Pop N Wood

Add Rayleigh and Co-Motion to the list of chromoly bikes still being made. All models of Co-Motion touring bikes are chromoly.

Go to a touring bike site and there is a decided steel bias. Standard recipe on Crazy guy on a Bike: steel frames and forks, bar end shifters, Brooks saddles and Swalbe marathon tires. Bonus points if your racks are chromoly as well (Tubus brand). Double bonus points for 8 speed drivetrains.

MattTheHat 

Cast iron is where it's at!

indyfabz

But have you seen the new model? There’s a thread in the Touring forum about it. And that neon Grinch color.

indyfabz

Aluminum racks are for the unwashed masses. Tubus steel are for the once a week bathers. Nitto nickel plated steel racks are for those of us who practice proper hygiene.

Doug64

Three Surlys and a Co-Motion There is also a pretty good representation of Tubus racks, but only one set of bar end shifters and no Brooks saddles

Pop N Wood

Looks like 3 sets of Marathon tires though, plus Ortlieb bags, the other CGOAB obsession.

Shoot, looks like two of those guys have brifters!! hard to believe they are CGOAB members in good standing. Did you photo shop that?

Just Mark

Lest we all forget: Steel is Real
Real Nostalgic
Real Heavy
Real Expensive

And be careful about that Carbon Fiber cuase it assplodes. And watch out for your Aluminum frame bending in half.

fietsbob

4130 is not a brand name, its an AISI/ SAE , standard designation for a particular alloy % combinations, of elements.
you can look up.. it has no trademark..

a range of tolerances is listed here.

• 0.28 - 0.33% Carbon
• 0.8 - 1.1% Chromium
• 0.7 - 0.9% Manganese
• 0.15 - 0.25% Molybdenum
• ≤ 0.035% Phosphorus
• 0.15 - 0.35% Silicon
• ≤ 0.04% Sulfur
• The rest is Iron, of course.

...

cyccommute 

Soma, Black Mountain, All City and Cinelli are all small makers. The others have a few steel frames in their line up. Surly is the only large volume manufacturer that does only steel bikes.

fietsbob

Many brands of bikes use the contract manufacturing resources of Maxway, Ltd TW .
& import & warehouse them for distribution to your Local Shop..
Surly is a customer of Maxway. as is their Salsa brand too..







..






..

vespasianus

Yeah, I have a brand new carbon bike and an older Tommasini with Columbus Neuron tubes and the ride difference is surprising. I was expecting the new carbon bike to be smoother and take out all the buzz from the road. Even with the major difference in tire width - 28mm on the Carbon bike and 23mm on the older bike, the Tommasini just has a sweeter and smoother ride. Not what I was expecting...

AlmostTrick

It seems the factory frame sticker is missing. How can I tell if my bike is chromoly?

cyccommute 

Co-Motion isn’t a large manufacturer nor does it have much of a market impact. Rayleigh may make some steel bikes but I doubt that they are a significant fraction of their yearly sales of higher quality bikes.

The steel bias and the other things that are “standard” for touring shows more about the mindset of the touring world than anything else. Touring bike materials selection is rooted in the romantic idealism of being able to “repair” a steel bicycle under the shade of a village smithy in some far off land than in reality. It’s also based on the idea that any material that isn’t steel is going to “shatter into a thousand pieces without warning”. With many years of experience riding aluminum mountain bikes that undergo far worse rigors than touring bikes, and 20 years experience with aluminum touring bikes...the Horror!..., I have no problems accepting the “new” material of aluminum for touring bikes.

In reality, repairing a modern, high quality, thin walled steel bike isn’t something that “any idiot with a welder” can do. It’s a very thin material that requires a lot of skill to do without just burning holes in the metal. I’ve known this for nearly 40 years now based on a repair done on a long ago discarded mountain bike. The welder is a very competent welder and was amazed at how thin the steel was and how easy it would be to burn through.

The same welder, by the way, repaired a broken aluminum frame. It was much easier and, contrary to common knowledge, was permanent. I actually sold that bike rather then discarding it.

vespasianus

Actually, that is a special blend of material called licorice....

Pop N Wood

Man, people seem wound a little tight around here.

Wasn't passing opinions on which was better or why, just sharing information. My Rayleigh Tamland is steel, not a co-motion but not a low end bike either.

