Forever road bike... Frame material choice

[defblade]

Next year I'm 50, and it looks like the great holiday we'd planned is out of the question. So I thought maybe I'd have a nice new bike instead

Current ride is a Thorn Brevet, 531c steel, over 20 years old, not the best but not the cheapest by a long way at the time, audax/lightweight touring focused.
I'm not sure it's quite the right thing for me any more - racks, full mudguards, bottle dynamo etc not really needed now I'm only doing (at most) half-day rides, and it's all getting on a bit... and I won't be getting rid, so if I want to use that stuff, do a bit of camping or whatever, I'll still have it.

I enjoy riding for fun and fitness, I do push myself a bit, but I'm more likely to be riding head up for the view than head down for the Strava segment leaderboard. So while I think the bike I buy won't be a million miles away from the Brevet in terms of the comfort vs speed ratio, I also think there must be major gains to be had in most areas these days.

But the first thing, before I go any further down this road... what frame material should I be looking at???

I'm tall - 6' 4" - so it will probably be an XL size, and I'm heavy enough at just under 100kg on a good day to be a little worried about frame strength/fatigue in the longer term... and given I've been riding the Brevet off and on for over 20 years, and that this is going to be a "special" birthday pressie, I'm looking to buy for the long term... let's see if this bike will take me to 70!

Budget for the whole bike is likely to be in the region of £2-3k, and probably include a better-than-standard wheelset, so there's not infinite money to throw at this question, but enough to get out of the bargain basement and start heading towards the Law of Diminishing Returns, I hope.


Options, as I see them now:


Steel: comfortable, reasonably priced, relatively heavy... and I've already got one. Doesn't entirely rule out a nice one, but would it be that much better at my budget?

Ally: lighter, potentially harsher to ride (but maybe not in XL?) ... longer term = fatigue problems?

Carbon: lovely lovely carbon fibre. So tempting. Pick it up on one finger. Stroke it gently. So hard to be sure what you're buying is built for forever. Now appears to be available in some form at every price point.

Titanium: seems to have the best of both the other metals' worlds. But £££. The only ones sensibly in budget appear to be Van Nicholas. I am rather drawn to Ti though, in a slightly more mature way than I am to CF



I'm probably wrong about a lot of that... feel free to put me right below!!!

[gangzoom]

defblade said:

Carbon: lovely lovely carbon fibre. So tempting. Pick it up on one finger. Stroke it gently. So hard to be sure what you're buying is built for forever.

There is some bike snobbery about carbon bikes been bought for 'long term' usage. But I cannot see any reason why a steel/alloy bike will out last a carbon one.

My Trek Madone is the 'cheap' one, made in Asia sometime in 2011. It rides as well today as it ever did, and its as fast today as it ever has been, that's despite me crashing it a few times. Trek I believe offer a lifetime warranty on the frames (though not against crashes).

For your budget I would be tempted to find a good used top spec rim brake carbon frame bike from a good brand.

Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 7th November 05:10

Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 7th November 05:13

[_Hoppers]

Have a look at Planet X for titanium.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXHURV3R8000/plane...

The Spitfire model is similar but without mudguard mounts

[Comacchio]

Check out Albannach bikes:

http://www.albannach.cc/frameworks/

Ti frame for £1500, might be able to sneak in the rest of the components with the other £1500, not sure.

[anonymous-user]

At 6’4” you will be on a very large frame. Bigger triangles = bigger scope for frame flex.

I would look for CF which is built up heavily around the bottom bracket, head tube and top of the seat post.

[Coolbananas]

I've broken steel frames racing in the 80's, never broken a carbon one. It's a myth that carbon frames don't last. Of course, you have to make sure you aren't buying a cheap carbon frame, just as you would not want a cheap steel one if longevity and quality is required.

So yeah, carbon is a great choice, but...while it is my preferred option for racing and hence why both my road bikes are carbon as well as my MTB, my 'dream' bike is steel.

Titanium is lovely, no doubt, however steel is still the best choice - in my opinion - for sheer quality of craftsmanship when put together by the likes of Battaglin. https://officinabattaglin.com/ My personal 'dream' choice that I want to get when I 'slow down' and stop racing.

But, at more affordable prices, something like this looks really nice too: https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes...

[defblade]

Some helpful comments and ideas so far folks - keep 'em coming!

Another question re CF.... how comfortable is it (or maybe, can it be - I guess it should depend on the type of bike) these days?

gangzoom said:

For your budget I would be tempted to find a good used top spec rim brake carbon frame bike from a good brand.

I 100% get this, and I know in my head that this would probably be the best way to go to get a really top quality bike... but then it'll never quite be mine in my heart, so I think it's off the table (leave alone the relative scarcity of 2nd hand 60cm+ bikes).



