Aluminum Framed Bikes Coming Back?

[alitogata]

What? You are a spot info poster so without enough info posters must assume the info you fail to post.

Hm...Have you thought of submitting a written complaint to the management of the site? Try.. they may serve you. I'm not the appropriate recipient of your complaints.

 

[ElChingon]

Hm...Have you thought of submitting a written complaint to the management of the site? Try.. they may serve you. I'm not the appropriate recipient of your complaints.

So Aluminum will still not resurface in the Pro Peloton. Just so we're clear.

 

[alitogata]

So Aluminum will still not resurface in the Pro Peloton. Just so we're clear.

Certainly.. and donkeys have wings and fly as well. ( but keep it as a secret because we live in dangerous times and you might be misunderstood ). So we are clear.

 

[biker jk]

Steel framed bike in Pro Peloton. Not World Tour but still the pro ranks.

http://roadcyclinguk.com/news/gear-news/pro-bike-dean-downings-genesis-volare-953.html#slide-1

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Certainly.. and donkeys have wings and fly as well. ( but keep it as a secret because we live in dangerous times and you might be misunderstood ). So we are clear.

When at Liquidgas, Timmy Duggan rode a Cannondale aluminum frame and loved it, thru 2012 season.

 

[alitogata]

When at Liquidgas, Timmy Duggan rode a Cannondale aluminum frame and loved it, thru 2012 season.

I think you didn't get my comment right. It was a reply to ElChingon statement that that aluminum frames will never resurface in races. If so, then donkeys fly as well.

ElChingon is trying to provoke me to argue with him and quarrel for this subject, but I've posted already my arguments here and I will not bother to argue with anyone who is ironic, provocative or tries to offend me. For anyone having such intentions, donkeys will always fly..

 

[42x16ss]

So Aluminum will still not resurface in the Pro Peloton. Just so we're clear.

Not en masse, only for extreme custom cases like Petacchi when Lampre first switched to Wilier. As BK said before, Duggan rode an Al frame for a while last year too, as his body proportions are a little unusual.

 

[M Sport]

Katusha used aluminium Canyon's in two races last year. Probably more comfortable than their bone shaking carbon frames too.

 

[42x16ss]

One of the World Tour teams (Vacansoleil?) also had a few riders use Aluminium frames in the cobbled classics last year.

 

[avanti]

Four or five years ago and just after I bought my Cervelo Soloist Aluminum frame bike I attended the Redondo Beach stage of the Tour of California. The CSC team used Soloists as their backup bikes (but with better wheels than on the standard Soloist).

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Four or five years ago and just after I bought my Cervelo Soloist Aluminum frame bike I attended the Redondo Beach stage of the Tour of California. The CSC team used Soloists as their backup bikes (but with better wheels than on the standard Soloist).

Didn't Boonen opt for an aluminum frame cuz it was stiffer? I know Henk Vogels did..while ago but it was when the world was and is populated with so many carbon fanboys.

 

[86TDFWinner]

Craig Gaulzetti is making some awesome Aluminum race frames, and a helluva nice guy!

Sick bike(too bad it doesn;t come in blue)

 

[El Oso]

Didn't Boonen opt for an aluminum frame cuz it was stiffer? I know Henk Vogels did..while ago but it was when the world was and is populated with so many carbon fanboys.

At least for a little while Boonen was on an aluminum because his Tarmac or Roubaix was giving him back problems:

Specialized has worked hard to ensure that Boonen was comfortable on its bikes, especially given the nagging back issues he developed after crashing into a photographer at Gent-Wevelgem four years ago. When Boonen's back began acting up again in early spring, Specialized quickly responded with a custom E5 aluminium rig fitted with a 13mm longer top tube to ameliorate the symptoms.

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road...tech/2007/features/boonen_specialized_roubaix

When I test rode some carbon bikes I felt that my 2003 aluminum was just as stiff, if not stiffer.

 

[MarkvW]

I don't know about AL but it will be interesting to see what happens with carbon, which has been pushed by the bike industry because it is cheap to manufacture and can be sold at a premium. The no-name frames are steadily eating away at the idea that carbon deserves a huge price markup. What is more, the no-name manufacturers are getting better and quicker at making reasonable facsimiles of name brand products. For example, right now you can buy a cheapo copy of a time trial frame that looks like it is modeled on a Cervelo P5.

NAHBS gets bigger every year. I think there could be a trend at the high end to go back to small builders. The prices are not unreasonable compared to what Canontrekalized is charging for their stock frames. Also gravel racing and cyclocross is growing rapidly so that will influence future trends.

Engineering with carbon nanofibers is my bet for the next wave.

 

[purpletezza]

Quite a lively forum topic, good to see.

I ride:
- Steel Dolan.
- 2005 Specialized E5 SWORKS. (Alu)
- 2010 Focus Izalco.

