What materials?

In my current search for a new bike/frame I decided to do some homework and stumbled upon this link

http://www.smartcycles.com/frame_materials.htm

What do you guys think about it?

I Really enjoyed reading that! Good article. I'm a bit biased with titanium as most of the bikes I had are either steel or Ti. Never had an ally frame before as I always find the welding a tad on the ugly side. Got one carbon bike which I rarely use as it feels like I can't punish it as much as I do my steel or Ti frames.

Steel us real as they say. The comfort of knowing that you can get your fraMe repaired gives me sense of security in a way that riding a repaired carbon can't give. Or Maybe it's just me being paranoid.

If it was me look for a new frame.ill go with some custom steel.

You'll find a bunch of articles like this online with varying levels of crotchetiness complaining that nothing is as good as steel.

I would say: steel - nice ride, stiff and light frames can be found quite inexpensively

aluminum - stiffer and lighter, generally slight more expensive with a harsher ride

titanium - maybe slightly better than aluminum in terms of stiffness/lightness, comparable to steel in ride quality, but also more durable than both

carbon - stiffest/lightest, people are more nervous about cf then they should be given that its many times stronger pound per pound than any metal, but certainly a modicum of care is necessary...but then again given the expense I don't know why you would want to throw one around anyways.

The best material depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to do with it.

@nohwolf this question is a follow up of this thread I opened recently. I admit I'm now thrilled by the idea of a custom build although I doubt I can get the aero look on steel... can I?

Depends which Aero Look you are referring to.

tester will point out that conventional skinny round tubed steel frames are more aero than oval profiled massive tubed modern aluminium frames. ( I think I remember this right!)

So a conventional round tubed steel frame is the most Aero!

But then you get steel tubesets with Aero profiles too, they will be more modestly proportioned that aluminium counterparts but still oval/teardrop kind of shapes, forks with flat legs etc..

Also older steel with Gussetts/Webbing/Fairings.

@DFP with aero I mean sort of skinny frame with fat down tube. As a reference I'm currently like a lot the Langster pro or Leader 735 in terms of look and feel. I'm not sure how close you can get to those without sacrifice weight and strength but the more the better ;)

Anyway, by your comments, my understanding now is that despite everything steel is still the best choice around especially for the "average" cyclist like me.

You will probably not find a steel frame with a fat downtube or at least not as large as you'll find on an aluminum one...the oversized downtube is necessitated by the specific properties of aluminum, for steel it's really just extra weight

@nohwolf it's fine if it is not as large as an aluminium one but I would like to keep the visual effect of having a bigger down tube. The sad part is that I'm googling a lot lately but I can't find a single photo of a steel frame with this properties, I can find photos of the raw pipes but nothing assembled :)

I think a good bet at this point is to contact some frame builder and ask directly what can be feasibly achieved. I'm in love with Argos work but the prices are just... erm... "rightfully" insane.
I wish I can support the local industry but when the prices are four times higher than what the good Orlowsky can do it's hard to do so.

^ some Donohue's have large downtubes.

@sumo thanks for the hint... I did check some photos of his frame out and indeed they seem to fit the bill. They are not that over the top like alu or carbon but they still look good to me. Thanks

I have a Corrado track frame made using Reynolds 853 ProTeam. Big teardrop downtube, oval chainstauys, stiff as hell. Not light though.

@emyr when you say not light what do you mean? Do you have any photos?

I had a slightly larger Donohue 853 road frame which was lighter, but flexier.

Only pic I have to hand is head-on, will see what I can find.

Found one I posted here ages ago:

@Emyr thank for posting that. It looks similar to my Cinelli and I actually like it. I wouldn't mind even a bit more but if anything that photo at least show that I can achieve more than what I thought initially.

Thanks again.

Examples of the steel frames which are quite inexpensive? Genesis?

@miloas sorry I'm not following... is that a question for me or a suggestion? In terms of affordable custom made steel frames the best option seems to be Orlowsky

@nohwolf said "I would say: steel - nice ride, stiff and light frames can be found quite inexpensively"

I was wondering what these frames were is all.

@miloas oh right. So there is this polish builder called Orlowsky who builds hand made custom (to measure) frame at around £500 shipment include using all the usual well known good steel tubes.

You can find an example here
http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/245390/

well you have about 60+ years of great vintage frames to choose from, it's not too hard to get an SL or 531 frame for a couple hundred and you can get better if you're willing to hunt for a bargain. But Bob Jackson's new frames are also well-regarded and similarly priced to Orlowsky, albeit it not at the custom level.

@nohwolf thanks for the hint, I'll have a look to Bob Jackson's work to. I love what Argos has but as I said it's way too expensive