Why It's Impossible For Steel Frames To Be More Comfortable Than Aluminium

To be frank, what I am worried about is vibrations not flex.

I absolutely notice a little difference between my steel bike and my alum so I must either be imagining it or I'm crazy, and my steel frame will last me my entire life

I like steel on a fat tire bike, with not having suspension feeks like it absorbs the vibratios better.

Just going by my two bikes, one alu, the other 753 steel, my steel wins, hands down.

While this is true, the lack of high frequency vibrations while riding a Steel frame is absolutely noticeable to me, I don’t have as much post ride soreness from riding my Steel bike compared to my Aluminum bike- both are Gravel bikes with similar components and wheels and tires….

While this is true, the lack of high frequency vibrations while riding a Steel frame is absolutely noticeable to me, I don’t have as much post ride soreness from riding my Steel bike compared to my Aluminum bike- both are Gravel bikes with similar components and wheels and tires….

Good info. Only nitpick is that yhe seat is certainly not the only contact point woth the bike...

All bs my aluminum frame is like noddle when ride up hill while my carbon frame is lot stiffer

not good for those of us who need short seat post

I have switch from Thomson aluminium to a Ritchey superlogic carbon seatpost and its a different as night and day. Much more comfy and very light...

I will never feel very comfortable riding on a frame that's more likely to crack and fail.

I don’t have any science only personal experience, but on my steel filet brazed road bike I can hit bumps and cracks and I definitely feel them but the same bumps with my aluminum cannondale blew my hands right off the bars. It was freaking scary.

"Placebo"? Do you know what that word means? Steel is undeniably more comfortable than either aluminum or titanium. I've ridden many bikes of each material. Scientific data notwithstanding, this is one of those phenomena which defies mathematical modeling. As the old saying goes, "It works in practice, if not in theory." I own professional quality steel, aluminum and carbon fiber bikes. If I could do a blind riding study of these bikes, I am certain I would choose the steel bike for long ride comfort. After years of riding, I have found that the weight advantage ( small ) of aluminum over steel can only be truly enjoyed if the aluminum bike has either a suspension fork or frame ( heavy ) or a suspension seat post ( relatively light ).

I happy with my steel frame.

Idk have you ever ridden a cro-moly frame?

I have a hardcore gravel steel frame. Suing my aluminium fork its really harsh on log gravel downhills , the steel fork works much better. Same difrence wih my actuall steel trail hardtail and aluminium hardtail.

I think the love of steel comes from the torsional springiness when youre out of the saddle. ??, this has not been measured i guess

Carbon 🤮🤮

Steel isn't going to crack and break like other materials that bikes are made of

You have ignored the most important thing about comfort and steel: the forks. Curved steel forks flex beautifully over potholes and rough paths.- they make a real difference. So much so that Thorn offer a curved steel V-brake bike in preference to a stronger straight fork for disc brakes. The ride quality is more important than the brakes.

Can you get curved aluminium forks? I don’t think so.

What ev er

Klein bikes are like riding on a cloud. They were designed for optimal performance, and thus absorb the high-frequency vibrations that cause fatigue. A Cannondale is designed for warranty. They are designed to make the company money and are very harsh. Also, don’t change lanes in a corner. The Cannondale won’t like it. I like steel… I like it a lot, and a Nervex lugged Mercian is a sight to behold. I believe titanium is the optimal material, but my own bike is aluminum. It handles like a dream, climbs like a rocket, and won’t beat you to death.

You missed the all important forks which aren't part of the triangles but contribute a lot to comfort. You got carried away with the science and neglected the holistic view.

yeap

How it fits me, seat comfort, if it’s snowing.
Comfort for me in that order

I can see the triangle has no flex but the front fork is different. That may see a bigger difference between materials and shape?

Is the fork considered not part of the frame? On many vintage bikes you can see the fork flex if you pull the front brake and try push the bike forward. How about vibration dampening? Sorry but the seatpost flex test seems too simplistic to paint the whole picture. Youre correct that tyres and saddle etc play a huge role though, not arguing that.

It’s all about the compliance of the fork blades IF you take a track forked bike on on a road ride you will TAP OUT really FAST

I own a 1993 Cilo (Swiss hand made) bicycle made out of Columbus SLX tubing. It is by far the most comfortable, compliant and fun bike that I have ridden thus far. I also own 2 high quality carbon frame road bicycles and the Columbus SLX steel frame is livelier, more responsive and more comfortable. All have alloy rims and 25cm wheels. All have stock seat post and bars. The seat post on the older steel bike is significantly shorter than the other two bikes! Still a more comfortable ride.The 2 carbon bikes are a 2002 Trek 5900 US Postal Service Replica and a 2013 Trek Madone 4.5. It bears repeating that the steel is both livelier and more compliant. The quality of the Columbus SLX tubing, in my opinion, makes an enormous difference in ride feel and comfort. To discuss steel I think it is important to experience the highest quality tubing and construction before discounting it.

