You're welcome and I thank you for your support, my friend!

You tell 'em, Reb!

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback guys, that was quite an education and I think that my question has been answered!

Now is it safe to say that all steel bikes available are chromoly? Also, is Reynolds the same as the common 4130 steel that I see often?

You've convinced me and my quest now continues to find the "perfect" steel bike!

Any steel worth anything is 4130, the difference is the shape of the tubes, the internal butting, the presence of a seam, wall thickness...

To answer the original question, the main reason is that steel isn't Blingy- it's the same material peoples grandparents rode. Even if they got it right years, it just isn't cool. And cool is what gets people buying new bikes, which feeds the industry.

Everyone says that steel an aluminum bikes have a different feel when ridden. I swear that I cannot tell the difference. I have 4 bikes; two of them have 4130 Chromoly written on the frame. Two of them are aluminum but I have no idea what kind of aluminum. I really should not count one of the aluminum bikes because I or no one else has ever ridden it.

Even though I cannot tell any difference between the ride of my steel and aluminum bikes, I prefer steel bikes.

Unless you are using your bike in a saltwater environment, the steel bike should last your lifetime. Do you need a bike that will last longer than that?

No it is not safe to say that. At the cheaper end, there will still be steel bikes that aren't cro-mo. plus at the higher end there are some magnesium alloys that aren't strictly cro-mo, but that's another matter.

No, Reynolds and 4130 is not synonymous. Reynolds have developed various different tubes. Commonly seen these days (in rough order of expense, cheapest first) are Reynolds 520, 631, 725, 853, 953. You can google for the weight/strength/stiffness of all of these. There are other manufacturers of tubing, Columbus being a high-quality competitor. Again, google is your friend.

I tell everyone that I have 4 bikes but actually there are 5 bikes in my garage if I count my wife’s bike. I keep forgetting about her bike. Her bike is steel too.

Again, it's how the frame is made, not just the material. Cheap French bikes from the 70s and 80s were not cro-moly, but ride amazingly. Of course, with the exception of cheap single speeds and a few kids bikes, pretty much any steel bike at a bike shop will be cro-moly.

Thank you LarDasse74, for illustrating both your level of knowledge and maturity, once again.

You are truly an asset to the BF membership!

In general, the bicycle industry has primarily just two types of steels. They are hi-tensile (1020 carbon steel), and chromoly steel. Now there are a variety of boutique steels that are various versions of the 4130 standard chromoly steel that is most commonly found throughout the industry. However, they'll have either addtional elements added as being part of the 4130 alloy formula, or certain elements will be deleted from the standard 4130 formula. The industry in many of these cases, will still refer to these boutique iron alloys, as chromoly steels. Also, there is a standardized process used when making 4130 chromoly steel. When certain steps are changed in order to either intensify or abate a particular property within the chromoly steel alloy, it tends to stray from the typical standardized 4130 chromoly process. However, the industry may still very well continue to refer to this steel, as a type of chromoly steel.

In most of the cases above, the iron or steel alloy will have some addition of chromium and some addition of molybdenum, in order to be loosely categorized as a chromoly steel. Technically Reynolds 531 could never even be loosely categorized as "chromoly" because it doesn't contain any chromium at all. Instead, the chromium has been replaced by the element, manganese . Most of the other bicycle steel tubings contain both molybdenum and chromium. Of course, that would include Columbus and Tange tubings, as well. These days, Tange (a highly respected Japanese steel manufacturer) only makes chromoly steel tubings.

Although hi-tensile steel is not as strong as chromoly steel, it's strength remains greater than that of aluminum. However, like aluminum, its tubes have to be either widened, thickened, or both, in order for its tubes to approach the strength of chromoly tubes. The industry generally takes advantage of the extra acquired strength gained in the production of chromoly tubing by "butting" the bicycle tubes. That means that the tubes are made to be thicker at the ends, but thinner towards the middle portions of the tube. This is done for the purpose of making the overall bicycle much lighter. This "butting" is primarily performed upon road bikes, as weight is of a greater concern with respect to road bike racing and speed enthusiasts, sometimes referred to as, "roadies".

BTW

Reynolds 501, 520, 525, 631, 725, and 853, are all commonly referred to, as types of "chromoly" steel.

Reynolds 531 and 953 are NOT to be associated with the above "chromoly" group.

References:
https://reynoldstechnology.biz/our_materials_525.php

www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/quest/12_quest_spec.html

www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/eclipse/12_eclipse_spec.html

www.brightspoke.com/c/understanding/bike-frame-materials.html

www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/bike+frame+materials.html

www.ibiscycles.com/support/technical_articles/metallurgy_for_cyclists/steel_is_real/

Oh the horse pucky is getting pretty deep in here and this is only page two. I've heard that if you subject steel to too much sunlight it may explode.

No, that's aluminum. Truly, no rideable bicycles can be made of aluminum.

Just take your bike to the Church and have the Father bless it. Then you will not have that problem or any other problems with your bike.

Really, where I live they bless the shrimp boats and on pet day everyone brings their dogs and cats to be blessed. So I think they should have a bike day.

Every spring they have bike blessings for motorcycles round these parts...

nice of you to narrow it down.. what have you test ridden in Your local bike shop?

Off the Katy trail.

If anyone were to steal a Blessed Bike (steel or aluminum) they would be in
trouble for sure.

Simonsez - The short answer to your question is that decent aluminum frames can be mass produced more easily and cheaply than decent steel ones. And both materials can be made into perfectly acceptable bicycles.

I'd take the rest of this thread with a grain of salt. Not all of it is BS, but enough of it is that you'll want to wipe your shoes on the way out.

Don't laugh! Some people think it's a legitimate concern... Like in the following:

https://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/ca...ht-131220.html



And aluminum is just fine too! As long as you're aware of it's genuine properties...

Checkout what Talu has to say about aluminum below, in my signature space!

Marketing departments love numbers, like weight. Using aluminum gives them a lower number to use on their ad copy.

Mass produced aluminum bicycles have been available since at least the mid 1930s:



Klein's innovation was to make a welded aluminum frame, using oversize tubing (both to increase stiffness and to provide a larger weld area for the joint), and heat treatment of the frame after welding to mitigate the loss of strength the welding process causes at the joints.

I said that Gary Klein launched the first mass produced Quantum Pro bicycle. An aluminum bicycle, with an integrated headset. I did not say, it was the first aluminum bicycle...

No, the steel used in bicycle frames comes in several alloys. ANSI 4130 (aka "chrome-moly") is a popular alloy. Reynolds "531" was a manganese-molybdenum alloy, but is more suitable for low temperature brazing than modern automated TIG welding, and is no longer generally available. Reynolds "953" tubing is a stainless alloy optimized for TIG welding.

You need to be more clear then, and learn how to more effectively use commas. For instance: "Cannondale produced the first mass produced aluminum bike, which was made in Pennsylvania." The comma makes it an incorrect statement.

I realized the ambiguity of your statement and made a point referring to what I thought it was most likely you meant. In fact, what possible value to the discussion is offered by naming the manufacturer who produced the first bike with an integrated headset?

You should make better use of your time. I make far too many mistakes. You'll spend most of your time correcting my errors, if you start doing that. Of course, if it pleases you, then by all means correct and criticize all you want.

However, I really hope you don't think that I'm actually going to go back and act upon your misgiven thoughts of triviality. Then that, would be a complete waste of my time, too!