Fuji_cyclist

1. An old cyclist I was talking to said steel frames are like fine wine. He said that the older they get the better they ride. Why is this?

2. I have been thinking about upgrading my frame. Recently I have considered Titanium, but I can't see what is so good about it. Kind of seems like the old timers version of Carbon fiber.

531Aussie

I've had some of my steel bikes for 13 to 18 years, and I'd say this is rubbish -- they're just the same. The only thing that improves them is when I put new wheels on

cryogenic

Guess I'll take a stab at this one... Titanium doesn't rust or corrode or anything of that nature.. doesn't require much in the way of maintenance... It'll basically last forever. Plus it's generally going to be more "flexy" than a similar fat-tubed Al frame. Supposedly a smoother ride than an equivalently-priced Al frame. Here's a nice little bit of info... https://www.habcycles.com/techstuf.html

LordOpie

You should go Magnesium or Scandium.

AEsco48

the good thing about steel is that it gets lighter with time....you can accelerate this effect by leaving it out doors in the rainy/cold season

661

Where's Syd when you need him?

55/Rad

The titanium will go well with all those upgrades you've been buying.

I suggest a Seven Elium Ti.

55/Rad

SpongeDad

Don't listen to these people. Old steel - especially the steel that came out of superclean Japanese electric furnaces in the 80s -- is godlike. If you're lucky, one of those old cyclists will trade you straight up for your current frame.

AEsco48

my current bike is a 1983 steel

cryogenic

Seconded... or perhaps an Independent Fabrications Crown Jewel Ti.

SpongeDad

Awesome. That's better than the aluminum nut-crusher that Fuji's riding (if I recall correctly). He'd have to throw in some real cash to make it an even trade.

Trogon

1. BS

2. It can provide a pretty nice ride if the bike is built properly. But then so can aluminum, steel and CF.

velocipedio

1. this is nonsense. many old steel frames rust out. many just start to feel slack after a decade of use. some are as nice as the day they were made. also, an old steel frame is made with old steel. columbus brain was a nice ride a decade ago, but it's heavy as hell compared even to today's steel, like spirit or even zona, and despite what the steel-is-real retrogrouch cult says, it rides like a truck. another thing to consider is that a lot of reasonably good quality steek bikes from the 1980s were made with tubesets like columbus aelle, which are seamed rather than drawn. these are heavy, sluggish and stiff, and particularly prone to corrosion.

2. titanium, as another poster noted, doesn't rust. it's pretty tough; not unbreakable but comparatively stronger than steel, alu and cf frames of equal weight. the ride quality of a well-made ti frame isn't flexy so much as supple and lively. i have a columbus zona [steel] marinoni and a ti litespeed. i never found the marinoni uncomfortable, even after 180-200 km, but the ride of the litespeed is much nicer. it has an elasticity and snap that the marinoni lacks. the marinoni is not a cheap-ass crummy frame, by any stretch of the imagination, btw.