Well, if you translate comfort to vertical compliance your data might be right but this is not frame comfort. If everyone feels steel is more comfortable but your data does not support it, you are measuring the wrong things. You should start off with a double blind study where participants won't see the frame they are riding over a gravel road. you will probably find out that steel bikes are smoother to ride, not alone by their horizontal flex and deflection while pedaling.

...now do fatigue and longevity.

Wow what a way to tell everybody you've never ridden a quality steel bike. Trust me there is a difference.
Massive difference between ALUMINUM and 853 Reynolds. Don't believe me set up two bikes with the parts and tire pressure and ride a real trail.
Tube thickness and material plays a role in comfort. Ignoring that just shows your ignorance.

I can see in your eyebrows you are just making stuff up. Kinda sad.

It's confusing. I just want to ride and chill, then I ride :)

THAT S VERY INTERESTING THANKS l will add l did feel differences in my bikes of steel alloy and carbon .l want to say my steel is most comfortable but it does have fatter tires and saddle than the carbon ALSO l notices a huge difference when swapped wheels on my alloy MTB from fat MTB tires /wheels to skinny road wheels l felt more the effects of the seat and front shocks going over the road of course faster and lighter WHICH WAS ALOT OF FUN :)

I think a premium quality steel road bike is as good as it gets, the frame seems to absorb small vibration and feels alive. 😄

It is obvious looking at a bike frame that it is not designed to flex. Steel frames are superior because they look cool. That is all.

what about the front fork? I can see the fork flexing on my steel bike with just my weight pushing down. Some carbon forks flex as well. I had an aluminum fork/frame (Alan) that was more flexible than any bike I've ever had... It wasnt necessarily better tho, too flexy on the ALan! But, to me, the fork being able to flex is important. Not suspension, but suspension benefits from a flexible fork.

Never ridden a carbon bike so I dont know what Im missing. Im kinda poor so to me it feels like a luxury item to have an expensive frame I must be paranoid about dropping or getting hit by something.

Ive ridden harsh steel bikes and much more comfortable steel bikes. Long chainstays and old school geometry front forks, that are in line with the steerer until the last bit where the bend is, feels much nicer. Straight forks where they angle forward right at the crown, and super short chainstays so you sit nearer the center of he rear wheel, feel less comfortable for sure. The nicest feeling bike Ive ridden is my early 90s trek touring bike with reynolds 531 super tourist tubing. However Ive also ridden cheap as chips Swedish made crescents with 1010 tubing that also feel quite good.

All that said, from all the aluminium bikes Ive ridden none come even close to feeling as nice as that 531 touring bike or even the middle of the range steel bikes. Maybe if I had a 90s aluminium touring bike with similar geometry I would feel that they are similar.

I swear that my aliminium bike dampens the shocks better, while the steel frame dampens the generel vibrations of riding on asphalt far more.

As an experiment, if you can zip tie one or two 5 lb. hand weights to a bottle cage, the ride comfort improves favorably. BTW, this video is the most accurate ride analysis ever made on YT.

The Carlton steel frame I bought in '75 - Raliegh Super Course II is still going strong. Show me your carbon frameset in 50 yrs.

Not sure why, but you only looked at flexing capabilities on a perfectly vertical plane.
The fact, that you are pedalling, and therefore constantly shifting weight on the x- and z-axis, however, introduces additional movements to the side.
And from my understanding, this is where flex starts playing a role (and is even visible when heavy riders are sprinting).

Moreover, the sound of knocking on a carbon frame is irrelevant: afaik the stiffness of carbon depends of the direction of the force, which is why carbon frames can resist tons of energy in one direction and still break in a minor crash.

That's why I prefer fatbikes.

This is horse dung. Diameter of tubes, length of tubes, wall thickness of tubes, shape of tubes, butting of tubes, elastic properties of the material, and construction design of the frame all contribute to the ride quality of the frame. High strength butted steel tubes are highly fatigue resistant are much smaller diameter as so flex more, butting of tubes stops vibrations.

Done steel, done aluminium, next will be carbon. Let's see

I just ride bikes with quality components and don’t fret over frame material. I currently own two aluminum framed rides, one with a carbon fork and stays. I also have a steel frame Soma. Ride em all enjoy em all, besides it is more about the ride not the bike; that also applies to my motorcycles.

So, steel is better in every way, but equal in comfort 😂

Love the comments here denying the data. If you think your steel bike offers more compliance than aluminium, its not going to because of thr frame. Watch tbis again if you didnt spot that 😂