Lightweight tubing (e.g. triple butted, competition etc) - is it more fragile?

[tweedi]

Hi All,

Looking for a workhorse bike on which I can:
- have the kid seat on the top tube
- have the kid in a child seat at the rear (clamped on seat tube / stays)
- tow a trailer
- commute, 10m each way London flat

I am looking at 90s bike with 135mm dropout spacing so I can put a hub motor in it. I read a ton on this forum in the past few weeks (and fell in love with many of your bikes) but one question remains:

Are steel frames of the "competition" type, those that are lighter and more "nippy" with fancy tange prestige or cromo / titanium mix, more fragile than the lower end, simpler tubes?

I am looking at marin eldridge, trek singletrack, ridgeback 7XX, raleigh 531 type mooshine, raleigh M-trax with titanium mix, saracen traverse as I understand they are more fun to ride and could be lighter for my 20m a day commute (return trip). However I am concerned those tubes would suffer with the child / trailer?

Would a lower end tubing e.g. raleigh m-trax 100 / 150, trek 8XX, saracen tufftrax, ridgeback 6XX be better, or can I go with lighter and am just overthinking?

Thanks!

 

[Prodigal Son]

Yes, lightweight tubing could be fragile for the application you are looking for. A heavier touring bike would be a safer bet.

 

[uhuru]

Hi All,

Looking for a workhorse bike on which I can:
- have the kid seat on the top tube
- have the kid in a child seat at the rear (clamped on seat tube / stays)
- tow a trailer
- commute, 10m each way London flat

I am looking at 90s bike with 135mm dropout spacing so I can put a hub motor in it. I read a ton on this forum in the past few weeks (and fell in love with many of your bikes) but one question remains:

Are steel frames of the "competition" type, those that are lighter and more "nippy" with fancy tange prestige or cromo / titanium mix, more fragile than the lower end, simpler tubes?

I am looking at marin eldridge, trek singletrack, ridgeback 7XX, raleigh 531 type mooshine, raleigh M-trax with titanium mix, saracen traverse as I understand they are more fun to ride and could be lighter for my 20m a day commute (return trip). However I am concerned those tubes would suffer with the child / trailer?

Would a lower end tubing e.g. raleigh m-trax 100 / 150, trek 8XX, saracen tufftrax, ridgeback 6XX be better, or can I go with lighter and am just overthinking?

Thanks!

take basic bicycle such as trek 930 till 990 they are very good steel bike light , robust and the price is very affordable and can be upgrade to make very good daily to MTB

 

[Prodigal Son]

take basic bicycle such as trek 930 till 990 they are very good steel bike light , robust and the price is very affordable and can be upgrade to make very good daily to MTB

This is good advice.

 

[Tootyred]

The tube butting means they are very thin centre tube....

Tange prestige is less than half a mm think in the middle....

A good old gas pipe 501 or simiar frame will be much thicker all round. With a lot of no name frames being a good 1mm or more.

 

[uhuru]

The tube butting means they are very thin centre tube....

Tange prestige is less than half a mm think in the middle....

A good old gas pipe 501 or simiar frame will be much thicker all round. With a lot of no name frames being a good 1mm or more.

if you mean you can seat your kids on it. Yes i have started mtb with the 930 and i used to ride downhill and all tricks you do when you are teenager and i garantee you you will enjoy it. this is true temper OX steel. Steel will be your best friend for your build avoid alloy frame they are terrible when aging specially easton 7005. In england you have a frame builder name roberts he do pretty nice bike such as ritchey . there is a model name spider something. Mid range bike are always stronger than high level bikes but specialized used to make M2 or M4 but price will be higher. personnally try Trek you will not loose your money a full bike will be between 150 to 300 quids

 

[tweedi]

Thank you so much for all your responses, very helpful. I won't make a custom bike or invest in something pricey, probably max 150 / 200 GBP.

I am a little confused regarding the 9XX Trek suggestion (Singletrack) because it says it is triple butted, so I would have thought that they are also more fragile at the center, although you guys seem to say it is very sturdy?

What makes it different than a marin eldridge, Kona Cindercone or M-trax cromo/ti (they seem all butted so thinner in the middle)?

I guess I want it robust but also have to commute 20 mi a day so a reasonable weight matters. Maybe I will need two bikes..

 

[Lucidone]

Surely if you're adding a hub motor weight will not be such an issue and even if disregarding motor/battery, if a mainly flat commute then you won't really notice the moderate weight from a more robust frame.
It might also be the case that you'll find a better condition / maintained bike within your budget if you're not seeking a higher spec frame?

However, as you appear to recognise, you've already fallen into the retrobike abyss so you might as well abandon all semblance of restraint and just start looking for (at least) 2 bikes!

 

[brocklanders023]

I don't think you need to worry until you're getting to some of the proper race bikes from bitd. Stuff like the Cindercone, Eldridge or something like an Orange Clockwork or Saracen Trekker/Traverse will be fine for what you want it for.

 

[Tootyred]

Old saracen frames are bomb proof! Toughtrax by name and nature.