Steel road bike Q's

[leah]

Hearing about the sudden failures of carbon (which freaks me out a little) - I am thinking of going with a steel road bike as my first road bike. I also understand that it offers an extremely smooth ride as opposed to carbon where you feel every bump and crack in the road.

I am a little spoiled because I test-rode all these carbon bikes with the ultegra gruppo and that is definitely what I want.

As far as how I ride, I want to go fast and to keep up with group rides, but I am not shooting to win any races or anything. I ride a lot (60-90 minutes a day, most days) so I'd like it to be comfortable.

The only off the shelf steel bike I can find with a women's specific design and ultegra shifters (rear derailleurs, anyway) is the Jamis Quest Femme. I am short (5'4") so leaning towards a WSD if possible.

If you have a steel road bike, what did you choose and why? Do you find it much slower as compared with carbon?

Can you recommend something that will suit the kind of riding I described? Or should I try to go for a custom build?

Thanks so much!

[ny biker]

I won't try to talk you out of steel, but fwiw with carbon you don't feel every bump and crack in the road. Carbon offers a rather smooth ride, which is why they add carbon forks and seatposts to aluminum bikes.

As for sudden failures, that's not really a problem either. The damage is generally caused by an impact like a crash or hitting the frame against something.

Regardless, I don't think being on the short side necessarily means you need a WSD frame. A small version of a non-WSD frame might fit you fine, depending on the frame dimensions and your reach, inseam, etc.

[spokewench]

I started with steel and went to carbon later. I liked my steel bike so would not tell you no to a steel bike. If you want to climb faster, the weight of a carbon bike cannot be beat. It will get you to the top quicker and easier!

If you ride in really windy weather, you will notice that the bike moves around easier and so won't feel as stable there. Can be a bit scary at first.

Most carbon frames do not just fail any more than a steel bike just fails. It is usually caused by something unless it is a weird one of a kind defect in manufacturing. This does not happen that often.

Of course, most steel bikes are cheaper so I would not tell you which way to go

[spokewench]

I started with steel and went to carbon later. I liked my steel bike so would not tell you no to a steel bike. If you want to climb faster, the weight of a carbon bike cannot be beat. It will get you to the top quicker and easier!

If you ride in really windy weather, you will notice that the bike moves around easier and so won't feel as stable there. Can be a bit scary at first.

Most carbon frames do not just fail any more than a steel bike just fails. It is usually caused by something unless it is a weird one of a kind defect in manufacturing. This does not happen that often.

Of course, most steel bikes are cheaper so I would not tell you which way to go

[Savra]

I have a steel touring bike. It's heavy and does not hit the high speeds nearly as easily as my aluminum road bike. I love my steel bike - don't get me wrong. But I would jump at the chance for an all carbon bike. I think they have different functions. As people have already said - carbon is a nice smooth ride and so is steel. Steel bikes are often more all around type bikes rather than get out and ride with a group doing 23 mph. Those doing the high speed, high mileage rides tend to do those better with carbon because of how light they are.
So, if you want an all around get around type bike - I recommend a steel bike. If not and you want to go fast for a long time - I would jump at carbon.

[Owlie]

I've never had a chance to ride a steel bike (because no one has my size). However, I've ridden two carbon bikes. One was a very, very smooth ride, almost disconcertingly so, because it was hard to "feel" my way around corners and so on. The other wasn't quite as bad, but it was a shorter ride.

I think steel bikes tend to be "all-rounder" bikes, like Surly's offerings. They're not necessarily quick, but they're comfortable. If you want to go fast, then look more closely at carbon.

[Kiwi Stoker]

You do need to look after a steel bike more because of rust. Basically if you want to keep your steel bike in good condition you will need to keep touch up paint handy for scratches etc and you really need to "drain" your bike after riding in heavy rain, especially the seat tube because these will rust out.

You can for extra cost get the inside of the frame's tubes coated so they won't rust.

The only time I have seen carbon crack is because of a bad accident (and any bike then will have damage), a pro level cyclist putting too much power into a sprint or someone over tighteneing a clamp and this can be avoided by using a torque wrench to tighten things.

[Bethany1]

Really it's up to you. I love my Salsa Fargo for the comfort and stability. Carbon bikes are great and fast, but I felt every bump and when the wind or a semi truck came by, I felt like I was being blown off the road. I feel much safer on my steel Fargo.

I would try out both materials and see what works for you.

I would say carbon is faster, but I do just fine on my Fargo. Salsa and Surly make some really great steel bikes but don't have the components you are looking for. My next steel bike would probably be a Surly Cross Check. If you have dealers in your area, check them out. You can also build up a Surly or Salsa to your specs as well.

