DEPARTMENT INDEX

NEWS

SEARCH

DIRECTORY

TRAVEL

MEASURES

CURRENCY

CONTACT

CrMo Steel

Aluminum

Titanium

Scandium

Each Metal Alloy Has Inherent Characteristics That Benefit Different Types Of Biking Applications.  Bike Designers And Engineers Are Coming Up With Innovative Concepts In Bike Frame Designs To Be Different In The Market, Or To Push Performance Past Previous Limitations.

First Understand, All Bike Frames Of A Certain Type Do Not Provide The Same Feel Or Performance.  A A Basic Understanding Of Each Metal Alloy Used In Bike Frame Manufacturing, Along With The Typical Known Characteristics Of Past Bike Frame Performance, Is The Best Policy When Choosing A New Bike, Or Choosing A Bike Frame For A Custom Build.

CrMo Chromoly Steel

A High Durability Metal With Shock Absorbing Characteristics.

General-Purpose Bikes, And High-Quality-Engineered Street-Smart, Road, Touring, Load Touring, Adventure, Jumping, BMX, And Downhill Bikes Are Typically Made Of CrMo Steel Alloy.  Steel Is Heavy, And In This Case Is Good Because The Weight Will Help Keep The Rider And Bike Grounded When Riding Over Pot-Holes, Road-Cracks And Rocky Terrain.  Steel acts like a shock absorber.  A steel bike is much more comfortable to ride than an aluminum alloy bike.  Steel has slight bending capabilities; for instance a bent derailleur from harsh riding can be bent back into shape ----- A Must When in Remote Areas; Touring or Adventure Riding!

4130 CrMo

DN6-4130

Aluminum Alloy

An 'Aluminum Alloy' is a certain mix of the aluminum element combined with another element; such as magnesium, copper or silicon.  Road bikes are generally made of aluminum alloy because they are meant to ride long distances.  Aluminum alloy is strong, lighter than steel and is quite stiff.  This stiffness is good and bad. For long rides a stiff bike requires less energy because all the energy exerted on the pedal is transferred directly to the wheel for increased power.  The down side to stiffness is the comfort of the bike ride.  Aluminum alloy does not absorb shock.  Every crack, bump, rock, pebble or slight difference in terrain is felt when riding the bike.  Aluminum Alloys Will Break, Not Bend.  It is commonly used in the construction of bikes because it is lighter than steel.  Aluminum alloy frames typically have a large diameter, this adds strength tot he frame and enable a thinner tube wall; resulting in a lighter frame.

7005-T6

7075

6061

Titanium

The Lightest Strength To Weight Ratio Metal Available For Bike Frames.  The Titanium Metal Is Currently Still Expensive To Produce Making Frames Expensive. Premium Bike Designs Are Showing Up On The Market With Titanium Frames. A Very Strong Metal With An Excellent Strength/Weight Ratio.

Titanium is a metallic element whose unique properties including high strength, low density, excellent fatigue and corrosion resistance and low modulus make it the ideal material for bicycle frames. Developed primarily for the aerospace industry, titanium alloys have also found a growing use in Medical, Petrochemical, Pulp and Paper, Architectural, Naval and Sports applications. Titanium itself is not rare but actually very abundant with large deposits occurring in Australian beach sand. However, titanium's extreme reactivity with oxygen makes it difficult to produce in metallic form and it is a long and expensive process to create the seamless tubes used in frame construction.

Strength to Weight Ratio
Based on Yield Strength divided by Density
74% higher than 6061 - T6 Aluminum
102% higher than 4130 Cr-Mo steel
(the most common form of steel used in bike frames)

Elastic Modulus
15.0 x 106 psi (10.3 x 104 Mpa)
50% higher than aluminum alloys and 50% lower than steel alloys

Corrosion Resistance
Excellent in all natural water and saltwater environments
Unlike steel, titanium will never rust and
will not pit, corrode or deteriorate in salt water like
aluminum alloys

Toughness
Titanium has good fracture Toughness
Ti resists damage from impact unlike composite materials

Fatigue Resistance
Excellent for both high and low cycle fatigue.

Titanium vs. Other Materials

Lightness, stiffness, and fatigue life are all self-explanatory, while "Ride Quality" is a little different.

Basically, a higher number corresponds to how well you might feel after a long 5 hour training ride.  The materials that score high, "dampen" road vibrations and "soften" an otherwise harsh ride.  Those that score lower tend to fatigue the rider quickly; transmit all of the road shock and vibrations straight thru the frame and into the rider's body.

Scandium Alloy Bike Frame

An Exotic Metal Alloy To Surface In Today's World Of High-Tech Custom Bike Frame Market.  It Is A Very Light Metal And Has A Much Higher Melting Point Than Aluminum, Making It Of Interest To Designers Of Spacecraft.  Some Of The Bike Industry Engineers Have Been Conducting Research And Development of Bike Frames Using Scandium Alloys.

We Now Offers These Exotics Space Age Bike Frames For The Distinct Individual With A Taste For Cutting-Edge Space Age Technologies.  Some Say, A Few Of The Frames W