have seen lined up at RAGBRAI finishes to dip their tires in the Mississippi have been road bikes (defined by me as being narrow tire bikes with drop handlebars.) I would estimate the percentage at greater than 95%. Probably the converse of the type of bike sold at the big box stores. I don't see how RAGBRAI and the like has any impact on bike sales at the big box stores. The RAGBRAI riders I have seen are a different type of bicycle rider who dress differently, ride different bikes and have different expectations from their bicycle purchases than the typical bike rider who purchases a bike from a big box store.

I have no idea what material is used for their frames.

Certainly, there are lots of drop-bar bikes on RAGBRAI, but I think 95% overestimates it. I saw plenty of hybrids and mountain bikes this year, not to mention recumbents and other contraptions. More than a couple low-end bikes, too. This isn't just a moneyed roadie's get-away trip, people of all walks of life do this ride.

The place along the course and time of day that you watch the parade greatly influence what you see as well: the early-risers are often on road bikes, and tend to dawdle less along the route. Toward the end of the day you see more folks on hybrids and mountain bikes, and old 3-speeds and other upright vintage types dribbling in.

How do you guys count a bike that has different frame and fork material?

Do you divide the bike say 70/30 frame/fork?


-Tim-

The thread is about frame materials, not the type of bike. Aluminum dominates the Big Box store market for adult bikes. There aren't any carbon fiber HelMart bikes because carbon can't be made that cheaply...yet.