Originally Posted by
DangerousDanR
The short answer is what steel frame and what Ti frame?
I have a steel Ritchey Breakaway 60 cm frame and a Lynskey R350. with a 61 cm frame. With the same wheels on them, the Ritchey is maybe just a little bit lighter. It has Super Record brakes and the Lynskey has Record. The Lynskey is EPS and the RItchey is the lighter cable shift shifting. Both are sitting in the 16-17 pound range, so they are not weight weenie bikes. The Lynskey frame is about 3.5 pounds, the Ritchey is maybe 3.25, but with the slightly lighter components it is a bit lighter. The Lynskey is more stable at speeds above 30 MPH. Both are very comfortable on 20-30 mile rides. Ti is not about light. It is about comfortable, durable, and for me no rust issues in the spring when the ice melting crap is still in every puddle.
A steel Rodriguez Outlaw would probably be a couple pounds lighter. But at 17 pounds in a 61 cm Effective Top Tube frame with a 230 pound rider, the difference is bupkes.
weights listed on weight weenies would suggest that the Lynsey frame is just about a pound lighter than the Ritchey, so the weight difference you’re seeing is likely in the build.
I agree though with your point that you have to compare specific bikes.
That said, the difference between a steel frame and a comparable steel frame is usually around 300-400 grams or so.
For example my Merlinextralight frame ways 1200 grams. While you can find steel frames under 1500 grams, they’re not going to be as stiff as the Merlin. A comparable steel frame would be something like a Colnago MasterXlight that comes in at 1598grams.
you can certainly find lighter steel frames, but I’d suggest that most super light steel frames would be more reasonably compared to an ultralight Ti frame such as a Litespeed Ghisallo at 898 grams.