Is it carbon? Or maybe Titanium since there's no paint that can chip off? Then again carbon is seen as ultra trick nowadays. But some say steel is real? Then again aluminum can be made lighter than both titanium and carbon. Which frame material holds it's value best?

That is an interesting question. IMO, Titanium, CF, Steel and Aluminum, with Ti being the best and AL the worst.


Tim

Titanium.

Can't you weenies come up with harder questions than this?

Titanium is certainly the most overpriced frame material...

Ti the Steel then CF and AL almost nearly on top of each other.

A frames pedigree has more to do with a
higher resale value than the material itself.

Truth is none of them. They each start new at their respective price points and rapidly depreciate.
50 cents on the dollar for most only after a couple of seasons....sometimes more.
So as far as frame material is concerned, consider that you can afford and what material you like and shop accordingly. E-bay is an accurate barometer of supply and demand and therefore market value and where many including me purchase a lot of bicycle supplies including new and used framesets.
Good Luck,
George

as always, it depends on WHO made the frame.

my richard sachs will always have good resale value and its steel

a cheap TST titanium frame probably won't.

brands like serotta, independent, seven, moots, ibis, parlee, etc... will also have good resale.

+1 In the latest issue of Dirt Rag, Steve Potts is amazed that someone recently paid $3250 Australian dollars for a frame, fork and stem he built 20 years ago, and that he wants Potts to restore and repaint the bike. There's a history, craftsmanship and rarity to the frame that can't be found on the mass-produced frames of the era. When my parents retired and moved out here, I told him they could get rid of my 1989 Diamondback Axis I had been storing at their house, which although it had some sentimental value, I'm sure it wasn't worth much at that point. Now if it had been a Ritchey, Fat Chance or a pre-Trek Bontrager or Gary Fisher...

I do doubt that we'll ever see with bikes the equivalent of the $3 million+ Stradivarius that Joshua Bell plays. It's amazing that he's playing beautiful music on an instrument a few hundred years old. Is anyone going to be regularly riding a bike in the 24th century that was made in the 20th century?

Gold.


... Brad

+1 yup yup

Although I have a Motobecane made out of diamonds and the Beatle's baby teeth...

Clearly, the frame material having the best resale value is gold. It won't lose value and will most likely appreciate over time, despite its poor mechanical properties for bicycle applications.