beejay1288

hi..im a year 13 student studying product design, and as part of the course I have to conduct a product study. I have chosen bike frames in particular the materials they are made. I have to collect different types of research and I thought that this mite be a good way of collecting it. If you have any opinions on what you think is the best material to use and why, also any opinions you may have about where the future of bike frames are going to go, the manufacturing processes or anything that you think would benefit me I would be extremely grateful.

thank you!!
Beth

edp773

Bike frame material is greatly debated on this forumn. Go the the (search the forums) link above, and you will find much discussion on this subject.

Titanium = light and strong drawbacck = expensive
Carbon Fiber = light and strong " = When damaged it cannot be safely repaired, hard to make changes to frame for same reason
Aluminum = light, strong, and inexpensive " = some people complain of a hard ride, threads,etc., strip easily
Steel = strong, long lasting, inexpensive " = heavy

Maelstrom 

It also depends on usage. Road bikes are one thing, mtbikes are another and dh bikes are still another again.

Overall I do agree with edp773's assessment. Although one thing I would add to titanium is flex. At least on mtbike designs using Ti they are very flexy. While some people may like the plush feel, some of us dislike the ride quite a bit. In fact at one point I believe there was a mountain bike with 2 to 3 inches of flex simulating the ride of a softail.

KeithA

There is no one answer. As nicely stated by edp and amended by Maelstrom, each has their own advantages/disadvantages, so it comes down to personal choice. If I had to get a bike right now, I'd probably look at steel first. I grew up with steel frames and just like the way they ride and their lasting power. The weight gain wouldn't be enough, by itself, to dissuade me. Others would laugh at my choice.

MichaelW

Some materials are better suited to certain scales of production. Al is cheap, soft and easy to machine and weld, hence most big factories make Al frames.
Ti is hard, tough and requires precision machining hence it is used mostly by smaller factories and large well equipped workshops.
Steel is easy to work using hand tools and is ideal for custom and small workshops.
Carbon can be moulded into highly aerodynamic forms but the moulds are expensive and only used by big companies. Smaller shops use tube and lug construction.
You can make good and bad frames out of any materials.
The usual assumtions about weight/cost don't always apply. You can get lightweight steel frames costing more than heavier Ti frames.
Part of the skill of a top builder is in removing all the non-essential material.

edp773

I agree; my definitions were in general terms or properties of each material. I got into a discussion with a bike mechanic a few months ago about aluminum and steel. My point was frames made of aircraft quality 4130 chrome moly can be made lighter than aluminum frames. To make the mechanic even happier, I stated that aluminum was used to keep production costs down. Then I used expensive American made frames for an example. He still gives me the look. LOL!

divineAndbright 

Good old steel! I LOVE heavy bikes. Hell I wish Bikes were heavier, I wish all the tubing wasnt hollow! How about Lead? wouldnt lead make a nice bicycle frame?
Bicycles should weigh 200 pounds and be unstoppable!

DannoXYZ 

Beryllium...

Brian

Unobtanium.

MarkS

And while you're researching, don't forget to search the forums for those pictures of bikes made of bamboo. Hey, maybe with a wee bit of genetic engineering, we could have bike frames that grow on trees!

DannoXYZ 

Ah yes... forgot about that one. Infinite strength and stiffness yet zero mass...

MichaelW

And dont forget that 1970s wonder material, Drillium.
A nice example at
https://www.velo-retro.com/peterjohnson.html

Retro Grouch 

I think that we live in a very interesting age. In the past, the type of materials that were available determined the nature of the products. Today, after a product is envisioned, optimum new materials can often be developed for producing it.

I envision greater future use of carbon fiber and similar composits at the high end because they can be made very lightweight and their stiffness can be tuned.

At the low end I think that we'll continue to see steel and aluminum frames in the short term but if somebody ever figures out the right thermo-plastic material, injection molded bike frames will under price everything else on the market.

af895

BAMBOO.

I am not kidding.

https://www.bikefanclub.com/gallery/s...cat=506&page=1

https://www.bmeres.com/bambooframe.htm

https://www.americanbamboo.org/Genera...ooBicycle.html

I would take bamboo over carbon, having worked with both materials for many high-stress applications.

Brian

It was popular in the 80's and 90's. I think only NASA uses it now.

CB HI

College freshman

baj32161

Silly me...I though he was talking about unobtanium in the wallet.

DannoXYZ 

Well, it's like reaching speed of light, there's an asymptote that's a hefty barrier. As we get closer and closer to creating pure unobtanium, the stiffer and stronger it gets with decreasing mass. However, costs go up exponentially. By the time you hit infinite stiffness and strength with zero mass, the costs becomes infinite..

Brian

Yeah, what he said.

legstrong

how about the glass fiber material?

huhenio

I vote for bamboo too ... it would be fun to see one as a track bike.

DannoXYZ 

The Calfee bike looks pretty cool!



Some other bamboo bikes:

lala

My favorite!

MarkS

That's amazing! At least two of those bikes didn't even have a top bar. It would be interesting to see them in action.

TLN

I wonder if his bike whistles when its breezy out?