3 ms·

steel is real! honestly my favorite bikes have been made of steel. they absorb a lot more of the roughness in the road and don't transmit it into your body as m

• chihuahua 3y ago
  Are other materials (e.g. aluminum, titanium, carbon) not real, or not as real as steel? Can you explain in what sense are they less real?
  • whalesalad 3y ago
    it's an expression used by people who like steel bikes. the other materials are indeed real, lol. https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/blog/steel-is-real-but-why-is-it/ https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/blog/steel-is-real-but-why-is...
  • Kon-Peki 3y ago
    People are still salty about the way that steel was pushed out of the market back in the 1990s. Especially in the sub-$1000 category (which was probably 90+% of the market), the aluminum bike that replaced the steel bike at the same price point was a noticeably worse bike, but it looked way cooler (forget the fact that aluminum bikes improved a lot as time went on). The collapse in demand for bike-appropriate steel tubing meant that any laggard bike makers were essentially forced to switch. So now, if you want a steel bike frame, you really only have the lower-end and the very high-end tubing available to you. Basically, steel bikes were killed by fashion trends more than anything else. It's no wonder hipsters love them.
• jackmott42 3y ago
  That is a myth. Material alone doesn't determine this, and modern road bikes are on 28mm tires at ~70psi so this isn't nearly as much of an issue as it was 20 years ago (and it wasn't a real issue then either)
  • whalesalad 3y ago
    A myth? Your butt can tell you immediately that it is not a myth. All other things being equal, a steel frame will feel less harsh than an aluminum or carbon bike.