JSH
rBotM Winner
Re:
Interesting one this. Talk to a dozen different experts and get 12 different opinions. Top end steels can be built uber stiff and whilst there is a weight penalty - its probably only 600g (or a full water bottle). Bearing in mind that there is a UCI weight limit and teams are often using alloy bars/stem to get up to that weight, I don't see weight as the limiting factor. Madison Genesis are using 953 frames, but really they are a tier 2 team so not going head to head with the very best riders. It would be interesting to see what the likes of Froome could do with a top steel frame.
I have a Reynolds 953 frame built with Chorus 11 speed and Cannondale Supersix Evo (one of the lightest production frames) with Ultegra Di2 - the Cannondale is 250g lighter. Performance wise - there's nothing in it at my level. I like that it's hand built for me (harder to achieve with carbon) and beautifully finished. It's likely to last a long time, it is unlikely to deteriorate with age and can be repainted to look like new - It went with the standard size rather than super OS so, to me, it is classically pretty (I realise that is subjective). A friend of mine was rear ended on a Dogma last week and he's panicking that it needs to be x-rayed before he dare ride it and is considering binning it. 953 is notoriously hard to dent and I wouldn't be worried about the frame if I came off. the longevity of carbon is still a bit of an unknown.
Carbon fibre is fashionable at the moment. I would imagine that it's easier to mass produce and the team bike sponsors want to sell bikes to the masses.
Interesting one this. Talk to a dozen different experts and get 12 different opinions. Top end steels can be built uber stiff and whilst there is a weight penalty - its probably only 600g (or a full water bottle). Bearing in mind that there is a UCI weight limit and teams are often using alloy bars/stem to get up to that weight, I don't see weight as the limiting factor. Madison Genesis are using 953 frames, but really they are a tier 2 team so not going head to head with the very best riders. It would be interesting to see what the likes of Froome could do with a top steel frame.
I have a Reynolds 953 frame built with Chorus 11 speed and Cannondale Supersix Evo (one of the lightest production frames) with Ultegra Di2 - the Cannondale is 250g lighter. Performance wise - there's nothing in it at my level. I like that it's hand built for me (harder to achieve with carbon) and beautifully finished. It's likely to last a long time, it is unlikely to deteriorate with age and can be repainted to look like new - It went with the standard size rather than super OS so, to me, it is classically pretty (I realise that is subjective). A friend of mine was rear ended on a Dogma last week and he's panicking that it needs to be x-rayed before he dare ride it and is considering binning it. 953 is notoriously hard to dent and I wouldn't be worried about the frame if I came off. the longevity of carbon is still a bit of an unknown.
Carbon fibre is fashionable at the moment. I would imagine that it's easier to mass produce and the team bike sponsors want to sell bikes to the masses.
