What makes a good frame?

houndlegs

Howdy folks
I've seen a few posts on here where someone asks, which bike should I get? A lot of the time the answer is,get bike A,or bike B, because it has a better frame for upgrading later.
So, what makes a good frame then?

Cheers

Phil

Danny87

A good frame IMO is one that fits you.

Next is the geometry of the frame by which I mean it is the angles/tube lengths etc that make up the shape/style to fit the purpose of the riding being under taken by the rider.

You've probably heard of people talking about aggressive and relaxed geometries. If a bike is aggressive it is considered to be of a more 'racier' or 'back-acheing' lol type of frame, if it is relaxed it's more of a sat-up-right sort of riding position. Depending on the purpose of the bike kind of decides where on this scale of relaxed-aggressive geometry you will want your frame to be.

Next is material of the frame, which is a bit controversial and again depends what you want the frame for.

I suppose before can really advise a good frame from a bad one, what do you want to do with your bike?

houndlegs

Danny, I'm not thinking of getting a frame, or changing my bike. And I understand a frame has to fit and be fit for purpose, geometry wise.
It was more of a curious question because of some of the posts I've seen in the past.
Some posts asking for people's choices between bike A and bike B, and bike A might have better components etc, but people advice to get bike B because it has a better frame.
I just wondered what makes a frame better on similar priced bikes.

Cheers

whojanicanackerov

What makes a good frame? A little fat italian chap I think he`s called Ernesto something or other?

Danny87

Oh sorry I must of misintrepreted your post my bad.

I think a lot of it is what people think of the frame builders/brands reputation, also weight of the frame, cost of the frame if bought seperately, sounds stupid but also popularity of the frame with other people who own it.. All contributes to it. But if you ask me what makes a good frame is how it fits you and how it reacts to your strength and weight.

Monty Dog

Foremost is fit - the best frame in the world will feel all wrong if you're riding the wrong size.
Whilst many frame geometries are similar, it's the combination of geometry, material selection and construction that when combined provide a great ride. Make the frame too stiff for the rider weight / size, it will chatter / skip about on rough roads and beat you up on long rides. Get it too-soft and fast handling just doesn't feel right - if you get the chance to ride a 'sorted' bike, particularly 'railing' fast downhills is when you know it's a good one. Likewise, matching the frame to the riding style, weight and strength of rider is important too - what works for an 90kg rouleur will probably feel awful for a 60kg climber

alihisgreat

Fit doesn't make a good frame... i won't fit on a 52cm Colnago C59 but that doesn't make it a bad frame... and even if my size in the C59 wasn't spot on.. you can change stem, bars, saddle positioning etc. to get a good fit.

Surely we should be talking about what characteristics make a good frame, under the assumption that it fits you?

Or even under more abstraction.. what makes the ideal frame for the theoretical cyclist?

-Weight
-Handling
-Power transfer
-Comfort

and then obviously the importance of these factors changes based on what the frame is designed for -> so a Classics bike like the Giant Defy advanced, or new Trek Domane is judged more on its comfort than some of the other factors.

crankycrank

Basically the better the frame the more it does better than the others for whatever style of riding you do and usually costs more. Most bikes nowadays at any price are made so well with excellent quality control that it's not much of an issue with durability. What you're paying for is better performance. As far as buying an "upgradable" frame this usually means that if you decide to put a better/more expensive kit on it, the complete bike will still be as good as other similarily priced bikes with the same or better quality groupset on it. Say you bought a heavy, poor handling alu frame bike with Shimano Sora kit for 800 quid and wanted to put Dura-Ace on later then you would still have a heavy and poor quality riding bike with very good but expensive parts. Not worth it with that frame. Better means different things to different people but usually a combination of lighter, more responsive, and comfortable are always worth paying more for. A better bike is the one you enjoy riding the most.