With all its merits why has steel fallen out of favor? I have a have dozen bike shops within a five mile radius and NOT one will have a steel production bike on the floor, especially one with a steel fork. There are tons of aluminum welded frames, tons of carbon and some Ti. But absolutely no steel. Is it profit? Is it lack of craftsmen? Is modern marketing? When I do dust off my steel rigs and spin around on a club ride, you get the same attention and comments as if you where riding a Penny Farthing. I have pretty think skin so I really don't care what people think or say.
Finally in regards to the exploding carbon frame theorists, I would like to point out during the bike boom there where some real sheet steel frames. Gaps in the lug work, angle problems, alignment problems, poor paint, substandard chrome.......... There are some real sheet carbon frames now too.
So is the only way to get a new decent frame to stand in line at a KOF builder?
Rob Dayton
Charlotte, NC
USA