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Community Question: What first drew you to pro cycling?
Guesdons' Aluminium Bike
- Thread starter biker77
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- Jun 3, 2010
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- Feb 25, 2010
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- Mar 18, 2009
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Why not? Aluminum gets a bad rap. I blame Cannondale. For years they made their frames stiffer and stiffer with larger and larger downtubes. The increase in tube size may have been done to decrease weight, but it resulted in an increase in stiffness. To top it off, they used a harsh geometry. Thus it became common "knowledge" that AL frames are ball busters.biker77 said:
I also blame the difference in acoustics between the different frame materials. AL sounds very harsh when hitting a variation in the road. FE and TI will give a nice little ping where AL will give a loud bang. Carbon varies a lot. People translate the sound into the idea that they are getting beat up.
- Jul 15, 2010
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I agree with BroDeal and personally have been championing aluminium a bit lately.
It is a very good material and can make a frame pretty much anyway you want it, but it gets a bad rap because of the reasons already mentioned, but also becuase its cheaper.
We want to justify the expense of cycling gear, buy talking about it as being "so much better". As the cheapest frame material by a mile most people look down their noses as aluminium believing that because its cheaper it cant be "good".
Then old Fred comes along and says - "maybe I'll use the aluminium one" and we all want to know why. Answer? Its actually pretty good.
It is a very good material and can make a frame pretty much anyway you want it, but it gets a bad rap because of the reasons already mentioned, but also becuase its cheaper.
We want to justify the expense of cycling gear, buy talking about it as being "so much better". As the cheapest frame material by a mile most people look down their noses as aluminium believing that because its cheaper it cant be "good".
Then old Fred comes along and says - "maybe I'll use the aluminium one" and we all want to know why. Answer? Its actually pretty good.
- Aug 9, 2010
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Don't know about this year since I haven't been looking, but doesn't Pinarello and Cervelo, among others, still think that Al must be ok? A very good ride when done well, and good value.
- Jul 2, 2009
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This may seem funny to say in light of Brodeal's comments - which I pretty much agree with - but I would seriously look at Cannondale.biker77 said:
Yeah, their early frames were killers - I looked at buying one in the late '80's but hated the ride ... especially on New Zealand roads, which do their best to emulate cobbles in terms of smoothness, and have a really high rolling resistance ...
However, from about the CAAD5 model onwards, I think that the ride improved no end. Carbon forks definitely help, as usedtobefast says.
I've got a Cannondale alloy roadie (actually a Six13 with carbon sections in the top and down tube) and a Cannondale alloy cross bike - plus a couple of their MTBs - and I love the ride on them. I have helped a couple of friends with their choosing of road bikes recently - and in each case they ended up with Cannondale alloy roadies and are happy as. They're a good ride and pretty good value.
Of course, as with any advice anyone gives you about bike brands on this forum - it's a very personal thing and you have to find which of the brands and recommendations works best for you. All that we can do is give you the components of the "long list" that you start your search with ...
- Jul 23, 2009
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Merckx, available in Europe only, special order in the US. Probably the best riding alu frames made.biker77 said:
- Mar 9, 2009
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Ha! Me too. In fact, I consider myself a bit of an aluminium crusader.fatsprintking said:
I'm one of the few guys around here still racing on it. It's hard to beat for value. And it's not as heavy as weight weenies think. For eg, my 58cm Soloist is 1420g (no fork), which isn't exactly feathery, but it's not much heavier than plenty of expensive carbon frame. And, there are a lot of dudes riding around on what they think are "around 1kg" carbon frames, which are more like 1100g to 1300g. Oooo, great scoop, Lois Lane 
- Feb 10, 2010
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I'm pretty hard on bikes, so I tend to go cheap so I can ride over anything without thinking about the cost of replacement.biker77 said:
Bikesdirect has an OEM aluminum frame 'cross bike. Nashbar has a frameset for less than $100. Can't beat that price. The Jamis and Kona 'cross bikes are a bit expensive for stickered OEM. (bikesdirect equivalent)
If you want to go high end, Andy Hampsten sells slacker angles than most in a 'road' package. Beyond that, find a builder who works in aluminum and get one made using road geometry from the 60's or 70's. The top tube placement will change to make the bike look more modern as compared to a 60's/70's bike, but the rest should be the same.
- Mar 13, 2009
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- Jul 23, 2009
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Does anyone know the country of origin on that bike? The sweep of those seat stays suggests it's being built somewhere in Asia. Backed up with the published current lifetime (rare!) conditional warranty, that could be a good value.Bustedknuckle said:
- Jul 17, 2009
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biker77 said:
My wife rides a Salsa Podio. It is scandium with shaped stays for various reasons. Light as a feather and stiff as all get out and she spends hours on it.
I do not see them on the salsa web anymore however. kinda wish I picked one up my size.
the shaped stay tubes allow vertical compliance and lateral stiffness.
I searched one here http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?Item=100034444
check out the Felt FA frameset or the F75 complete bike. good stuff
From the pages on the aluminium bikes (including the AMX5) on the Merckx website:BroDeal said:
5. CLASSIC AND SLOPING GEOMETRY
Available In classic and sloping geometry - each is hand built in Eddy Merckx Cycles ®’ factory in Belgium.
Gotta say, I love the look - and the geometry! Nice to see something with more old school geometry - I'm sick of hunting out seatposts with a mile and a half of setback to get me in the right position on a 74 or steeper seat tube ... Am almost prepared to abandon the 'dales for one of those Merckx bikes!!
- Mar 19, 2009
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All their carbon is mfg'd in Taiwan at the same plant as Pinarello, Merckx aluminum is done in house, just as kiwirider found out.BroDeal said:
- Mar 9, 2009
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Does it have to be new?icebreaker said:
http://www.troc-velo.com/velo-route-course-eddy-merckx-alu-sprint-1-1-353666.htm
800 Euro
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