Light weight steel frame

Rose tinted glasses warning

A couple of decades ago I had a rigid sunn XC bike it was light(ish) comfy and steel and the best bike in the world

Lock down and rediscovering the local no gnar bridleways has got me reminiscing And thinking about a reimagined modern version

Would it be possible to use modern standards to give something with that light weight old school steel feel. Or Do modern standards and cen testing mean its impossible.

So what’s out there that’s

Steel
27.5 or 29
Designed for running with a sub 100mm or rigid cf fork
Disks/through axel/Dropper
Geared
Reasonably light
2.3 inch tyres ish (plus size would be a bit sluggish I think)

Not exactly lightweight, but buy this, chuck the steel fork, fit a carbon gravel fork, and I think you’d love it.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FTOOBZ650/on-one-bootzipper-650b-mountain-bike-frameset

I posted this on another thread – https://bikepacking.com/index/650b-gravel-bikes/ there might be a steel frame in there.

I think light steel frames are a thing of the past or custom only.

Go sh

I had a Columbus life frame from Enigma that was light and lovely to ride

I’ve still got my sunn xc bike and its had disk brakes added to it.80mm bombers too.such a nice springey ride.

Brant – did you downsize the tubes (diameter / thickness / butt lengths etc) to go with the shorter fork?

The only problem with that Bootzipper is that you’d have to wait for the next ‘sale’ to come around so that it’s back to the real price.

An On One steel frame is not going to be light.

Brant – did you downsize the tubes (diameter / thickness / butt lengths etc) to go with the shorter fork?

An On One steel frame is not going to be light.

Not as much as I could have 😉

Jeez, clicking Brant’s link brings up some examples of their interesting price fluctuations. Just out of curiosity; have you sold many of the Scandal frames at £599 that were on offer for £149 with a headset and axle 2 weeks ago?

Sounds like exactly what a cotic soul was designed to be, only ideally with 120 forks for most.

Lightweight steel? Ritchey. Not cheap though

If their be road frame is anything to go m
by, Richey’s aren’t that light either.

1.8kg listed (it’s usually +10%)

I have an 80s Nigel Dean of 531 that weighs that.

My cotic soul is under 27lbs. Depends how mad you want to go.

There isn’t a huge difference between best, lightest steel and 531. If it’s double butted that’s about as good as it’s going to get.

If you want light steel, buy titanium.

A friend made an MTB steel HT frame from Columbus tubing (Spirit I think). It was about 4.5 lbs, felt very light.

Obviously he ignored all the CEN stuff – he just welded it together how he wanted to.

Just out of curiosity; have you sold many of the Scandal frames at £599 that were on offer for £149 with a headset and axle 2 weeks ago?

Me? No – but I’ve sold a lot of jeans.

https://hebtro.co/product-category/denim/

I left Planet X at the end of November last year.

🤦🏻‍♂️

A Soul is 4.5lbs in a medium according to Cotic. That’s pretty damn light- in fact it’s barely any more than my 26er pre-CEN soul was. A Solarismax apparently is 4.9lbs for a large.

I wonder how light you could make a steel frame using all the posh steel and engineering knowhow but designed exclusively for a short rigid fork, and still be CEN

Me? No – but I’ve sold a lot of jeans.

https://hebtro.co/product-category/denim/

Bloody hell you could but a Scandal frame for the price of them jeans!!!

Thanks

I’d though about the cotics. But their current LLS set up doesn’t really match up with running a rigid fork.

The boot zipper that Brant mentioned looks to be the closest to what I was thinking of.(and then maybe a more expensive lighter custom frame later on if the glasses weren’t to rose tinted).

Now just time to sit and wait for the Planet X pricing gods to shine in my favour.

I had a Sunn frame, it was ludicrously light for steel, so no, you wont get anywhere near it.

TBH I’ve ridden a lot of comfortable aluminium frames and some completely rigid steel ones post-CEN. I think the days of steel zing have gone. My Caadx (different niche) on the other hand is uncannily smooth.

Best ‘modern’ steel frame Ive ridden was a Singular Swift. It was almost perfect, although would probably feel quite dated now.

Sorry Brant, my mistake. Nice ones as well, how about a slim fit in a 7″ leg opening?

AA; Good one! But they are actually comparatively priced ( the jeans; scandal frames are taking the pee)

There isn’t a huge difference between best, lightest steel and 531. If it’s double butted that’s about as good as it’s going to get.

Agree. There will only be 200 grams in it in terms of overall bike weight with all the other parts being the same you will not be noticing 200 grams.

kerley
There will only be 200 grams in it in terms of overall bike weight with all the other parts being the same you will not be noticing 200 grams.

Or about the weight of quarter of a full water bottle…

TiRed sums it up If you want light steel, buy titanium. That doesn’t stop me having a hankering for a nice shiny Reynolds stainless steel frame though (must resist). 🙂

But I’ve long been of the opinion that if you want a frame with a nice feel, start with the fork.

There will only be 200 grams in it in terms of overall bike weight with all the other parts being the same you will not be noticing 200 grams

It’s not just about the weight tho.

Do not be fooled by steel.i personally think since cen testing steel frames that offer the ride of an old steel frame have gone and some alloy frames are just as comfy as modern steel.no direct experience thought but that’s what I suspect.

Aluminium isn’t actually a bad shout – a Specialized Chisel is the most old school steel feeling non-steel frame I’ve ever ridden (if that makes sense).

Frame only Chisels are from Europe or US but a bit spendy. I was tempted to get one but I can braze my own “pre CEN” frames so just accept that one day they might crack.

Heres one I broke (10mm rusty line across dt is a crack). 7 years as my only mtb. 130mm fork, 29er, 63kg rider. That was fairly basic butted Zona tubes. 32mm tt / 35mm dt.

For reference, a post “CEN” Inbred 26er had what felt like heavier gauge 35mm tt and dt and a gusset….

“A Soul is 4.5lbs in a medium according to Cotic. That’s pretty damn light- in fact it’s barely any more than my 26er pre-CEN soul was. A Solarismax apparently is 4.9lbs for a large.”

I think the key difference is that the tube diameters have had to get bigger to fit dropper posts and tapered steerers, and so that the handling doesn’t feel weird when you’ve got a big grippy front tyre on a bigger wheel, with longer stiffer forks and wide handlebars – the leverages are so much greater. And that stiffness inevitably changes the feel when you’re not smashing the turns.

that stiffness inevitably changes the feel when you’re not smashing the turns.

This, to a degree. My mk1 Solaris felt quite different to the rock lobster it replaced. Both 853, even the same wheels, tyres and forks, just bigger. It took a little while of riding it before I felt the frame/bike ‘spring’- it happens at a different point and I’m expecting the newer bikes to be different again. There’s not the flexing you got from the old skinny tubes, I think it’s more like the twist and release that you get when you start cranking suspension bike through turns.

The other thing to consider is that while the tube has got bigger they’ve also got longer- less flex per m but over a longer distance.