With all due respect Brian,
I truly believe that there is just a bunch of anecdotal evidence and mis-information concerning constructing a bike frame out of stainless. This concerns drop-outs, braze-ons etc.
I won't harp this anymore after this, as it does not really pertain to this list (although I am under the impression that stainless bike frames have existed far before 1990, anyone have any knowledge of this?)
The fact is that there is nothing inherently wrong with stainless as a material for bicycles. There are an incredible number of alloys, some are poor for this purpose, some could work great. Metax, from Columbus was a very good material. Failures occurred, but only in the TIG welded variety and I believe this to be cause from inadequate welding procedures, not the material.
In the proper alloys it is not heavier, weaker, more brittle than normal high tensile steels. Honestly it mimics Titanium more than standard steels in its toughness and elongation.
Stainless, can be very difficult to braze correctly and for this reason alone it will never be a production material. If it ever came around in some form again, which I doubt it would still be limited to the custom builder who has adequate experience in its fabrication.
Dave Bohm Bohemian Tucson AZ
----- Original Message ----- From: Brian Baylis To: jimmycue@att.net Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 8:45 AM Subject: Re: [CR]Stainless steel bike
Jimmy,
Stainless steel bike bits may sound like a good idea, but the reason it did not catch on is because it probably isn't.
Seems logical, no?
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
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