cyclezen

Some new for the steel crowd.
Besides the current crop of stainless tubing, KVA is making some real inroads and some really nice new frame and bike stuff, alternatives to crapon, are becoming more available.
https://roadbikeaction.com/Tech-Featu...ess-Steel.html

I really like that Torelli and especially the Chris King, the 'traditional' fork is still a thing of great beauty...


and the Cinell XCr has been around for a bit...
...scroll down this page for a pic of this beauty...

anyone here on BF have a stainless ??? some bike pron ???

Scooper

I've been riding my Waterford RS-22 in Reynolds 953 for over five years. I'm still on my honeymoon. Stainless is awesome; my bike still looks brand new after ~10 k miles, many of them in the rain.

sced

It's still too pricey to make any sense to most people. There are so many better values out there.

Scooper

Ed, for me it was the value proposition that clinched the deal.

953 is extraordinary dent resistant in spite of 0.3mm wall thickness, very light for a steel frame (1650g for a 61cm frame), highly corrosion resistant, and doesn't need paint (added weight and subject to scrapes). There is a small premium over non-stainless steel frames, but to me the benefits are worth it. Because of my outlier body proportions, I can't get a decent fit with a stock frame, so I was looking at custom anyway.

The brazer was Dave Wages who spent many years at Serotta and Waterford before starting Ellis Cycles, and the lugwork and brazing are as close to perfection as you're likely to find anywhere; voids in the shorelines and file marks stand out like sore thumbs on naked polished stainless.

Hiro11

What is the attraction of spending a ton of money to buy a bike that will "last forever"? Practically speaking, maybe technologies will change (wireless shifting? disc brakes?) that you'll want to have but will require a different frame to take advantage of. Non-practically speaking, new stuff is fun. Maybe you just want to get something cool and fashionable. Also "crapon"? That's what you're going with?

Andy Somnifac 

Just another one thinking that the bike world should share his, and only his, vision of cycling...

God forbid there be an actual use for CF frames. Or even worse, different people have different wants and needs? *gasp*

Do I have to give back my ti bike because I have a CF bike too?

canam73

Not with carbon, but I think with bamboo you would.

Scooper

The OP asked about members with stainless bikes and I responded. I don't expect everyone to share my opinions and I'm open to others' opinions.

That is all.

marqueemoon

That Cielo is pretty sweet.

dtrain

My (much cheaper) steel frame hasn't stained. But I do wish it was a bit lighter and stiffer in the BB area; especially if it was my only bike.

I like my 'crapon' frameset quite a lot, for whatever that's worth...

Andy Somnifac 

I see nothing wrong with your post at all. The OP came in with a chip on his shoulder, not you.

I really would love to ride a bamboo bike. I wish that there were one of those "make your own bamboo bike" workshops near me.

sced

I've seen your bike on the forums and know it's really a special thing, a work of art without compromise, and no doubt a well justified reward for being such a good boy all these years. Who gets it when you're gone?...just kidding. I have a few nice bikes and know they'll be garage saled without a tear.

Scooper

Most will get garage saled, but my 25 year-old nephew who's built just like me has dibs on the Waterford.

sced

I remember you saying that the fork is chromed carbon steel. Does it match the stainless well?

escarpment

I think stainless and Ti are the most beautiful materials to make bike frames out of, Firefly bikes makes some esquisite stainless frames, I dont have the $ but I have a lot of respect.

Scooper

The fork blades are chrome plated 531 manganese-molybdenum with Newvex polished stainless crown (Reynolds wasn't making 953 fork blades when the bike was built in early 2007). I treat the fork blade inside surfaces with Frame Saver.

You can't tell the difference between the chrome plated blades and the polished stainless; they match perfectly.

cyclezen

not intended to come across as that, 'crapon' is a term of endearment, for me, I have 4 myself (of which I really need to get rid of 2 of them). My tarmac vies for 'mileage' king with my steel Marin Treviso, out of all my bikes... Tarmac comes out on wkends for the faster group rides and Treviso servers mid-wk duty...
I really do luv all bikes...

as for Scooper and his SS bike - if I was a jealous person, I would be very envious. But do thank him for the bike pron, since I didn't seen all those detail pics before - glorious machine!
I was hopin there were more SS bikes on BF...
I'd luv to have one to ride for a while... and some day I might


Bamboo is very cool as a material, as well as visually. For a naturally engineered material it really is wonderous. There have been some good bamboo threads here on BF - wonder if anyone has a bamboo regular rider?

This thread is really to hilight that there are plenty of 'fashionable','new', 'fast' bike designs coming out in steel, not everything needs to be 'vintage' in steel. And although maybe not 'pro' race material, they would still be more than capable and sporting for many of us... and many, like scooper's bike, might easily fall into the industrial art category with no problem.

BillyD

SWEET!! The lugs are the shiznitz!!

Drew Eckhardt 

It's nice. With no paint it'll continue to look nice in spite of dings picked up from gravel, parking, minor crashes on ice, etc which are the same color as opposed to primer or rust - my titanium frame looks better after 16 years than the preceding steel frame did in less than half that time.

It needn't cost _that_ much. Scott Quiring will do a custom Columbus XCr road frame for $1800 which is in-line with affordable custom American titanium and carbon frames. Net cost for a complete bike could be just a few hundred more (my spare part collection is just bars, stem, and a brakeset short of what I need to turn a frame into a bike and I don't accumulate parts the way some people do).

Heck, it's less than a stock geometry cookie cutter Specialized S-Works frame.

I'm leaning towards stainless steel for my next frame (since it'll be easy to get a matching unicrown fork which isn't practical with titanium) with longer chain stays to accommodate panniers commuting and clearance for fenders (I'm less tolerant of weight on my back and being wet than when I was a young lad and seem to encounter rain more now that I don't live in an alpine desert).

That hasn't happened for most of us in the last 30 years apart from the rear triangle spread from 126 to 130mm which is an easy adjustment on steel frames.

Guys in Seattle who are changing rims every year or two due to brake track wear would probably appreciate an upgrade to disc brakes; although updates like brake mounts welded to the rear triangle and a new fork cost far less than a frameset or complete bike especially where paint work isn't needed.

thirdgenbird

My dream bike is a super record and bora equipped stainless steel tommasini. If we want to get particular it would have a deda seatpost, deda stem, deda handlebar, slr saddle, and veloflex tires.

Modern innovations? I'm content with rim brakes and 10spd. I'm actually looking at parting ways with my only frame made in the last decade and buying another steel frameset. This time one made in the 70s. For prospective, I was made in the 80s.

Scooper

My chainstays are 432mm long, which easily accommodate my Tubus Luna rack and Lone Peak panniers, and I recently fitted SKS Raceblade Long fenders which can be installed or removed in less than fifteen seconds flat. I often go credit card touring for several days at a time, and the ability to accommodate a rear rack with panniers and fenders was a design requirement.

531phile 

hubba hubba

mpath

Well we wouldn't have known that until you clarified it as such. Otherwise the term 'hypocrite' comes to mind as the first link you posted is a steel bike with Enve carbon wheels.

I don't think the two materials - or other multiple materials - have to be exclusive. As much as I like modern sports cars with carbon fiber bodies and components, I'm keeping my 70's and 80's machinery with yes, steel bodies.