Anyone ride a steel frame road bike ?

vim147

Anyone use a steel frame road bike and what does it weigh in at ?
Am thinking of getting a Trek 520 touring bike as an all purpose bike. For touring, Gravel and road riding. Not looking to win any races.

I think that bike weighs in at 13kg without the pannier racks.

akh

Both my current bikes are steel.

The rim brake equipped one is around 9.4kg and the disc brake 'gravel' bike (with mudguards fitted) is 11kg. That's without water or tools, phone, etc, which would push the weight up by at least 0.5kg, probably closer to 1kg.

I weight 72kg. Factor that in, and even if I was on a 7kg race bike, the total weight would be 95% of the gravel bike set up. A huge margin for racing, irrelevant for me riding for fitness and fun.

pblakeney

Yes. Weighed out of curiosity as ridden with a Garmin, 2 full water bottles and a saddle bag with a tube, multitool and levers. 9.5kgs from memory.

fatted864

About 9 Kg for mine (+ water, saddle bag and me)

schlepcycling

I've got a Mason Resolution and it weighs approximately 8.5kg minus computer, bottles etc.

emanresu

A smidge over 9kg with saddle bag, bottles and garmin.

andyh01

schlepcycling said:

I've got a Mason Resolution and it weighs approximately 8.5kg minus computer, bottles etc.

How is it?
I was torn between that and their Bokeh, went with the Bokeh for wider tire clearance and option to run 650b/27.5 wheels but not had need yet so kinda wish went for the Resolute.

schlepcycling

andyh01 said:

schlepcycling said:

I've got a Mason Resolution and it weighs approximately 8.5kg minus computer, bottles etc.

How is it?
I was torn between that and their Bokeh, went with the Bokeh for wider tire clearance and option to run 650b/27.5 wheels but not had need yet so kinda wish went for the Resolute.

I love it (although I would say that as I bought it), I find it very comfortable and it fits me perfectly. I use it as my everyday bike both for commuting (before I lost my job) and leisure rides. I've also been able to do a bit of gravel riding on it with a spare pair of wheels with some 32mm Panaracer Gravel King SK fitted. I do really want a Bokeh but finances are a bit stretched at the moment so it'll have to wait.

mpatts

Commuter is a Gensis Flyer, with rack and stuff I woudl say its approx 11kg, but I am somewhat guessing!

My 'posh bike' is 8.5kg

My 'old bike' is about the same. Steel is a bit heavier but not lots.

hazy_day

I’m riding a Holdsworth Strada with Etap and carbon bits( bars seatpost etc.). Currently fitted with Ksyriums but changing to Shamal Mille. Never thought much about weight but I’d say no more than 8.5kg.

Ben6899

A steel bike doesn't have to be heavy (see the examples above and I'll demonstrate with my Donhou that has DA7900 and carbon wheels). But I think if you go down the steel route, you've already accepted a bit of a weight penalty in exchange for comfort and handling (if it's a good frame).

(The worst bike I've ridden was a really light rental R3 - handled terribly)

DeVlaeminck

I don't agree steel is any more likely to handle better or be more comfortable than carbon - in fact a lightweight steel frame is likely to be more prone to speed wobble because the head tube is likely to be less stiff than a carbon frame.

The comfort thing was probably true when wide tube aluminium race frames were popular - they were bone shakers compared to the steel race frames that came before them - but again Carbon frames can be built with a decent degree of compliance.

Ben6899

This is why I qualified my statement - it has to be a good frame. Of course.

mpatts

Ben6899 said:

This is why I qualified my statement - it has to be a good frame. Of course.

My first bike was a Viking, a new thing, it was as supple as concrete.

elbowloh

I bought a late 80s / early 90s Arthur Caygill Columbus SL bike with Campag xenon/veloce mix for £250 quid a few years ago.

It quickly became my favourite bike to ride, even though it wasn't as "fast" as my Felt F1 with Ultegra. The frame is really well made and the welding is beautiful.