Oh and yes I know 4130 is an alloy designation. Was only trying to key the OP into some of the acronyms he might see to know he was looking at chromoly bikes.

Since the site seems to be populated with detail oriented braniacs, perhaps one of you can tell me what word is used to describe how well a material transfers vibration? I'm well acquainted with material property terms like nil ductility temperature and malleability, but is there a similar term for transmitting vibration?

Reason I ask is I do a lot of metal working in my garage. I commonly bend steel by clamping it in a vice, pressing one end with my left hand than using a hammer to bend it. The first time I tried that with a piece of aluminum I thought the bones in my left hand all the way to my wrist were going to shatter, the aluminum transferred the vibration unlike anything I've ever experienced with a piece of steel. Had to use a block of wood to apply pressure on the aluminum.

Think maybe the speed of sound might give some clue as to an alloy's ability to transfer vibration?

Have to wonder if that is why some aluminum bikes ride so harsh.

mstateglfr 

I didnt realize we were only considering brands that are large volume(based on your metric) and also only sell steel.

The OP said he doesnt see many cromo bikes and wondered why. You posted that Surly is mostly the last steel bikes standing.
I disagree and listed tons of brands that have steel frames still.

Your goalposts moved, which is typical of a cycco discussion.
I'm out.

phughes

phughes

I have seen it. At first I was skeptical, but overall I think they did a decent job. I still like the original though. I thought it was funny that they said they increased the stack height because they saw so any builds with high stacks of spacers under the stem. My thought is if people bought the right size frame they wouldn't need so many spacers.

If I want to run my bars low, I would have bought a 54. I wanted the bars at the lowest, even with my seat, and in reality, a little higher. I bought a 56. Had I bought the 54, I would have a lot of spacers.

They also "tweaked" the geometry to make it more nimble for general riding. They shortened the chain stays by 10mm. I bought my LHT because it had those nice long chain stays, because the bike is slightly more stable loaded at speed. Mine is dead stable at 45mph descents, fully loaded. Will the new one be? Who knows. The new frame looks nice, but it isn't the same as an original LHT. That is good or bad, depending on who is looking to buy it. It definitely looks like a nice frame overall though.

Leinster

My Yuba Mundo Lux is chromoly. I think most cargo bikes tend to be.

Digger Goreman

A FREAKIN REBAR BIKE?!!!

How heavy is that sucker?

dmark 

City bike? THAT steel is real.

elcruxio

the disc trucker is a long frame and the reach increases with frame sizes both absolutely and relatively. I ride a size 62cm while I would need a 64 stack wise hence the 65mm spacer stack I need. However were I to ride a 64cm I'd need to use a 50-70mm stem to compensate for the long reach which would not be ideal in terms of weight distribution or handling.

So personally I'm happy I can now get a frame that is high enough while the reach is reasonable.

philbob57

Steel may be heavier than aluminum and CF, but most riders I see would be better of taking 5 lbs off their bodies than 5 lbs off their bikes. That's not meant as criticism of my fellow riders. It is just an observation.

livedarklions

A. A good 1990s steel racing bike is about 20 pounds, that's light enough for me.

B. I like the ride. I'm a long distance rider so that's pretty important to me.

C. To me, steel frames are just better looking than any of the others. That's totally an esthetic preference, so it can't really be argued either way, but I like to look at my steel bikes, and I don't really like the bulby look of carbon and aluminum bikes. For my needs, the performance issues are basically a wash, I'm pretty fast on what I ride.

D. YMMV and that's ok.

powermatt99

Definitely a lot of reasons for steel becoming a niche product in the cycling world. Not mentioned yet are geopolitical developments such as George W. Bush's 2002 steel tariffs designed to protect U.S. industry to shore up slumping economy and the economic effects of 9/11.

I really like steel, even entry level and middle of the road steel has virtue. (IMO, the same cannot be said for entry level aluminum which is seems harsh in all the wrong places.**) True, there is a weight penalty which I really only notice now that I have a sub-20-pound carbon bike. Yes, I could lose 5-pounds (or 20) but I like bourbon too much. My next bike will be a light custom steel build from Milwaukee Bicycle Company.

**My opinion only. Comment not meant to start a holy war here.