Reynolds steel & opinions on frame builders

wallabyhunter

From another thread,

:?:
Pardon the ignorance, How much difference does the grade of steel (853/725/531) make a) to the handling & b) to the price? I am buying a touring bike at the mo, & Hewitt is one of the brands I'm considering, any thoughts on that frame builder?

It will be used for med to heavy (camping gear) touring in France/UK/Italy (although not all at once!) [/quote]

Eurostar

Ask Dave Yates! Give him a call. 01526 343322

andymiller

Other reputable framebuilders you might want to check out include:

Chas Roberts
Robin Mather
Mercian
Argos

I suspect the choice may come down to who is nearest to you, and who you have the best rapport with (oh and when you want the bike by - the 'best' choice might also be the busiest ). So one approach might be to prepare a few sensible questions and see who gives you the most sensible answers.

wallabyhunter

Sorry should've mentioned, I'm currently living in Australia. I will be in Europe for 2 months June - July - Aug. I did some exploring last sept, while I was there, Hewitt were happy to talk for a long time on what they have done & what they can do. As you say the one cloest in this case is a definate advantage.

I will be back a few times over the next few years, & I intend to leave the bike in Lancs for when I am back.

gb

Ashley_R

wallabyhunter wrote:

Sorry should've mentioned, I'm currently living in Australia. I will be in Europe for 2 months June - July - Aug. I did some exploring last sept, while I was there, Hewitt were happy to talk for a long time on what they have done & what they can do. As you say the one cloest in this case is a definate advantage.

I will be back a few times over the next few years, & I intend to leave the bike in Lancs for when I am back.

gb

Wow, I thought I travelled a long way to Hewitts from Leicester to get mine!

Have a Hewitt CheviottSE which I love which is 725, wasn't the main reason I bought that rather than the standard Cheviot which is 53, came with a better spec, however Hewitt's will build it to whatever spec you want really

Don't think theres much difference between 725 and 531 in ride quality, 725 is a bit lighter thats all.

853 is a bit of a harsher ride so I recall reading somewhere so more suited to racers than tourers

Love the bike though, 1000's of miles on it and wouldn't swap it for anything (well, within reason! )

wallabyhunter

Thanks Ashley_R
You're happy with the bike then, What made you travel from Leicester, did you look at many other bikes before choosing? Mum's house is close by so I will be based there while in UK.

Seems silly buying a bike "off the peg" & paying excess baggage to get it there, when I can get one made to measure.

gb

bike_the_planet

wallabyhunter wrote:

From another thread,

:?:
Pardon the ignorance, How much difference does the grade of steel (853/725/531) make a) to the handling & b) to the price? I am buying a touring bike at the mo, & Hewitt is one of the brands I'm considering, any thoughts on that frame builder?

It will be used for med to heavy (camping gear) touring in France/UK/Italy (although not all at once!)

[/quote]

The main differences between 531, 725 and 853 are primarily in tensile strength. Out of the numbers you quoted, 853 is the strongest followed by 725 then 531. The first two are chrome-molybdenum steels that are heat treated. The former is also air hardened. 531 is a manganese-molybdenum steel. The disadvantage with the latter is that excessive heating during the build process can weaken the tubeset. 853 and 725 can both be TIG welded, whereas 531 cannot.

Because 853 is much stronger than 531, in theory you can build a bike with thinner walled tubing. This would reduce your frame weight by maybe 1/2 lb. In practice however, any tube with walls thinner than 0.6 mm is going to be more prone to denting - an important factor when considering a touring bike that may get rough handling from time to time. Also, thin walled tubes are more prone to flexing and buckling - again, something that a touring bike carrying heavy panniers plus rider is more prone to.

