Modern Steel Road Bike Appreciation Thread
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I had an old Nishiki and the chainstay snapped in front of the dropout. I also broke the head tube on an English 3 speed when I was a kid. The aluminum frame I broke was a K2 mountain bike and the seat tube broke off the bottom bracket, like completely off, just before a descent.
I sweat so much I corroded the top tube pretty bad on my steel Tesch bike, also corroded the cable stops almost in half on a Cannondale I had.
I've also broken/cracked at least 20 wheels, had pedals snap off, a few seat posts and at least 4 saddles.
I've seen a number of other riders crack their frames, too. Mostly aluminum and cf, though. It's rare I see anyone riding a steel road bike.
When I rode dirt bikes I broke suspension components and other stuff.
Last edited by big john; 07-14-22 at 11:24 AM.
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A Tesch AND a Landshark? Color me jealous (not of corroding the top tube of the Tesch, but I've always wanted one).
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It's custom oversized True Temper and is absolutely the stiffest, most bone jarring thing I ever rode. Short wheelbase and steep head angle gives it amazing handling. Dave Tesch was a track racer, a US Navy nuclear certified welder, a production welder at Trek, and an innovator. He passed in 2003 from the big C.
I don't have a picture of it at hand but it's the same blue as this brochure.

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It's an S-22, a tig welded frame, so not one of his beautiful lugged frames. It has full length cable housing for the rear brake which passes through the top tube. This chaffed the paint which allowed the sweat to migrate under the paint. I touched it up and a friend has it and he just rides around his neighborhood with it.
It's custom oversized True Temper and is absolutely the stiffest, most bone jarring thing I ever rode. Short wheelbase and steep head angle gives it amazing handling. Dave Tesch was a track racer, a US Navy nuclear certified welder, a production welder at Trek, and an innovator. He passed in 2003 from the big C.
I don't have a picture of it at hand but it's the same blue as this brochure.
It's custom oversized True Temper and is absolutely the stiffest, most bone jarring thing I ever rode. Short wheelbase and steep head angle gives it amazing handling. Dave Tesch was a track racer, a US Navy nuclear certified welder, a production welder at Trek, and an innovator. He passed in 2003 from the big C.
I don't have a picture of it at hand but it's the same blue as this brochure.
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I've seen a few 101s in the wild. There are a couple on e-bay now.
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#1262
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been a while since I did any serious road riding - but a few were still riding steel not too long ago - primarily because one close friend was a custom frame builder - so his steel bike and a few others would often be in the mix
he could build them stiff - and / or he could build them light ... (of course with current lightweight components)
the last bike he built for his wife - a steel hybrid with a 1x drivetrain - is ridiculously light for steel ... it's a feather - must weigh under 19 lbs - and without high zoot parts
(she's well into her 70's and still gets out a lot )
Last edited by t2p; 07-14-22 at 12:54 PM.
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#1265
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I hope this counts. It’s a BikesDirect Windsor TimeLine that I had my local shop convert to a three speed with a Sturmey-Archer SRF3 hub. It’s inspired by the old British club bikes. Frame and fork are 4130 chromoly. Really fun to ride.
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It really is. Raliegh and others really were onto something with this kind of bike. There are a couple of great threads in C&V about British club bikes, and some fascinating articles about what could be accomplished with them here: https://on-the-drops.blogspot.com/20...cher-team.html
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Very late to this thread but here is my Roadie I built in 2005
Record hubs and brakes Mavic Pro rims DT Swiss spokes
Chorus drivetrain
Chris King Headset
Easton carbon forks and bars, alloy stem
Selle Italia Flight saddle.

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Record hubs and brakes Mavic Pro rims DT Swiss spokes
Chorus drivetrain
Chris King Headset
Easton carbon forks and bars, alloy stem
Selle Italia Flight saddle.

.
#1271
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I just finished building up this Eddy Merckx Strada and hoping to get it on the road tomorrow morning.

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Last edited by primov8; 09-18-22 at 08:12 PM.
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#1273
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Thanks. I couldn't wait for tomorrow morning so I threw it on the Omnium trainer to get some fine tuning out of the way. I definitely need to reduce the spacers just a bit, but otherwise, looking forward to enjoying this build.
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#1275
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Thank you. I opted to build it up with Chorus 12, a mix of Deda/3T and until the handbuilt Kinlin XR31s arrive, it'll be rolling on the Scirocco wheelset.
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"I may think I have inalienable rights to be alive and happy but I don't - life is a blessing." -Terrence McNally
"I may think I have inalienable rights to be alive and happy but I don't - life is a blessing." -Terrence McNally