Ok, imagine this. You’re in the market for a new mountain bike, but rather than simply choosing which wheel size, groupset, or brand you want, you also get the option of any material too.
Yes, some bike available in both alloy and carbon, sometimes steel or alloy, but what if you had more options to choose from?
It’s not likely that you’ll be able to wander into a shop and choose a bamboo full suspension bike, or carbon fibre unicycle, but if you were given that option what would you choose?
Would you like the latest Orange Alpine 6 E but made from titanium? Or how about a Canyon Spectral built from Bamboo? Or even a 3D printed Pole Stamina? We would love to hear what material you want your mountain bikes made from, so please take part in our poll below and feel free to join the discussion in the comments section below.
What Material Would You Choose For A Mountain Bike?
- Steel (29%, 153 Votes)
- Aluminum (24%, 128 Votes)
- Carbon Fibre (21%, 113 Votes)
- Titanium (16%, 88 Votes)
- Graphene (4%, 22 Votes)
- Beryllium (3%, 14 Votes)
- Bamboo (2%, 10 Votes)
- Wood (1%, 4 Votes)
- Magnesium (0%, 2 Votes)
- Plastic (0%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 535
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No option for titanium?
Titanium added
Um, I hit beryllium by mistake. I trust it’s an awesome material for building bikes from and not something really nasty…
For the high-end mass market, hybrid construction using a carbon fiber (or graphene/carbon) base structure combined with aluminum or titanium impact plates is probably the future.
It seems a bit pointless without knowing *why*.
Choice based on:
Cost
Ride quality
Aesthetics
Weight
Environmental friendliness
You are overthinking it uberpod 🙂
tbh i think alu is hard to beat. (i own a carbon bike)
all the others are way down the list
As uberpod
My bikes –
FS – Carbon – This manufacturer only make carbon frames.
HT – Aluminium – This manufacturer only make aluminium frames.
Road – Carbon – This manufacture make both carbon and aluminium but this bike was on offer hence getting the carbon version.
Aluminium. Light, strong, cheap. Steel is over-rated, carbon is not strong enough.
I have aluminium, steel, have had carbon dident see any real advantage over the alloy , I voted titanium, have titanium parts on a 12 year old motorcycle as good now as the day they were new, not a hint of corrosion nice and light look good and anyway i would just like a titanium bike.
Having completed the transalps MTB race back in 2011 on the Brookes Bamboo Bike I would recommend it even just for the fun of seeing the other competitors disbelief. Great fun and excellent smooth ride. Still riding it today regularly..
@ Yak Beryllium is an unbelievably nasty element. It’s very toxic because it displaces magnesium from the enzymes that run your body’s chemical reaction, more specifically the enzymes that control DNA replication. It’s more expensive than titanium to boot. Inside a metal tube it should be fine, but as soon as a good rock hits your paint and leaves bare metal, you leave a bit of beryllium dust somehwere.
No option for unobtainium?
Full Suss: Carbon Fibre. But for everything else, Bamboo, it’s a truly awesome material. And build it yourself, there’s no better feeling than riding a bike made by your own hand.
What about Allite Super Magnesium?
If it doesn’t fail at fatigue life, it could be quite appealing.