From a practical perspective, any of these steels would be ok providing the frame builder has used the tubes appropriately and followed Reynolds' guidelines.

eg I have a Thorn Nomad recently retrofitted with a Rohloff hub. It is built from good old 531with tube wall thicknesses of 0.7 mm. This provides a good stable ride (I am 97kg) with panniers. It is not a light bike, but who cares when you are lugging camping gear....If it was made with 725 it would still weigh the same if the tube thicknesses were similar.

Thorn, Roberts, Hewitt all seem to put alot of thought into their frame design and manufacture. It's then just a question of what sort of bike fits your riding style and requirements, eg 26" or 700c wheels, heavy or light touring, flat bars or drops - many options.

Good luck with your choice.

Ashley_R

wallabyhunter wrote:

Thanks Ashley_R
You're happy with the bike then, What made you travel from Leicester, did you look at many other bikes before choosing? Mum's house is close by so I will be based there while in UK.

Seems silly buying a bike "off the peg" & paying excess baggage to get it there, when I can get one made to measure.

gb

Extremely happy thanks Had it nearly 2 years and thousands of lovely miles on it

Looked at various options including Mercians, Thorns, Dawes Galaxys and others I can't remember

Sure other makes won't be bad bikes by a long way, just that all the reviews/postings on here i read gave the Hewitt rave reviews. Plus Paul Hewitts bike fitting is legendary, went up there to be measured up, received the bike a couple of weeks or so later (the Post Office managed to lose it in transit for a week!!) and just re-fitted the handlebars, fitted the pedals and was away, most comfy riding position I've ever had

One upgrade over the standard spec I would recommend is changing saying that though is the cantilever brakes, had a few hairy moments in the wet when fully loaded before I upgraded mine!! :shock:

Worth going to the shop and just speaking to Paul Hewitt, sound advice, plus you can drool at the piles of bike frames/parts just lying around the shop, I managed to kick over a Colnago C50 frame worth about £2500 that was propped up against a wall! :oops:

wallabyhunter

Thanks for the reply, almost decided thats the way to go, just a few things to check out.

The time he spent with me in sept, was good, he took the trouble to show me 'round & explained his thoughts etc. I did enjoy wandering around the shop, it was a quiet day, early morning, early in the week, so he had a bit of time to spare. I know what you mean about kicking frames over, it's wee bit cramped, a bit like the garden shed equation I suppose, (amount of clutter) = (amount of available space) + 33.3%

What are your thoughts on the brakes? I have cantis on my bike in aus, but have switched between yellow/red/black brake blocks. I wouldn't have anything less than yellow when I tour loaded. Did you switch to V brakes?

Bit hard to nip into the shop from here, I'll have to do most of it via email/phone. I have a couple of weeks in Lancs before setting off so hopefully I'll get it right 1st time, if not I can ride for a week & then sort out the problems, after that I'm on my own!

here's hoping
gb

Ashley_R

wallabyhunter wrote:

Thanks for the reply, almost decided thats the way to go, just a few things to check out.

The time he spent with me in sept, was good, he took the trouble to show me 'round & explained his thoughts etc. I did enjoy wandering around the shop, it was a quiet day, early morning, early in the week, so he had a bit of time to spare. I know what you mean about kicking frames over, it's wee bit cramped, a bit like the garden shed equation I suppose, (amount of clutter) = (amount of available space) + 33.3%

What are your thoughts on the brakes? I have cantis on my bike in aus, but have switched between yellow/red/black brake blocks. I wouldn't have anything less than yellow when I tour loaded. Did you switch to V brakes?

Bit hard to nip into the shop from here, I'll have to do most of it via email/phone. I have a couple of weeks in Lancs before setting off so hopefully I'll get it right 1st time, if not I can ride for a week & then sort out the problems, after that I'm on my own!

here's hoping
gb

Even had my LBS have a look at the canti brakes to get them set up better but not to my satisfaction, ended up having some mini-V's fitted on the front with a cam to take up the extra slack in the cable, wanted dual pivots bout apperently theres not enough reach on them to fit

New brakes a world of difference