Which is the best frame material for a commuter?

agnello

calcium for the commuter's frame

metal for his bike

andrewc3142

Miles, mate, miles. Although unfortunately can't do it every single day due to work commitments early/evening/working out of town and there are times in the winter when it doesn't appeal and I train it with the Brompton. Aim, though, is not to catch the train unless I can absolutely help it.

secretsam

victor ludorum wrote:

Less alliterative and pithy, but how about:

1) We're stuck at the lights,so let me tell you about the time I was riding down to a Real Ale Festival just outside Chalfont St Giles, oh the lights have changed and you've gone, and my bike seems to have rusted and collapsed into a small heap, steel

2) Affordable, lightweight, stiff-and-responsive-and-the-ride-comfort-is-fine-if-you-use-shock- absorbing-components-or-alternatively-just-man-up-a-little, aluminium.

3) Wrap it in cotton-wool (not because its fragile, but because if you've spent that much money on it you don't want to risk chipping the finish on something so banal as a Sheffield stand, carbon.

4) The envy of the bike stands until someone steals it, titanium.

5) Oh God, why do I do this to myself? It weighs a bleedin' tonne and even with the front fork locked there's still enough shock absorbtion in the frame to render my efforts useless, crap here comes someone on a road bike - I'll hold my breath and pretend this is dead easy. Why am I riding this medieval instrument of torture which is plainly unsuited to this surface, full-sus MTB?

Didn't know about the real ale festival in the Chalfonts, tell me more, do like a nice drop from time to time. And I'm plenty man enough, thanks, yet in touch enough with my feminine side to wonder why it should hurt to go over bumps...

secretsam

andrewc3142 wrote:

Do any of you even care a little bit about going quickly?

Yup, and with my budget of £1k (OK it topped that ...) went for steel. I've not ridden many carbon bikes but from that admittedly limited experience I'm not sure it's a huge difference for what I do most, ie 55m round commute into central London plus the occasional weekend ride. If I was into/good enough/had time for racing and so on I may have chosen differently.

What did you get?

passout

Clearly aluminium is better than old hat [(i]oh look at me I'm such a retro-purist[/i]) steel - any day. Lighter, stiffer and not necessarily harsh depending on how it's made. Now it's even cheaper too; you can even get someone in Tawain to make one for the cost of a French Beer! Carbon is best of all but a bit pricey at the moment still. Not fussed about titanium - just like steel but less sustainable and more expensive (OK a bit lighter).

2wheelzgood

Having aquired a track pump and promptly pumped the Schwalbe Marathon +s up to 100psi as they ought be, my bike feels like a toy.
riding down the terribly poor surfaced roads is more like a Paris-Roubaix special. Every bone shakes, the fold-up aerobars bang about and my aluminium bike feels and sounds like it's buil;t from the worlds most rigid plastic (inclusing the tyres).

not good.

I'll have to see what steel is like on my new bike this evening but I'm NOT going down the bumpy hill on the fixed until I'm ready!