what's a bike made of?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

A simple article about frame materials in general:
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/htm...materials.html

[xeney]

Python, that means it was a very decent bike for its era! That is one of the things you look for in a vintage (70s/80s) road bike, high-tensile carbon steel. I don't know what the heck it means, but it translates to bikes that are bit lighter and nicer to ride.

Or so I'm told. I'm starting to think that the fit and the saddle and the tires and things like carbon seatposts and forks matter as much as the frame materials. Based on what I've ridden in the past I thought I preferred steel, but I rode a not-fancy aluminum frame with a carbon seat post and fork over some really rough road last weekend, and it was far more comfortable than my steel road bike (which does have a carbon fork). I think in that case it was because the reach was short enough that I was able to keep more flex in my arms and take some of the shocks in my elbows, but I really wasn't feeling the road bumps too badly in my butt, either.

Whatever happens with my next bike, it is going to have a carbon seat post.

[Popoki_Nui]

My bike's made of "high tensile carbon steel"

Hi-tensile carbon steel was the standard frame material for better general-use bikes for many decades. Raleigh, Falcon, Peugeot, Gitane, Bianchi, Fuji, Crescent, CCM, Schwinn.......almost every marque had a range of bikes using this type of steel. It was inexpensive, relatively lightweight, easy to braze, and durable. One of the nice things about steel frames; if you break it, it can usually be repaired.

[Maxine]

I'm starting to think that the fit and the saddle and the tires and things like carbon seatposts and forks matter as much as the frame materials.

You are starting to think correctly. Frame material, in and of itself, is well down on the list of things that make a bike more (or less) comfy to ride.

Use at least size 25 tires, and don't pump them up any higher than 95-100 psi . . . presto, lots of extra comfort for dirt cheap!