• And my steel track bike is a lot stiffer than a lot of aluminium track bikes. Aluminium as a material is actually less stiff (lower Young's modulus) than steel. However the biggest contributor to stiffness of a tube is it's shape (stiffness is proportional to the 4th power of depth innit). So if you want a comfy bike, choose something with vertically slender stays in any material.

    CDFs have nice skinny stays.

    People who say "steel frames ride nicer than aluminium" are often desperately justifying their custom insta-wagons. And don't get me started on the mugs who buy titanium....

  • Yes i don't disagree, tube shape is a big factor, cdfs have nice skinny stays, and most alloy frames have large tubes. maybe crockett/checkpoint is one of the few alloy ones that has it all

  • And don't get me started on the mugs who buy titanium....

    Don't stop on my account.

  • I like steel. I like carbon. I like alu.

    I wonder how much of this 'steel rides nicer' stuff comes from the simple fact that steel frames don't rattle and ping like carbon stuff does. They don't have the rattly hollow noise. I've been riding my Mason and my old Tarmac back to back and they're both cool. :)

    Anyway, I don't mind all these stupid Insta trends, so long as it keeps me up to the eyeballs in used parts.

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