(Rim vs disc brakes a question for another day )

[MiseryStreak]

Canyon Ultimate or Endurace. Their 2XL frame perfect for me at 6’ 7”. You may want an XL.

I would go with CF, there’s no flex in it at the bigger sizes and it’s lighter than the alternatives and feels nice to ride.

[BlueComet]

_Hoppers said:

Have a look at Planet X for titanium.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXHURV3R8000/plane...

The Spitfire model is similar but without mudguard mounts

I love how the road cycling world views titanium. ZERO advantage over carbon fibre yet everyone has wobbly knees over it

[BlueComet]

@OP there is no such thing as a forever bike. Eventually all materials will fail or you'll just ditch the forever illusion and upgrade it anyway.

In theory, a good quality carbon frame will have a longer fatigue life than a aluminum/steel/titanium one whilst being more comfortable, stiffer, cheaper and lighter.

[defblade]

BlueComet said:

I love how the road cycling world views titanium. ZERO advantage over carbon fibre yet everyone has wobbly knees over it

Any real disadvantages though???

From what I read, they ride quite differently and that can be good or bad either way depending purely on preference; the aesthetics are quite different too but again that's a preference question.

[gazza285]

BlueComet said:

@OP there is no such thing as a forever bike. Eventually all materials will fail or you'll just ditch the forever illusion and upgrade it anyway.

In theory, a good quality carbon frame will have a longer fatigue life than a aluminum/steel/titanium one whilst being more comfortable, stiffer, cheaper and lighter.

At least with a lugged steel bike you can sweat out the old tubes and braze in new ones if needed.

[frisbee]

Carbon Fibre. I would probably go for something like a Trek Domane or the equivalent Specialised, Cannondale etc..

[Tony1963]

£2k for me, maybe a steel frame, carbon forks and seat post, 105, then spend a thick wad on hand built wheels and tubeless tyres to your taste.

[daddy cool]

BlueComet said:

I love how the road cycling world views titanium. ZERO advantage over carbon fibre yet everyone has wobbly knees over it

Well, RoboCop wasn't made out of carbon fibre...

[wobert]

defblade said:

BlueComet said:

I love how the road cycling world views titanium. ZERO advantage over carbon fibre yet everyone has wobbly knees over it

Any real disadvantages though???

From what I read, they ride quite differently and that can be good or bad either way depending purely on preference; the aesthetics are quite different too but again that's a preference question.

Yes.

Cheap Ti frames are built to a cost point.

That is incompatible with a robust process to weld the frames.

If you don’t follow a robust process the frames will fail prematurely.

In other words, but Ti cheaply, expect it to fail....

[defblade]

wobert said:

Yes.

Cheap Ti frames are built to a cost point.

That is incompatible with a robust process to weld the frames.

If you don’t follow a robust process the frames will fail prematurely.

In other words, but Ti cheaply, expect it to fail....

Is that "buy" or "butt" Ti cheaply, either works

Would the Van Nicholas bikes fall into "cheap"?
I'd rather call them "affordable" and assume that sticking to/specializing in the one material should produce some economies of scale (or at least focus)... and quickly gather a negative reputation if they did fail regularly... whereas in fact, I can't find a lot of comments about them at all (which does suggest that they work ok, but are neither good or bad enough to be worth writing much about at the end of the day. Meh.)

[SomersetWestie]

I'm a bit shorter and lighter than you at 6'3", around 85KG. Never ridden a Ti and almost did the same as you for my 50th but settled on more carbon. Never ever had any issues ever in many years of riding plastic bikes, mostly between 5,000 & 9,000 miles a year.

I'm not really interested in speed or Strava segments or heart rate, just enjoy the rides with mates, adventures, bike packing and being glad that the heart is still beating when I get home again !

I'd give up all my bikes in favour of keeping the Roubaix which I bought a year ago. for me the perfect bike, I can ride it all day and get off in complete comfort and do it all the next day..... It's faster than I'll ever be and is just so smooth on the rough Somerset pot holed roads !

[_Hoppers]

BlueComet said:

_Hoppers said:

Have a look at Planet X for titanium.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXHURV3R8000/plane...

The Spitfire model is similar but without mudguard mounts

I love how the road cycling world views titanium. ZERO advantage over carbon fibre yet everyone has wobbly knees over it

I have a carbon framed road bike for regular use but it’s really stiff compared to my steel road bike. I suspect titanium is similar to steel (more so than carbon anyway). Titanium doesn’t corrode like steel so there’s one advantage at least.

[Dammit]

OP- at your height and weight titanium will be too flexible, it’ll be frustrating rather than fun. And it may crack, which will mean that the frame goes in the bin.

I’d go for custom steel- Geoff Roberts would make you something excellent for well within your budget for e.g. and it’ll be something unique to you.