The design of the bicycle frame has not changed much over the years, but the materials have. The original bike was a hobbyhorse that you pushed along with your feet on the ground; this original was made from wood.
The bicycle frame was for many years manufactured in steel, the first frames were very heavy and the angles were very laid back and with a long wheel base, which made for a comfortable ride on the rough roads of the time, but would not be responsive for today's fast roads and race conditions.
Steel bicycle frames over the years got lighter and lighter by making the tubes thinner and joining them without the use of lugs.
A big change came in the manufacture of frames when alloy tubes could be joined to each other strongly and safely to make responsive and very light frames, the tubes had to be bigger, but they could be made in aero-dynamic shapes.
Titanium Bike Frames
If you have the money titanium or an all carbon frame would be your choice, much more expensive. But in the case of titanium if it made correctly it will last a lifetime.
Titanium is very light but will give you a hard ride, mixing titanium main tubes with carbon forks and back end would be the best for handling and for comfort.
Carbon Fiber Bike Frames
An all carbon frame at the moment seems to be what every one wants.
Although titanium is very nice, carbon fiber frames are more affordable and probably more popular. Some of the nicest bike frames on the market are carbon, most of the big and famous frame builders now make at least one carbon fibre bike frame.
The most famous of these are Giant, Colnago, De Rosa, Look, Trek and Pinarello and there are many, many more, all very beautiful.
Trek carbon frame
Look carbon frame
Pinarello Magnesium frame
(Oscar Pereiro Bike - Tour de France winner)
Colnago carbon frame (Denis Menchov)
Orbea carbon frame
Scott carbon frame (David Millar)
BH All Carbon frame (Alexander Vinokourov)
Ridley carbon frame
(Fred Rodriguez - 3 times U.S. Pro Cycling Champion)
Carbon fiber bike frames can be constructed in three different ways, they can be made in one piece, with the carbon material wrapped in different directions for strength and lightness or tubes can be made more like ordinary alloy or steel frames and then joined directly or with lugs.
All are good and strong and give a comfortable ride and all the strength that you put into pressing on the pedals will go into pushing you forward on the road.
Bike manufacturers, Giant are one of the leaders in carbon fiber frame making, they were the first to build a frame that came in at under 1 kilogram and at an affordable price.
There are many frame builders using carbon fiber and all have different designs as carbon can be moulded or wrapped in many different shapes, not just round profiles.
These can be flat for aerodynamics or square for strength or as with most carbon fiber bike frames a mixture of many shapes for a mixture of strength, comfort, aerodynamics and style and they come in any colour, usually black to show off that beautiful carbon fiber weave.
All the main frame manufacturers make one, some with lugs (Trek, Colnago, Cervelo), some without (Scott, De Rosa, Battaglin) and some monocoque (Giant, Trek).
The monocoque designs can have tubes in any shape, but are a little heavier. Basically buy the best bicycle frame you can afford.
Alloy Bike Frames
Alloy bicycle frames are now most people's choice
combined with carbon forks and in some cases carbon chain and seat
stays at the back.
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Of all my bikes, the oldest and my favorite is the one made of Chromoly, yet I now ride it least of all because I got used to the index shifting of the newest bike.
My friends tell me to go all carbon or titanuum. What happened to Chromoly? It was lighter than steel, and just as light as Aluminum and just as stiff as Titanium.
I'm confused about what direction to turn. Bike shops only care about making a sale or is it because I don't know what to tell them what's best for me?
Maybe I'm biased b/c I was searching for steel tubing reviews (for my custom bike) when I came across this article.
@Jim Wedeking -
as you probably already know, steel is a generic name for all alloys of iron. Chromoly is name for a family of steel alloys that have relatively more molybdenum added. Chromoly steels tend to be strong, so the tubing of the bike can be made thinner and lighter. however, there are other alloys of steel that are also impressive, some which use trade names that don't give away the composition of the metal.
Bottom line, I don't know of any lightweight "steel" adult bikes that aren't made of a high-strength steel alloy like chromoly. If your steel frame weighs under 3.5 pounds, then it's about as good as can be, and you should focus your attention on geometry.
If, however, you want the ride of steel with greater stiffness and lower weight, then you would have to choose an all-carbon frame.
If stiffness isn't an issue and you just want a plush ride, then titanium is enjoyed as a very comfortable material - arguably more durable than steel but reasonably light. I strongly disagree with the article that says "titanium will give you a hard ride". Must be a typo, because our experience is that only aluminum and heavy steel frames have been known to be unreasonably harsh.
The frame material question really comes down to two things:
1) how do you ride, and
2) how fat is your wallet?
Now that prices of carbon have come down, i have found myself firmly in the carbon camp for all who do serious riding or competition. If money is a serious concern, then aluminum or steel are your options, the former tending to be rigid and efficient, the latter tending to be more plush but heavier. Note that carbon bits (post, stem, handlebars, fork) can be fit to any frame to help relieve harshness, not to mention simply going to a wider tyre.
Light, durable and excellent they may be, but not always the right thing to buy - unless you have more money than sense!
no end of problems with them from what i can remember.
Carbon Fiber frames are very commonplace nowadays and full bikes with proven racing credentials can be had for under $2K.
I've tried looking for steel bikes and it would seem the only option is to custom build a bike around an Italian frame. Usually the steel frame itself sells for more than $2k. The cost of the entire bike would end up costing twice that. Steel has become the new exotic and expensive material.
Am I missing something?
Can you tell me of a manufacturer as reputable as Trek, that produces steel bikes with proven racing geometry for a reasonable price. It doesn't even have to be lightweight. Thanks