I hoping good fortune may strike my household soon, so I'm trying to line up my ducks now. Money doesn't seem to last long around here, usually going for this or that necessity before going for personal indulgance.

So, does anyne have experience with the Dawes SST AL? An aluminum frame & carbon fork bike. I have a steel bike currently, love it, but wonder if the aluminum/carbon is lighter than some of the other steel bikes I'm considering. After stripping down my steel bike and rebuilding as a FG, it became immediately clear that the lighter bike performs MUCH better. Wondering, too, about the ride quality and how it compares to the steel bikes. I don't see many offerings in aluminum with or without carbon fork....is there a reason?

I don't think it'll be enough "good fortune" to go all carbon or vintage Italiano (ooh, that'd be sweet!)

Not sure if serious. The market is literally flooded with cheap aluminum frames with and without carbon forks.

Leader
Aventon
17tooth
Unknown

Just to name a few.

i rode one for a while, though i had a beautiful Serotta fork on it. solid frame. not the lightest or the best welds on the planet, but a solid bike none the less.

I would almost say the majority of fixie riders are riding alum/carbon bikes these days. As stated alum/carbon doesn't necessarily mean lighter. There are some very light steel frames out there and some aluminum boat anchors. I would also say it's a myth that a "lighter bike performs MUCH better"

+1

For sure my VISP was a boat anchor. OTOH, my Wabi Lightning (scandium) is super lightweight.

Yeah, serious. I don't get out much and I'm only two years into this bike thing. The nearest LBS that isn't a Schwinn dealer is 40, or so, miles away.

I can only gauge by how much better my current bike performs after replacing both steel rims with alloy, conversion to FG, and stripping off fenders, replacing bars and seat, and losing the bag with pump/tubes/tools, etc. Seems to accellerate and climb much better. I just figured it might make a difference between steel and alum, but if cheap alum/carbon fork may be heavier...well, I like the ride on my steel bike!

As much as I love my alu/carbon bike, I'm looking to pick up a solid steel track frame. My Aventon rides really nice, once you get used to the stiffness and the fact that you can feel every bump in your arse.

FWIW, I've been looking at some steel, too. The Fuji Feather is on the list, The KiloTT (but it's gotta be the currently sold out chrome "bling" edition). If I can swing it, a Wabi is the highest on the list, but that depends on how "good" the "fortune is.

placebo effect. professionals and high performance riders can notice a difference. and if youre taking on a lot of hills, you'd probably notice a slight difference. otherwise its irrelevant to the average rider.

and the irony is, stripping your bike of gears and moving to fixed is going to make your bike perform less efficiently.

anyways, ive heard good things about the sst al, i was tempted to get one myself. if it gets you out there riding more, thats all that matters.

I have one and I like it; and yes, it's light and it's attractive. The frame and fork are solid, and the wheels entirely serviceable. The seat and pedals are throw-aways, but something has to be on a $400 bike. I've replaced the seat, pedals, seat post, bars (which were fine, though cheap; I just wanted bullhorns). The freewheel and BB are next on my list; they work fine, just noisy.

That's where you made your improvements.
Think about how a wheel works. The rim is that huge distance from the hub and for the bike to do anything, you have to accelerate that rim. This is called rotational mass because you have to turn it and keep it turning to ride your bike. Removing weight from the rim makes that rim and hence the wheel, much easier to accelerate and to stop. Going from a steel rim to an alloy rim will make a massive difference in rotational mass and very noticeable. It's one place where real improvements can be made ... depending on where you're starting from of course.
Losing weight elsewhere on the bike is more problematic. Sure, you have to carry that weight but you need to consider it as part the whole package ie, the bike and the rider. People get excited about losing half a kilogram from their bike. A 500ml bottle of water weights about half a kilogram. Do you notice the difference when you either lose or gain a bottle on water on your bike? Consider then that, depending on how heavy the rider is, a 100kg total package is not unrealistic (I weigh 110kg on my own, but I'm a big ***** cat) and that half a kilogram that so many riders get so excited about is only 0.5% of the total package. For a small rider, this might get as high as 1% and, not being rotational such as weight in the rims, all it does is just sit there.

The effect of weight is grossly exaggerated but it sells bikes to people who don't bother to think about things beyond the marketing blurb.

What IS important, is the design of the frame and how it's built. The material is only part of this equation, any of the popular frame materials (steel, titanium, aluminium, carbon fibre) are capable of making very good or very bad frames, also very light or very heavy frames.

Realistically, if your bike is designed and built well, if it fits you properly (because the frame is the right size and you've put time and thought into adjusting things) and you've equipped it properly (fenders in the wet, carriers if you carry stuff, enough drink bottles, etc), it will ride well and you will love riding it ... just as I love my old Europa which weighs just less than an Abrams Battle Tank and cuts through errant taxis rather than shuddering to a halt

If I want to do the new absoluteBLack road oval how could I make it work on my Dawes SST AL.
Which crankset would I need? There are three options for chainrings, SRAM direct mount, 110 BCD 4 bolt, or 110 BCD 5 bolt.

Bought one last year. Sold it almost immediately. It was fine but just reminded me how much I hate aluminum frames. Rattled my bones.