Why do people like steel bikes?

Was down my lbs yesterday and was talking to the sales guys. 2 of them commute to work on steel framed bikes. Why? Especially with all the bikes they have to choose from. I’m in the process of buying a new work bike and have stumbled across a discounted steel bike. But I’m not so sure!!

Why don’t you try one and find out?

If done properly then the ride quality is excellent.

By properly I mean traditional 1-1/8 steerer head tube, narrow 27.2mm seat tube, stays as thin as pencils etc etc….when done like that there is an inherent flex/spring from the frame that is a joy to ride.

Unfortunately the prevalence of massive head tubes to take tapered forks, large diameter seat tubes to take dropper posts and chunky stays mean that modern steel frames are often as harsh as their fat tubed aluminium cousins.

I should imagine a steel road bike with impossibly thin tubing rides great, I will own one at some point.

It’s a good question, because they can be pretty heavy! I used to think that a steel frame was essential for a comfortable ride, but I’ve tried some really comfy aluminium bikes so I’m not sure if that is still the case.
I am pretty certain that a steel frame will last longer though, and I also really like the way they look! You can’t get those skinny tubes with any other material apart from titanium, which is too expensive for me.

I like the flex on my fixed wheel bike. I like the tube profiles on my TT bike and I like the rear dropouts on my mtb.

Skinny tubes do look good, especially profiled Columbus Aero.

for me personally,i started with steel bikes (my first mountain bike was a 1988 dawes ascent 501 reynolds tubed steel behemoth 🙂

i currently have a charge duster steel ht (tange prestige skinny tubing goodness)

a well made steel bike feels very nice to ride (it does absorb some of the shock of bumps e.t.c on the trail). steel is easily repairable,reasonably cheap to buy,and also not heavy either (my duster at a guess weighs about 25-26 lbs).

like any material there are good and bad points,but it comes down to personal preference.

Well I’m looking at this for work and back but would a giant defy be better??

http://m.evanscycles.com/products/norco/search-s1-2015-adventure-road-bike-ec072575

I’ve a steel hardtail (Orange Pure 7) and can echo the sentiments above. It does have a nicely dampened, springy feel to it. It’s certainly “different” in a good way to aluminium hardtails I’ve owned and ridden in the past.

because in 20 years time it will still work and it can be fixed bay anyone with a welder

as for ride feel its fine
There is a weight penalty but not but I am not trying to build a race bike rather one that will last for ever.

Cross bike/tourer and a SS in steel

I buy bikes if I like the way they ride. My summer road bike is carbon and lighter than my singlespeed steel commuter but the commuter is still a beautiful bike to ride – very comfortable, just rolls along. I wouldn’t want a fast bike for commuting anyway – riding steadily is safer in traffic

I ride nothing but steel these days and I’ve been through a lot of stuff before coming back to it. Including carbon road bikes, which were lovely and light and stuff and fast… but also slightly dead feeling and they look tatty really quickly. Like JY says, steel will take tones of abuse and can be resprayed and fixed easy enough if there a wee bit of damage. They do look lovely too. Mostly, for me though, it’s about the superb ride quality and longevity of a well made steel frame. My current list includes:

Shand Stoater
Genesis Equilibrium
Enigma Ethos
Singular Swift
Ritchey P29er

Cheapy, badly built steel frames though can be horribly heavy and ride like a dead dog. But, as the genesis listed above proves, you don’t need boutique steel to get something that rides lovely and will stand the test of time…. as well as turn a few heads.

I’ve got a steel mtb, fully rigid. It’s heavy and feels neutral, until you top about 30mph on a rough stony trail. It feels great then 🙂

Stooo thanks for that! Can I have your thoughts on what I’m thinking of buying then please?

http://m.evanscycles.com/products/norco/search-s1-2015-adventure-road-bike-ec072575

Kind regards

Cos of the zim zam and the bibbity bobbaty

I just really like the look of thin, round steel tubes compared to chunky hydro-formed aluminium or carbon. I think it just looks right, and the ride is nice too (not that you can’t get that with other materials). As such I have a Bfe, an Inbred and a 531 framed road bike.

Any excuse..

They can look nice, that’s all.

I have a soul. There is something aesthetically pleasing about the skinny tubing yes but also when I change gear the frame sort of zings, it sounds different that my old alu bike and I love it.

So since all the steel bikes now seem to be messed up with tapered head tubes and seat tubes for dropper posts, also BB30 bottom brackets. What 29er frame to buy?

My old soul has a 27.2 dropper and a 1′ 1/8″ headtube with 2014 130mm revelations 780 bars and a 50mm stem. Advantages of modern developments with the benefits of old fashioned skinny. It’s rad.

So as a works commute most of you think that I will love a steel (Reynolds 520) Bike.

Old fashioned skinny Inbred here in 29 flavour. The rear triangle definitely gives some flex and on flowing trail, it’s a joy to ride. I couple it with a very flexy X-Fusion Slide fork. Worlds apart from my Pike equipped solid FS. LBS questioned why I’m still riding old tech. They would, wouldn’t they?

Ritchey Logic 2.0 here. Noice.

Mmm… steel…

+1 on the any excuse, er, excuse-

and the Exalt I had last year-

I wish I still had that DMR!

I just like how steel frames look.

I like the way steel frames look but don’t like what they weigh. Ti is the perfect frame for me as has similar look in tubes to steel but almost as light as Alu.

Never bought the comfort thing (not on MTB anyway) as pretty sure my 2.2 high volume tyres are making any flexibility in the frame unnoticeable.

The Cotic Solaris I’ve recently sold was OK but nothing special, the carbon frame that replaced it is noticeably nicer to ride. Faster, lighter and more compliant.

I’ve had plently of steel road bikes made from all sorts of tubing. The best by far is Columbus SLX, it has a feel quite distinct from any other tubeset, almost “floaty” on the road. The only steel road frame I’ve got now is Columbus EL OS, I really should get it out of the loft, build it and ride it.

My current 456 Evo2 is the best hardtail I’ve ever owned, and I’ve had everything from silly expensive Ti frames, alloy frames, other steel such as different Inbred’s etc.

The only thing I haven’t had is a carbon frame, but given how good the 456 is that’s unlikely to happen.

A work bike will have to take a few knocks and scratches, and all the steel bikes I’ve owned have rusted with winter use, so I prefer a non corroding frame for commuting duty (for practical, not aesthetic reasons).

I prefer a non corroding frame for commuting duty

Carbon’s always felt a bit vulnerable when parked up in a cycle rack for me to consider it as day to day transport.

To start with they tend to look nice.
I am not even thinking about MTB’s here. Skinny tubes look good, whopping fat carbon ones look just like other whopping big things 😆
Weight? Come on. Maybe at TdF level but for the rest of us. Eat no pies for a week.
Good ones ride nicely. Sadly many new ones are not much more than the famous gas pipe. My Cotic X falls nicely into that category. Good steel is great but so many companies have jumped on the resurrected bandwagon and have come out with clunkers.

Geometry first, material properties second, weight third, actual material distant fourth…

A work bike will have to take a few knocks and scratches, and all the steel bikes I’ve owned have rusted with winter use, so I prefer a non corroding frame for commuting duty (for practical, not aesthetic reasons).

I’ve got a shedfull of steel bikes, some rustier than others but I’d disagree with you on a few points;

1)The steel frames resit knocks and dents much better, importantt for a commuter which is going to get locked up against a steel stand, not rested carefully against a garage wall.

2) The aluminium finishing kit bits corrode before the steel frames, I’ve got a steel frame form the 50’s, but I think corrosion will do for my aluminium CAAD before anything else, it’s bubbling horribly around the headtube.

3) Good steel frames don’t rust particularly quickly. I’ve worn through the paint on plenty of frames but the surface coatings do a good job of preventing rust.

If there’s a steel option available I’ll usually look at it first, it just shrugs off the abuse of mountain biking and daily commuting better than softer materials.

A work bike will have to take a few knocks and scratches, and all the steel bikes I’ve owned have rusted with winter use, so I prefer a non corroding frame for commuting duty (for practical, not aesthetic reasons).

Whereabouts did you find the rust kcr? I’m commuting on a steel frame and I want it to last! Is there somewhere where should I be looking? 🙂

jacob46 – Member
So as a works commute most of you think that I will love a steel (Reynolds 520) Bike.

I don’t thiNK ANYONE HAS SAID THAT. ITS PERSONAL, give some a test ride, we can’t make your mind up for you. Damn cl.

For me its about aesthetics, ride quality and theoretical ease of repair.

That said, and as above, you shouldn’t go off because its steel it will be a nice ride.

The ride quality of a material, in my mind, is in the design and not necessarily the material.

I’ve owned Ti frames that have had the aesthetics of a steel frame but have been too flexy in use and iMHO would have benefitted from larger diameter tubes and conversely hugely overbuilt carbon frames that has been super smooth.

I didn’t like my Solaris but love my Fortitude.

I guess, again IMHO, the only way to know if its right is to test ride.

I like skinny tubes and neat welds. I appear to have 6 steel framed bikes at the moment!

15th Anniversary Ride by Simon Barnes[/url], on Flickr

New Drivetrain by Simon Barnes[/url], on Flickr

Genesis Equilibrium 853 by Simon Barnes[/url], on Flickr

Bank Holiday spin by Simon Barnes[/url], on Flickr

Genesis High Latitude in the Welsh hills. by Simon Barnes[/url], on Flickr

Just add racks & panniers for adventure by Simon Barnes[/url], on Flickr

Deviant is spot on. The latest soul frinstance is way stiffer than the mk1, due to the reasons he states.

TBH steel is just a material, like any material you can build bikes that suit their application better or worse using some form or another of steel…

One way or another I seem to have always own at least one steel framed bike at any given time over the last decade or two and I’ve no particular fetish for skinny tubes or the supposed ride quality.

Basically it will come down to a balancing of Cost, weight, durability and “Ride” and that is true of any frame material IMO, Steel generally scores well on Cost and Durability IMO, and the other criteria can vary massively around that. There is no real definitive answer, only people’s strongly held opinions…

For a bike to ride to work OP the Norco Search you linked looks pretty good to me, notably it includes 28mm tyres, a carbon fork/seatpost which all seem like nods towards comfort, along with what look like slightly curved seat stays… my only real question would be, can it take guards and racks? (assuming you might want them) boring I know, but as much of a practical consideration as the frame material…

So as a works commute most of you think that I will love a steel (Reynolds 520) Bike.

You will provided it’s not too heavy. My steel Kona has monocoque carbon forks with full SKS mudguards, carbon seatpost, handmade wheels a single fixed sprocket and generally light parts. It is eight kilos. A road bike this light, with good geometry and some flex in the frame will always feel great on a commute.

A twelve kilo steel lump with touring geometry, heavy wheels and cheap finishing kit will feel like a drag.

I own a variety of bikes. I own steel, aluminium and carbon bikes of various guises and each has its own benefits in terms of ride properties.

My race bikes have always focused on weight so are normally aluminium or carbon since it is cheaper to get a light stiff frame.

However, utility bikes (SS mountain bikes, commuting bikes) are often steel. I like the look of skinny steel tubes. A well built tough steel frame will go on and on – it also has the advantage that once it gets a bit tatty it is a relatively inexpensive process to get it blasted and powder coated – harder with aluminium and carbon. These ar bikes built to be reliable not performance – I need my commuter day after day and it needs to work without being fettled constantly.

At some point in my future I think I’ll get an audax/tourer as it is something I want to do but am currently too focused on racing. Probably be steel just because they look nice and can be more versatile in terms of muduards and racks.

Just look at the sexy curves of those stays: