Small Bike Compromise: Wipe-Out!

This is part 2 of 8. Here is the start!
A quick overview of terms that are important:

  • Fork Rake – Offset that places the fork ends ahead of the steering axis
  • Head Tube Angle – The angle that the frame holds the fork at in relation to the ground (same as steering angle)
  • Trail – The distance that the axle trails the steering axis intersection with the ground
  • Effective Top Tube Length – The measurement from the center of the seat post to the center of the head tube when measured level
  • Reach to Bars – Distance from center of seat to center of handle bar stem
  • Proper Knee Alignment – Adjustment to ensure that your knee is centered over the pedal spindle
  • Seat Tube Angle – The angle of the seat tube in relation to the ground
  • Toe Strike – How much of the foot interferes with turning the front wheel

Wipe-Out!
More detail of Toe Overlap
Compromise 1.) I call this one Wipe-out
Believe it or not, there are manufacturers that say ‘toe-strike’ is not an issue. So, they just build the small bikes to the same handling characteristics as the large bikes. 60mm of trail, 72 degree head tube angle, 40 ~ 45mm or fork rake, 73.5 degree seat angle, 50cm top tube, and toes be dammed. Massive toe strike like the photo shown above in this article is common place with some major race bike manufacturers.

This picture is one I took when the customer brought the bike in because of crash damage. He didn’t know why he crashed, he only know that he had swerved to miss a car door that was opened suddenly in front of him. I’ll bet you can figure out how he crashed. We quit offering bikes built with massive toe-strike because of our money back guarantee. So many people who thought it would be fine, decided that they were not fine with a lot of toe strike and returned the bicycle to us for a complete refund. Nothing speeds up design upgrades like a money back guarantee I’ll tell you!

I urge you to check any bike that you are considering purchasing for acceptable level of toe-strike before you buy it. A 15 minute test ride won’t do either. If you’re going to accept a bunch of toe-strike, you should ride the bike on your regular route a few times before you buy it. As far as I know, we are the only manufacturer who will buy back a bike that the customer is not satisfied with. With most manufacturers, you bought it, it’s yours! There are a lot of women and shorter riders out there that have listed a bike on Craigslist after discovering that they were afraid to ride it because of toe-strike.

Tomorrow: Would manufacturers resort to Trickery?
Find out here!

650c vs 700c

Today’s subject: 650c vs. 700c wheels on smaller bikes

Related Items
Find wider 650c tires at
650biketires.com


See photo galleries of 650c bikes at www.rodbikes.com

A quick word about wheel size: 650c is a smaller size than 700c. It’s a not a huge amount (We get into that in a few days) but it’s certainly visually noticeable when next to each other.

This is a series of eight articles that we’ve put together to explain the challenges that bicycle manufacturers face when building bicycles for petite cyclist with big wheels. It should put to rest several myths by educating you in the area of bicycle geometry as it relates to fit, safety, handling and practicality. These articles may seem basic to those in the industry, but are written for those not in the industry. Over the next several days, we will post, one at a time, the series. Thanks for reading, and I hope the information is helpful for any petite cyclists out there that are being bombarded with conflicting advice.
Now on to the overview and reasons for the series.

The quick overview of this series for those who don’t need massive amounts of info

Although they can be made to look normal, 700c wheels on a small bike always results in one or more unavoidable compromises.

Although 650c wheels allow us to design a smaller bike to handle great and fit comfortably, they do result in a few compromises.

Obviously if there were no downside to 700c on every bike, then that’s all we would offer. But, there are several drawbacks, and that’s why we offer 650c wheels as an option for smaller bikes.

Now, maybe you want to really understand the subject before you commit? Maybe you’re the type that needs to arm yourself with some technical facts before you brave the conversation with ‘the bike expert’. For those of you who really want to have a grasp on the subject, I’ve written more….a lot more.

Who this series is for:

  1. Anyone who is under 5′ 5″ tall (especially women), has long legs, and is shopping for a bicycle.
  2. Anyone who is advising someone who is under 5′ 5″ tall about bicycles and what to look for when selecting the proper size.
  3. Anyone who likes to read nitty gritty details from the mind of a crazed bicycle frame designer who’s spent his entire adult life designing bicycles.

Terms you’ll want to understand for this series:

  • Fork Rake – Offset that places the fork ends ahead of the steering axis
  • Head Tube Angle – The angle that the frame holds the fork at in relation to the ground (same as steering angle)
  • Trail – The distance that the axle trails the steering axis intersection with the ground
  • Effective Top Tube Length – The measurement from the center of the seat post to the center of the head tube when measured level
  • Reach to Bars – Distance from center of seat to center of handle bar stem
  • Proper Knee Alignment – Adjustment to ensure that your knee is centered over the pedal spindle
  • Seat Tube Angle – The angle of the seat tube in relation to the ground
  • