Steel bikes for carbon lovers

[warthog1]

Have a look here.

Very nice, I was surprised

[Howzat]

Yes, that is quite awesome.

[Crowz]

Oh my god. That 29er. Speachless.

[silentbutdeadly]

Oh my god. That 29er. Speachless.

...Too me. Want.

[RonK]

That TT bike belongs in the ugly bike thread...

[warthog1]

Well there you go there's no accounting for taste I think it looks fantastic.

While I'll have a crack at welding, I don't know much about steel fabrication.I would love to learn more about the processes involved here. I reckon this bloke is a master craftsman

Seems like the judges were impressed too, given it won best in show.

[RonK]

Well there you go there's no accounting for taste I think it looks fantastic.

While I'll have a crack at welding, I don't know much about steel fabrication.I would love to learn more about the processes involved here. I reckon this bloke is a master craftsman

Seems like the judges were impressed too, given it won best in show.

The judge's taste is not in question, given that theirs would presumably have been an objective judgment made against set criteria.

But the subjective judgment, where taste would have had a bearing, i.e. the peoples choice, was the Moots/Imba Trail Maintenance Bike.

[il padrone]

That TT bike belongs in the ugly bike thread...

I think that the only test for a TT bike is how fast it can be ridden. The 'race of truth' as they say Looks is entirely secondary - in fact goes fast = looks fast.

The other good example in this regard is Graham Obree's washing machine bike.... which of course the UCI declared was "not a bike"

BTW, Rob English is a major bike designer for Bike Friday. He has designed a very special Speed Tikit and other speedy Bike Fridays.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAjswy_xlN8[/youtube]

[warthog1]

I think that the only test for a TT bike is how fast it can be ridden. The 'race of truth' as they say Looks is entirely secondary - in fact goes fast = looks fast.

I agree with that but they still can be butt ugly ie cerveloP5 IMO.
I reckon this one looks good personally.

RonK is a campy bloke though, so that probably explains a bit. Taste and form and function and all that

[ldrcycles]

Overall i like that TT bike, the only dud note for me is having the base bars welded on so low. Just talking from an aesthetic point, doesn't look as good as the rest of the bike to me.

[Ross]

Not a huge fan of the looks of the TT bike but appreciate the work gone into it. I do like the dual Di2 shifters though and the way he has intergrated the rest of Di2 into the bike (are you taking notes, bike manufacturers??!!)

[TDC]

The other good example in this regard is Graham Obree's washing machine bike.... which of course the UCI declared was "not a bike"

Apparently his knicks would be cleaner at the end of the ride. (where is the smiley that indicates "amuses himself with lame jokes")

[sogood]

That TT bike belongs in the ugly bike thread...

Hate to think how much of a noodle that TT bike is. With that kind of design, steel just doesn't have it.

[warthog1]

Hate to think how much of a noodle that TT bike is. With that kind of design, steel just doesn't have it.

From the blurb under the first photo of the tt bike;

Rob English's phenomenal TT bike, the latest version of the bike he's used to win multiple Oregon state time trial titles, took NAHBS attendees' collective breath away.

Nobody will be proud of me, I'm becoming a staunch defender of steel

[Jesmol]

That TT bike belongs in the ugly bike thread...

Hate to think how much of a noodle that TT bike is. With that kind of design, steel just doesn't have it.

Might use some very high strength steels in that, some of the are ridiculously stiff with the right tube shape.

[Nobody]

Hate to think how much of a noodle that TT bike is. With that kind of design, steel just doesn't have it.

From the blurb under the first photo of the tt bike;

Rob English's phenomenal TT bike, the latest version of the bike he's used to win multiple Oregon state time trial titles, took NAHBS attendees' collective breath away.

Nobody will be proud of me, I'm becoming a staunch defender of steel

Thanks. Hard to get a better reply than that.

Doubt campaigns can be very effective. The cigarette companies ran them for decades. Good try Sogood, but you'll have to try harder.

[Ken Ho]

The TT bike and the 29er are both works of art.
Ducati has been proving steel for decades and while I love my carbon roadie, I can get a boner over steel too
We have his and hers Surly Moonlanders arriving on Wednesday to prove it.

[Nobody]

We have his and hers Surly Moonlanders arriving on Wednesday to prove it.

[sumgy]

Well there you go there's no accounting for taste I think it looks fantastic.

While I'll have a crack at welding, I don't know much about steel fabrication.I would love to learn more about the processes involved here. I reckon this bloke is a master craftsman

Seems like the judges were impressed too, given it won best in show.

The judge's taste is not in question, given that theirs would presumably have been an objective judgment made against set criteria.

But the subjective judgment, where taste would have had a bearing, i.e. the peoples choice, was the Moots/Imba Trail Maintenance Bike.

Would not have been this persons choice (and I own and love my Moots.
I will plus a zillionty Warthogs comment.

[sumgy]

That TT bike belongs in the ugly bike thread...

Hate to think how much of a noodle that TT bike is.

Why? Because it is not made from Carbon Fibre?

[Mulger bill]

That TT bike belongs in the ugly bike thread...

Hate to think how much of a noodle that TT bike is.

Why? Because it is not made from Carbon Fibre?

Was wondering too. I thought the engineering was capable of making a frame more than the sum of its parts

[Ken Ho]

We have his and hers Surly Moonlanders arriving on Wednesday to prove it.

Haha, yes, we have seen that, very cool promo !!
Can't wait !!
On the subject of cool handbuilts, there is also the MOOTS Frosti. Very tasty !!

[barefoot]

That TT bike belongs in the ugly bike thread...

Hate to think how much of a noodle that TT bike is. With that kind of design, steel just doesn't have it.

Might use some very high strength steels in that, some of the are ridiculously stiff with the right tube shape.

The stiffness of steel is pretty much constant for all steel alloys, Youngs Modulus about 200 GPa.

If you want stiffness, you need fat tubes. But this bike does not have fat tubes.

If you have a strong enough steel, you can have fat tubes with very thin walls, which makes them quite light as well as being stiff.

tim

[sumgy]

Pick of what I saw in reviews was the English 29er and Boo's bamboo fat bike.

[warthog1]

The stiffness of steel is pretty much constant for all steel alloys, Youngs Modulus about 200 GPa.

If you want stiffness, you need fat tubes. But this bike does not have fat tubes.

If you have a strong enough steel, you can have fat tubes with very thin walls, which makes them quite light as well as being stiff.

tim

That's an informative answer thanks.
I had to take issue with Sogoods description of it as a noodle.
To have won Oregon state tt titles, it's clearly not.
It has thin profile tubes presumably to be aero, which it must achieve without being too flexy