Alu frames ????
sie1uk
Posts: 22
Whats the diffrence between the diffrent numbers on athe alu frames, ie 6061 and 7001 tubeing ??? just curious
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Hi I think its to do with the alloy composition.
6000 grade aluminiums are easy to extrude and are ideal for handlebars, etc. They're also used for frame.
7000 grade aluminium offers higher strengths and are easy to weld and are a better frame material.
Think this is right. Maybe someone can elaborate.0 -
So which would be best for a road frame, 6061 or 7005 ? mine has 7005 written on the near to the bottom bracket, mine has 7005 and mate of mine has 6061, just to end a silly male type arguement ! they both seem to weigh the same.0
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oh ! guess he won our little disagreement then !0
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Too compicated for me - go by weight and the quality of welds.'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0
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They are different alloys, with different characteristics.
You can't say one is "better" than the other.
Ok, the 6061 is better.
Wheelies ARE cool.
Zaskar X0 -
7005-T6 (which is nearly 5% zinc) offers a slightly higher tensile and yield strength than 6061-T6, which is not to say that it's a better material for bicycle frames. It offers these slight strength advantages at the expense of a very large reduction in workability. This matters because bicycle frames are not made of solid metal. They are made of tubes which are usually double- or triple-butted, often shaped (e.g. oval) for extra strength in a particular orientation or better aerodynamics, and finally welded together. 6061 lends itself to these requirements much more readily than 7005, with the result that for a given price, a 6061 frame is likely to be stiffer and/or lighter than one from 7005.
So if you need a simple yes-or-no answer, 6061 is "better" than 7005 for making bicycle frames. But 7005 is stronger and may be "better" in some other applications, including bicycle components other than the frame.0 -
I once asked a designer at GT why the company used 7005 for its Taiwanese-made frames and 6061 for its US stuff:
"Because that's what's available locally."
In terms of their properties there really is no significant difference between the two beyond the fevered imaginings of marketing departments.John Stevenson0 -
many thanksfor all your replys0
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After a wee bit searching, came across these links, interesting read (Well I think so but I'm a bike geek!)
http://www.dahon.co.uk/framematerial.htm
http://www.ulmkemetals.co.uk/al/aluminium_6000.aspx
http://www.ulmkemetals.co.uk/al/aluminium_7000.aspx
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