Lightest steel retro frame set

[peteteamtig]

Ok you guys , we got the other thread going on which envelopes plastic , ti and alu .

But what about steel ?

My Lobster . 19.5" c to top flavour , a knats whisker under 4lb .

What about all you Mountain Goat , Fat , IF , Kelly , DeKerf owners out there ?

Lets just see if there are any medium frames from some obscure , long forgotten manufacturer that can hit a real life 3.5lb .

 

[MJN]

Ritchey P21/P20?

 

[ratbane]

kila

1997 Columbus Kona Kilauea 3.9lbs, 18" and still going.

 

[peteteamtig]

C'mon fellas

Sizes aswell as weights please lads an lasses (dont want the non converted thinking we are rigging the game.)

 

[hamster]

Chas May told me that he built a few super light specials in 753 in the early 90's, but of course they broke in time. They were significantly under 3lb.

Maybe the question also ought to have some kind of qualifier about "and still going"?

 

[peteteamtig]

Lol

Yeah . Spose its all about striking the balance between strength and lightness , and having a light , whipspringy ride .

Going off on a little tangent here Comparing steel to alu , is really like comparing vinyl to cd .

There just seems to be something magical missing from both the latter .

Or perhaps i'm just talking complete and total b£(^@!€'s ! :shock:

 

[Anthony]

I think a 3.5lb 18x22 steel frame would be too flexy even for me.

BITD the lightest Tange MTB tubeset was Prestige Ultimate Superlight. That weighs what it weighs, a frame built by a bling builder can't weigh less than one built in Taiwan with the same tubes (and in fact fillet-brazing adds c100g over TIG welding so I understand). Add welds, bridges, dropouts and paint to a Tange Superlight tubeset and you're over 4lbs.

But I did say MTB. There's no law against using tubes intended for road frames and not sanctioned by the maker for MTB. But you'd have a sub-4lb frame that would be too flexy to be fast and too fragile to last long.

There were plenty of marketing departments though that worked out that the cheapest way of having a lighter frame was to make false weight claims. Whether Kona claims are 'without paint' or just fibs I don't know, but either way they're not true. Other makers were no better though.

 

[peteteamtig]

Kona

Kona have always bulled up their steel frame weights , I had a 94 Lavadome BITD and it was a good half pound heavier on what was claimed ! And that was with over tared scales too !!

 

[Splatter Paint]

Orange Prestige?

I can't be bothered to strip the frame and weigh it, but it FEELS light!

 

[suburbanreuben]

My '98 Explosif, in 853 (20"), weighs in at 4lb 8oz. My 2002 Blizzard (853, 20") weighs in at 4lb 10oz. My mystery Dekerf is 3.85lb. Most of that is paint (at least 1mm thick :shock: ) That's an 18.5" frame. We'll see what it weighs after a respray