Roman Stankus wrote:
> Significant advances in steel tubing alone provide for lighter
> frames. Frame build quality has never been better than now. Why
> deprive yourself - you only go around once. Treat yourself - you
> won't regret it.
There have been metallurgical advances in steel alloys but they can't get around the fact that the structural characteristics of the tubing do not depend on the alloy used. A modern heat-treated or air-hardened tube allows you to build a frame with thinner tubes, but only to a point. The advantage of tubing like Reynolds 853 over say 531 or 753 is not that it can make a lighter frame, but that you can use more efficient manufacturing techniques (e.g. TIG welding) rather than labor-intensive hand brazing.
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John (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA