Aluminium and alloy grades - What does it all mean?

-Chase Me-

We see so many different numbers regarding the alloys/aluminium used in bicycle frames and i`d like to understand it a little more. What do they all mean?

For instance, a lot of sub £500 bikes use 7005 which would suggest it`s a cheaper material but then so does a plus £2000 Stinky - so does this mean that 7005 is stronger and more suited to a hardcore bike. Is there a pattern to follow with the grades - 6000, 7000 etc?

nicklouse

6000 is mainly used in the US while 7000 is mainly used in Taiwain.


niether is better they are just different.

have a google.

homercles

I was wondering about this the other day funnily enough - seems there's a wealth of stuff on Google if you search for the US 'aluminum'.

This was the most concise answer...

http://www.leaderbikeusa.com/info/about.htm

This less so...

http://www.brucescycleworks.com/tips/tip18.html

supersonic

Traditionally 7005 was harder to manipulate, and slightly higher tensile strength, so with budget frames it was used to make a basic, but tough frame. 6061 was easier to 'work', and more fancy profiles were used to get the desired charecteristics. Nowadays advances in working with the metals mean you see both at all levels with very little in them. There are other alloys - specialized M series uses an additive to increase tensile strength, as does Scandium. This can allow lighter and thinner tubes.

-Chase Me-

Thanks - there`s some good info there. My On-One Growler is made of 7005 T6 and i`d just wanted to know a little more about it compared to the other stuff out there.