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Castelli
Written by Scot Nicol (Ibis founder), this series is the most comprehensive and insightful information we’ve seen on materials used in frame building and their properties. From tried and true steel alloys to exotic materials not even used yet, this read covers it all. Enjoy.
What is the best material to use in building a bicycle frame – steel, aluminum, titanium or carbon fiber? What about something even more exotic? While this certainly isn’t as important a topic as who will replace Shannon on “Beverly Hills: 90210,” it is fodder for lengthy debates among bike junkies (like myself).
The six-part series we’re about to start will examine metallurgy as it applies to bicycles. If we do our job right, you will be educated about all the popular materials currently used in bicycle-frame construction, and we’ll take a look at what you can expect for the future.
What I also hope to do is give you a “BS” filter for the clever and often misleading ads that our industry uses to prey on the underinformed. It really doesn’t matter that boralyn was used for tank armor, or that rocket scientists designed your bike. You don’t even have to wear a white lab coat to design a good bike. Sound engineering and an intimate knowledge of the biomechanical interface between bike and rider are the only prerequisites.
To begin, you have to understand that the traditional bicycle frame is a highly evolved mechanical structure – highly evolved as in 100 years of tinkering. Attempts are constantly made to improve on its design, but most do little improving. Just designing a better frame may look like a simple problem, but it’s not. Small improvements are made with materials and engineering advances, but improving by leaps and bounds doesn’t happen – unless you believe the ads.
Because the science of bike design is so complex, I won’t be able to cover everything that’s involved. Instead, I’ll stick to the most important ingredients in the mix, and you won’t be finding out about body-center cubic versus face-center cubic phases, or about grain boundaries or persistent slip planes. But you’ll still get plenty of pertinent information to think about.
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