[Trek420]

You do need to look after a steel bike more because of rust. Basically if you want to keep your steel bike in good condition you will need to keep touch up paint handy for scratches etc and you really need to "drain" your bike after riding in heavy rain, especially the seat tube because these will rust out.

You can for extra cost get the inside of the frame's tubes coated so they won't rust.

All of our bikes are steel. We have had no problems ... so far. Quality steel frames have a slight opening in the bottom bracket that will drain moisture. We've had 2 steel frames powdercoated. Before painting they were checked carefully for rust. One's my 1995 GT commuter, the other a 1980's sumthin' steel road bike (Knott's bike). No rust inside or out.

The commuter got the standard dings from racks, locks, neighboring bikes etc. With fine steel wool and matching nail polish I was able to keep it looking spiffy. I decided I love the bike and want it to look great again. I treated it to a day at the spa

Knott's Giant road bike I bought used. It looked great after decades with the original paint but the color scheme was dated. Knott decided on a new color for the bikes new life with her.

I think regardless of the frames we pick you'll check each bike often for signs of wear, dents, dings. You'll check carbon for cracks especially after a rough ride or a crash and certainly check steel.

Y'all know I have a thing for steel but all bikes are good!

We generalize saying:
Carbon is fast and light but feels dead and ....
Aluminum is light but you feel every candy bar wrapper on the road and ....
Steel, nothing rides like steel but it's heavy!

But with the right design and fit carbon is fast and light with a steel-like ride, aluminum is light and crisp and comfortable. And steel? Well nothing rides like steel but steel can be light! Yep. Light.

Only about 1/5th of the weight of the bike is the frame. So a lightweight steel frame and fork with nice shiny fancy blingy things hung on it is light. If we could stage a blindfold test with someone's carbon bike and my custom steel road bike I'd challenge you to say which is the carbon bike. of course part of that is the size because I'm 5' nuthin'

Closest thing to that blindfold test is here where we all weighed our bikes

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=39864

[Crankin]

My younger son had a classic Serotta steel road bike. It served him quite well and he won races riding it. It hung in our bike shed for a few years and a couple of years ago, we cleaned it up and gave it to our other son. I cannot tell you how much people drool over this bike when he rides it; I am so glad we didn't sell it.
Good steel bikes can be light. When I was looking into custom bikes, I seriously considered steel, but went for the titanium. But, I rode some steel bikes for tests and they were fine. Yes, they feel different from my carbon bike that weighs 14.5 lbs., but, not bad different, just different.

[eofelis]

I have two nice road bikes. One all carbon fiber, one all steel. So I can offer a comparison.

The carbon fiber bike is a 44cm 2007 Specialized Ruby. It's a nice bike. I've changed out some parts: handlebars are now Salsa Pocos, wheels are Mavic Open Pros. It used to have nice Ultegra quality wheels, but I thought the ride was a bit buzzy with them. The Open Pros really smoothed out the ride. I use 25mm tires. This bike is supposed to be a "plush" ride, and it does ride nice. But I think my steel bike rides a bit nicer.

My steel bike is a Gunnar Sport. It has a moderate quality steel fork from a Surly Pacer on it. The Gunnar is a high quality steel, OX Platinum ans 853 steel. The bike I have is a custom geometry bike. It wasn't custom for me. I got on ebay second hand. It's about a 41cm frame that takes 700c wheels. (Gunnar offers stock size frames and the smallest Sports have 650c wheels.) My Gunnar also has Mavic Open Pro wheels. This bike has a dreamy smooth ride. I've done climbs and descents (on bad pavement) on big passes and a few centuries on this bike. It's a couch.

I have not done such big rides on my Ruby. Not that I think it would not be nice. I just can't carry much on it. I have a rack on the Gunnar to take a few things on all day rides, so it usually made more sense to ride that bike.

I think my steel bike rides a bit better than my carbon bike. The carbon bike is a bit faster, but I'm not a fast rider.

Sometimes I do worry if the carbon bike will 'splode. Highly unlikely tho.

I did a big ride over Slumgullion Pass near Lake City, CO a few years ago. The descent was on rough pavement with mile after mile of lateral cracks. Kachunk Kachunk Kachunk Kachunk for a long long time. I was glad to be on my all steel bike. I had a 110 mile day that day. I recall at mile 98 feeling pretty darn good, shifting down and hammering a bit.

I think Jamis makes nice steel bikes. If I was starting from scratch and needed a steel bike I'd be looking a Jamis.