Richard is right. You could make the tubes out low carbon water pipe and as long as it is STEEL it will have the same modulus of elasticity, and that along with the geometry (wall thickness, etc.) are the ONLY things that determines stiffness of the tubes, which may contribute to the FEEL of the bike to some small extent. The cheap steel may not be as strong which will cause it to yield at a lesser load, or may have lesser fatigue properties which cause it crack earlier in it's life.
Paul Raley Great day to ride to work in southern MD
Richard M Sachs <richardsachs@juno.com> wrote:
>why?
>because they <can>.
>
>steel <IS> steel. one supplier may not have
>the inventory that another may have.
>essentially, pipes of similar diameter and guage
>are the same, irrespective of brand or country
>of origin. this statement applies to the bicycle
>tubing thread, NOT to the steel industry as a whole.
>simply put, VERY simply put, there's no discernable
>difference noticeable to the rider, when choosing
>cro-mo versus manganese-mo, assuming it's
>the same diameter and guage. there's no voodoo
>at work here.
>e-RICHIE
>chester, ct
>
>In a message dated 6/18/2002 6:42:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>richardsachs@juno.com writes:
>
>
>> the weight differences are due to the variables i
>> listed earlier.
>> but don't forget:
>> 531 is a MATERIAL designation, not a particular tube.
>> the <material> comes long, short, thin walled, thick walled,
>> different diameters, butt variations, (heh. heh, heh. he said,
>> "butt"...), and the forks/and seat-chainstays are available
>> in a myriad* of shapes. there is no 'normal' 531 type tubing.
>>
>
>So why do some builders insist on mixing brands if 531 comes(or use to)
>in so
>many variations? It seems like you could build a frame tailored to the
>the
>riders weight and usage it still turn out all Reynolds.
>But maybe I'm over simplifying?
>
>Pete Geurds
>Douglassville, PA
>_______________________________________________
>
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