It was used as a bit of a beater/commuter, but I've decided I like to so much that I've just bought a Chorus 12 groupset for it, which I'm in the middle of building up now (It's taken me two days of work just to get the bloody square taper cranks and BB out, with the crank puller now completely stuck in the removed leftside crank!)

It's got some old Campag Mexico '68 wheels on it, which i might also replace, but fine for now.

Never weighed it, but its really good fun to ride on.

veronese68

elbowloh said:

Never weighed it, but its really good fun to ride on.

Isn't that the most important thing for the vast majority of us. Must admit I really like the sound of that.

davidof

This



No idea about weight, under 10kg, probably. I have it set up exactly the same as my carbon road bike, blind fold I probably couldn't tell the difference but not sure it woudl be safe to ride blindfolded.

andyh01

schlepcycling said:

andyh01 said:

schlepcycling said:

I've got a Mason Resolution and it weighs approximately 8.5kg minus computer, bottles etc.

How is it?
I was torn between that and their Bokeh, went with the Bokeh for wider tire clearance and option to run 650b/27.5 wheels but not had need yet so kinda wish went for the Resolute.

I love it (although I would say that as I bought it), I find it very comfortable and it fits me perfectly. I use it as my everyday bike both for commuting (before I lost my job) and leisure rides. I've also been able to do a bit of gravel riding on it with a spare pair of wheels with some 32mm Panaracer Gravel King SK fitted. I do really want a Bokeh but finances are a bit stretched at the moment so it'll have to wait.

Is the 32mm gravel kings with full guards? If so damm it
TBF for me personally, it's one or other as both are very good, well I love the Bokeh, not tried the Resolute or their Ti one but my thoughts were/are not much in them, they're all high quality and on par bar the different frame material obvs. The To is outside my budget/couldn't justify the cost. As i say I was tempted with the steel but tire clearance and rust concern put me off so went Bokeh
Would you keep.the stee resolutel and Bokeh if you could or would you sell the Resolute?

schlepcycling

andyh01 said:

schlepcycling said:

andyh01 said:

schlepcycling said:

I've got a Mason Resolution and it weighs approximately 8.5kg minus computer, bottles etc.

How is it?
I was torn between that and their Bokeh, went with the Bokeh for wider tire clearance and option to run 650b/27.5 wheels but not had need yet so kinda wish went for the Resolute.

I love it (although I would say that as I bought it), I find it very comfortable and it fits me perfectly. I use it as my everyday bike both for commuting (before I lost my job) and leisure rides. I've also been able to do a bit of gravel riding on it with a spare pair of wheels with some 32mm Panaracer Gravel King SK fitted. I do really want a Bokeh but finances are a bit stretched at the moment so it'll have to wait.

Is the 32mm gravel kings with full guards? If so damm it
TBF for me personally, it's one or other as both are very good, well I love the Bokeh, not tried the Resolute or their Ti one but my thoughts were/are not much in them, they're all high quality and on par bar the different frame material obvs. The To is outside my budget/couldn't justify the cost. As i say I was tempted with the steel but tire clearance and rust concern put me off so went Bokeh
Would you keep.the stee resolutel and Bokeh if you could or would you sell the Resolute?

No the 32mm is without guards, If I could I would have both.

Cargobike

Yes, got a Shand Stoater with a Rohloff hub.
I'm pretty sure it weighs above 13kg but I've never weighed it as it does the job required brilliantly.

If weight is the issue I have an 8kg carbon flier for when it matters, which for a bloke my size is as low as I dare go.

