jnbrown

I am looking to have a new custom frame made and trying to understand the differences between Spirit and Life tubing.
I already have one custom frame made 853 Pro Team tubing and love it.
I was told by a prospective builder that a frame made with Spirit would be about 100g lighter and cost $200 more.
When I look at the Columbus website I don't see any real difference in the tubing wall thickness so I am wondering how Spirit can be lighter unless it is lower density:

https://www.columbus1919.com/en/down-tubes-en/

Then there is Spirit HSS that has shaped tubes. I don't know if there is any real benefit to this other than aesthetics.
I am a light rider (140 lbs) and old and slow so I am not concerned about the frame being stiff enough.
Thanks for any insight.

unterhausen

Life specs aren't as good. I don't think it matters. For my bikes, I get Spirit. I'm hopefully going to be living with the bike long after I forget the difference in price. I assume we're talking about a road or gravel bike. Even for a light rider, the difference in spec might make a difference for a mtb or loaded touring.

jnbrown

This is for a road bike. Which specs are you referring to that are different? I could not find this info.

Thanks

Nessism

Spirit and Life both use the same OMNICROM alloy steel. The difference is in the shape, thickness, and butting configuration. It would be a mistake to think one or the other is "better".

As always, when it comes to this sort of thing, the devils in the details. More specifically, an understanding of what exact tube is proposed for each location on the frame. I don't think I've ever made a frame with all tubes from the same family of tubes. I always mix and match based on what I'm looking to achieve.

And remember, thinner is lighter, but also more flexible, given a comparison of same diameter tubes. If lugs are to be used, the butt lengths need to be suitable for the lug to sit on the butt. This is not always possible with some short butt tubes. Repeating myself, the devils in the details...

unterhausen

Yeah, sorry I was wrong about it, I guess I was thinking about zona. The big difference for the tubes I buy is that life tubes are usually at least a little thicker. But nowadays they have "life for lugs" so I have some life tubes, whereas I used to mostly get Spirit for lugs.