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Conference noted::bicycle

Title: Bicycling
Notice:Bicycling for Fun
Moderator:JAMIN::WASSER
Created:Mon Apr 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3214
Total number of notes:31946

1153.0. "For those who prefer steel...." by CESARE::JOHNSON (Truth is stranger than fiction) Tue May 09 1989 14:47

    I've been planning to buy a new racing frame for nearly a year.
    Now that the builder I deal with has finally gotten in the tubing
    to produce it, I'm a little worried about going ahead.  Basically,
    the decision is one that every DEC customer has to make: the
    technology is changing, and I have to decide whether to wait for
    something new, or go with last year's state-of-the-art.  It's
    a big investment (around $750), so I don't want to go wrong.

    The frame I'm in line for is a Sannino MS (Multishape).  MS uses
    the same steel as Columbus SL and SLX, but models different 
    cross sections specific to each frame component.  The downtube
    is an inverted teardrop, the top tube has an elliptical cross-section,
    etc.  I rode a prototype last summer and loved it.  The weight is
    about the same as SL, but there's more stability -- something I
    miss on my 61cm SL bike.  
    
    So far, so good.  Now, in the year that I've been waiting, Columbus
    has come out with MAX, a tubing fabricated out of a higher carbon
    steel (brand name Nivacrom).  Using this stuff, Columbus can make 
    tubes with much less thickness - .4mm - than normal.  Then they
    increase the diameter at stress points.  What ends up is a kind
    of "steel Cannondale": light and stiff like aluminium, but with 
    the advantages of steel.
    
    This appeals to me, but I've heard folks complain that MAX is TOO
    stiff.  Also, I have to admit my skepticism that this gadget will buy
    me much as a rider (something I've expressed a lot in this
    conference!).  Finally, MS is here -- Sannino hasn't gotten his
    hands on MAX yet.  I very strongly want to work with my local
    builder.  Columbus tends to supply the big makers first, and then
    make the stuff available to small timers.
    
    So any words of wisdom out there?  
    
    
    MATT
     
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1153.1EXIT26::SAARINENTue May 09 1989 19:206
    the perfect bike tubing 
    comes and goes
    but what makes the bike hammer
    are the legs that go round and round
    
    -Lao Tzu Saarinen
1153.2In my defenseCESARE::JOHNSONTruth is stranger than fictionTue May 09 1989 20:4823
    RE: .1
    
    Honest, I agree with you.  The "regular" stuff is good enough for the
    pros.  The only thing that keeps me from joining them is my
    weekend-athlete's body.  As I mentioned in the base note, I'm usually
    one of the first to question the purchase of the latest gadget.  Still
    (he says self-consciously), there are good reasons to be looking at new
    frame.  I've been racing my current one for about 2 1/2 years now.  I'm
    big, and I find that my 61cm SL frame becomes alarmingly "organic" at
    speed and under stress.  It's not going to break or anything, but the
    rear wheel tracks very vaguely at the same points in the road when my
    adrenalin is already peaking. I have enough to worry about in the
    middle of the pack; I'd prefer to have absolute confidence in my frame.
    (The SL is ideal for training, however: it is extremely forgiving on
    rough roads, and I can comfortably ride it all day.  I'm going to keep
    it.) 

    More important than any frame material (but less important than legs)
    is the builder.  I think I've found mine.   MS vs. MAX vs. (ad nauseum)
    is just an expensive qualification of this choice.
    
    
    MATT
1153.3A Bird in the HandBOOKIE::CROCKERThu May 11 1989 19:3810
    Does your builder have any experience with MAX?  New tubing styles
    sometimes have quirks.  Remember how Reynolds would only sell 753
    to licensed builders.  I'm pretty conservative equipmentwise, but
    I'm VERY conservative framewise.  Plus a bird in the hand is worth
    two in the bush.  If your old frame is starting to get squishy,
    why wait any longer for a new one, only to find out that Columbus
    has come out with something even better than MAX next year?
    
    If your builder has never used MAX before, wouldn't it be better
    to go with what he's familiar with, than to be a guinea pig?
1153.4Paramount OSWFOV12::SISEThu May 11 1989 20:0021
    Have you looked into the Paramount OS?  It is a frame built with
    oversize steel tubing.  The write up in the bike mag that I have
    had lots of good things to say about it.
    
    Had I read this artical prior to ordering my Paramount I think I
    would have gone this route.  
    
    The workmanship is perfect, the paint is a work of art (black with
    silver metalflake).  This bike is hand made, and one of the there
    three custom frame builders is a woman (I hope she built mine! she
    has been there quite a while).
    
    The frame alignment issues that were going around a few years ago
    have all been worked out.  They have changed there process, and
    the seat stays are attached later on in there process.  This ensures
    close to perfect alignment.
    
    The artical was well worth reading!
    
    
    John_who's_Paramount_had_to_be_black_and_chrome_to_match_his_HD