Conversely, I also ride an Urban Arrow XL for work. That weighs a mighty 52kg unladen and is by far and away the best fun you can have on two wheels.

herbie_leinster

I have a Legend stainless steel Ventoux. With Chorus 11 speed and Scribe 38mm carbon wheels it weighs 8kg. Can't say I notice the weight difference from my Fondriest carbon which died.

lakesluddite

Custom built Rourke 853 is my 'best' bike, for nice dry days only (usually). Had it 5 years, did the build myself with Sram Force 22 and Prime 50mm carbon wheels (added later). Weighs something between 8.5 and 9kg with pedals and bottle cages, and rides like a dream!

froze

My lightest steel bike is an 84 Fuji Club with Suntour ARX that weighs 21 pounds, that bike is my commuter bike. I like Suntour stuff a lot, but the ARX wasn't their best creation; I have a Trek 660 with Suntour Superbe and that stuff is fantastic, it can even shift climbing a grade without easing off the pedals, it's fast and smooth, while the ARX is slow, not as accurate, not as smooth, and can't shift while under load. At some point, I may swap all the Superbe stuff off the Trek and onto the Fuji and put the ARX stuff on the Trek because the Fuji VaLite quad butted steel is stiffer, more responsive, and lighter than the Reynolds 531cs tubing on the Trek.

If you want the lightest steel bike, the Rodriguez Outlaw can weigh 15 pounds, and it will lighten your wallet significantly too.

I have other steel bikes as well. My touring bike is a 2020 Masi Giramondo 700c, with front and rear steel racks and 7 pounds of tires...yes, the dang tires that came with the bike weigh 1600 grams a piece, and I can't buy lighter ones till they start to come back in stock again, so it weighs 27 pounds according to specs. The Masi is better equipped than the Trek 520 for about the same cost.

I also have a Lynskey Peloton TI bike, it was the cheapest bike Lynskey made, it rides better than any steel bike I've had, and they say steel is real, anyway it has a silky smooth ride. I wanted to get a TI touring bike due to the ride quality, but they were far overpriced, so I got the steel Masi instead. However, since the Masi came with 45 wide tires and thus I can run them at 40 psi the bike rides really nice, though I will probably put on narrower tires when they come back in stock.

davyjones2000anj00DDs

DeVlaeminck said:

I don't agree steel is any more likely to handle better or be more comfortable than carbon - in fact a lightweight steel frame is likely to be more prone to speed wobble because the head tube is likely to be less stiff than a carbon frame.

The comfort thing was probably true when wide tube aluminium race frames were popular - they were bone shakers compared to the steel race frames that came before them - but again Carbon frames can be built with a decent degree of compliance.

Nah, the most comfortable steel will still be way nicer to ride than the most comfortable carbon imo. There is just something about the metal that gives it that supple ride quality that plastic cant match.

fatted864

https://www.habcycles.com/m7.html

lesfirth

fatted864 said:

https://www.habcycles.com/m7.html

Excellent ! Thanks for the post.

markyone

My colnago weighs in at 8kg best ride ever.

In fact I have bought another one.

darkhairedlord

fatted864 said:

https://www.habcycles.com/m7.html

Interesting article, but they are comparing good steel with good steel.

joeyhalloran

I have a Fairlight Strael. There is no doubt it's a performance hit (stiffness, aero, weight, etc...) compared to carbon bikes. There is also the scope to create even more comfortable carbon bikes than a steel bike as (good) engineers have a lot of control over stiffness and flexibility in carbon via the layup. That said, engineering and who made it goes in to a bike too, not just the material. A well-made bike of any material will be a better ride than a poorly made bike.

That said, I really like riding it. There is more to a bike than how fast you go on it.

johnvictorhookB8niBsyh

I was racing on a Colnago superlite up until last year, record square taper chainset, and Mavic ksyrium pro wheels don't know the weight. It rusted through and I got a Cannondale Supersix evo, much lighter but no faster I weigh 92kg. Miss the Colnago!

rick_chasey

It’s mainly about the quality of the frame rather than the material tbh.

There’s enough overlap on the performance of the frame material ven diagram.

I’ve ridden jarring steel frames and buttery carbon frames.