They all have a different ride feel. None of the bikes are below average for their material type and have Ultegra or Dura-Ace along with good quality wheels and only Deda bars/stem and similar tyres. So through all this I think that I can evaluate the feel of the frame independent of the other bits. From a simple level the E5 feels faster than the Dolan and the Izalco feels faster than the E5. People want to ride bikes that feel fast. Pros want to ride bikes that feel fast. Sure you can get an alloy bike that feels fast but the material has limits for comfort as the stiffness is dialled up. Carbon in this respect is a bit of a wonder material as you can get stiff and light and comfortable. As for the exhorbitant prices that you can pay for a carbon frame, well that comes down to marketing genius and how much $$ people are willing to pay.

For me a good quality aluminium frame can get you 80-90% of what a top end carbon frame offers. I find this the case comparing the E5 to the Izalco.

So an Alu frame is a cost effective way to get a pretty good bike. In this respect Alu frames could make a comback.

And so using the above the following frames become appealing....
- CAAD10
- 2013 Specialized Allez Smartweld E5
- Canyon
- Rose RS
- BMC GF02

Can Alu frames get back into the Peleton? A few years back Canyon supplied Alu frames to Uni-Bet. In future, maybe only as one-offs. But the other scenario now is that compontry is so light that a UCI weight 6.8kg frame could be built up with a very ridable Alu frame. Again marketing..........

 

[alitogata]

[...]

From a simple level the E5 feels faster than the Dolan and the Izalco feels faster than the E5. People want to ride bikes that feel fast. Pros want to ride bikes that feel fast. Sure you can get an alloy bike that feels fast but the material has limits for comfort as the stiffness is dialled up.

For me a good quality aluminium frame can get you 80-90% of what a top end carbon frame offers. I find this the case comparing the E5 to the Izalco.

I agree but I have a little objection.

Pros want a bike to feel fast.

But, speed in cycling is something that depends on the strength of each individual rider. I suppose that a really strong rider, is able to run fast even with your steel Dolan, while a not so strong rider will not be able to run that fast with any kind of bike, even the lighter and more technologically advanced one.

From this point of view, aluminum can get back in races, as it becomes obvious that the whole story is more a matter of marketing and not a matter of how much each bike frame material can improve each rider's performance, which in most cases is random and depends on other factors.

Bicycles are not like cars. Human power moves the bike not the opposite.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

At least for a little while Boonen was on an aluminum because his Tarmac or Roubaix was giving him back problems:
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road...tech/2007/features/boonen_specialized_roubaix

When I test rode some carbon bikes I felt that my 2003 aluminum was just as stiff, if not stiffer.

Copt to elchincon

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

Sick bike(too bad it doesn;t come in blue)

How did you come to that conclusion? Blue is their (Embrocation/Gaulzetti) team color!!!

Belgian Blue

Embro Blue

Navy Blue

 

[alitogata]

How did you come to that conclusion? Blue is their (Embrocation/Gaulzetti) team color!!!

Belgian Blue

I like this blue.. tres chic.. <--- emoticon that matches frame's color..

 

[86TDFWinner]

I like this blue.. tres chic.. <--- emoticon that matches frame's color..

I think the blue makes it even more badass. I guessed it wasnt available in blue, nice surprise to see it is.

 

[fatsprintking]

Navy Blue

[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sweet on this thing. What sort of cost for the frameset???? It doesnt look like a good bike for middle age guys to ride a 25kph.

 

[BroDeal]

I'm pretty sweet on this thing. What sort of cost for the frameset????

A tad under $3K for the frameset. That is custom with The Jerk tweaking the geomtry to fit the rider. Made in the U.S.

I think that comes with the headset and the seatmast topper.

It doesnt look like a good bike for middle age guys to ride a 25kph.

Gaulzetti's prides himself designing pure race bikes.

I cannot get over the massive head tube. I am sure it mates well with the down tube but I cannot say I like the aesthetics.

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

......I cannot get over the massive head tube. I am sure it mates well with the down tube but I cannot say I like the aesthetics.

44mm head tubes are an acquired taste, like the fact they're supported by King though.

 

[Parrulo]

the other day i was discussing carbon with a fellow mechanical engineer and we came to the conclusion that the bike market for carbon is pathetic.

they come with this ad campaigns about "special carbon this and special carbon that" which improves stiffness and reduces weight and whatever and its all an huge amount of bull**** as all those brands use the same carbon with pretty much the same "glues" and baking processes. It is beyond me how some people actually think that the carbon on the maclaren venge is any different then the one on the normal venge, or that the carbon on the ferrari colnago C59 is any different then the one on a normal c59.

big brands are obsessed with frame weight because that is the bets excuse to justify the low amount of layers they use when building a frame, ensuring this way that it will brake more easily and have a much shorter life spam. there is no justification other then "flawed" product design to justify the amount of broken/cracked frames being reported. At the speeds people cycle, even the pros, and the power they produce carbon should not crack when crashed. Unless ofc you are hit by a car or something like that

 

[alitogata]

I agree with you.. check this video and watch how the carbon bike frame broke in two pieces during this crash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9TrGnY9VhY

Crashes do happen, but this kind of breakage shouldn't have happen on the frame and these women were very lucky that the broken frame didn't touch any of them because broken carbon is very sharp.

They were lucky.