What is my Road Bike Frame made of?

Road Bike Research Guide to Frame Materials. Aluminum, steel, carbon, and titanium? What does it mean?

1. Aluminum

Alloy is cheap, corrosion resistant, fairly lightweight and easy to form into frames
Aluminum is cheap, corrosion resistant, fairly lightweight and easy to form into frames

Most bike frames are constructed using tubes made from aluminum alloys. These are cheap, corrosion resistant, fairly lightweight and easy to form into frames. Numbers like 6061, 6063 and 7005 are a code for the additives (chiefly silicon and magnesium) that are mixed with the aluminum to form each blend.

2. Steel

Although steel is harder than alloy it's more expensive to mass-manufacture
Although steel is harder than alloy it's more expensive to mass-manufacture

Steel is much denser than aluminum and much stronger too. This means frame builders can use smaller-diameter, thinner-walled tubes and maintain the same strength and stiffness. Weight is higher, but the skinny tubes make it easier to design in a little vertical flex for a comfier ride. Steel is harder and more expensive to mass-manufacture than aluminum.

3. Carbon fiber

Carbon fibre can be moulded into smooth, complex shapes
Carbon fiber can be molded into smooth, complex shapes

 

Carbon fiber is a composite of sheets of strong carbon threads bonded together with resin. The advantage for bike frames is that it’s significantly lighter than metal for a given stiffness. It’s pricey, and expensive molds make it uneconomic for brands to change their designs regularly.

4. Titanium

Titanium is far more resilient than other frame materials
Titanium is far more resilient than other frame materials

The main advantage of titanium over aluminum or steel is its fatigue resistance. Most metals have a defined number of load cycles before they’re likely to fail. Titanium is far more resilient to repeated stresses and strains, and this means skilled frame fabricators can build frames lighter and with more compliance without risk of failure. For a price.

5. Graphene

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