Hydro Forming. Why?

coomber

Am I the only person in the world who likes round tubes? All these swooping lines, and curved downtubes, give me a nice tidy gusset and round tube anyday.

Saw a lovely 2009 Fire Mountain the other day and I know it's a cheap bike but it stood out because it looked so much tidier then a lot of others with it because the lines are all clean and smooth. I mean hydorformed tubes are smooth but not straight, not traditionally bike style.

I know I am in the minority for sure, but does anyone else agree?

supersonic

A lot of it is for show, but some is for structural purposes too ie you may not need gussets, and the process compacts the metal making it tougher.

coomber

I see what your saying, I just think its ugly for most frames, and on a £3/400 bike, would have thought that the cost of the mould they use and extra processes over a normal jig with round tubes would mean if they didnt do it they could spec the bike better elsewhere.

Seems it is just me though

Anonymous

i like the way skinny steel tubes look, especially with a very sloping top tube. for alu frames i really like a bit of hydroforming and more to do with the shape of a tubes cross-section than the shape of its length if you know what i mean.

nicklouse

it allows then to break all rules of frame building.

Kiblams

I prefer straight tubes myself, never been keen on what Specialized and Trek are doing these days with the downtubes.

jayson

I actually like all the swoopy curvy tubes of todays bikes its very modern and on the better bikes actually makes a tangible difference over plain round tubes.

alexj2233

jayson wrote:

I actually like all the swoopy curvy tubes of todays bikes its very modern and on the better bikes actually makes a tangible difference over plain round tubes.

+1

I'm sure that the aesthetics are just a pleasant side effect, the hydroforming allows the frames to be lighter where strength isnt needed and then strong where it is necessary. Making for better bikes.

phal44

I quite like the fact my trek came with a half decent frame at the cost of having cheaper parts because it gave me stuff to upgrade lol

Ignoring any practical aspects which I cant really vouch for I also like the way it looks, I guess it gives them more ways to make the bikes look more individual which is hard to do if everyone just has round tubes

Thewaylander

Also Hydro forming is becoming a fairly cheap way of making frames these days tryign to remember where i read that but hey.. It works for mass production by all accounts

snotty badger

The swoopy downtubes give more front wheel clearence too do they not?

Think I'm with sheeps- aluminium frames look right all swoopy and formed whilst steel looks good just being 9 pipes welded together.

Joe_Pineapples

I think some manufacturers take hydroforming a bit too far.
This, for example, just looks like it's been kept a bit too close to the fire.

Anonymous

I kind of like the slightly Dali-esque bonkersness of that Norco.
What I find particularly amusing is that they can bend tubes in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways, but they still can't make a continuous seat tube.