Steel Bike Frames Vs Aluminum

There s a misconception that steel bike frames are heavy and aluminum frames are light.

Steel bike frames vs aluminum. Of the two 6061 is slightly better due to its lower weight. Steel is the most commonly used material in bike frames. Your local bike shop can give advice on what frame will work best for your. Usually aluminum is mixed with silicon magnesium or zinc to make it stronger and more durable.

Although bike frames today are available in a wide variety of materials such as titanium carbon and even bamboo most entry and mid level cyclists will be deciding between an aluminum frame and a steel frame. Carbon or high tensile steel is a good strong long lasting steel but it isn t as light as its more high tech brother the steel known as chromoly. Aluminum is less dense than steel and to make it achieve greater strength to weight ratio. And when aluminum fails it fails catastrophically.

Still aluminum s low density makes it an exceptional choice for a high performance racing bike and rivals carbon fiber as a material for a competitive frame. Pure aluminum isn t strong enough to use for bicycle frame building. Unlike steel aluminum can t be easily welded or re bent once it s cast making repairs to broken frames much more difficult. For one aluminum frames are less durable than steel.

It entails adding extra material and this extra material adds on weight and quickly an aluminum bike can weigh as much more or more than a steel bike. Quality aluminum frames are butted. The same is true in many respects of aluminum. Butting means making the aluminum larger and thicker than steel.

Think about it like this. Glass will break before it bends. Aluminum just can t be. Types of aluminum bike frames.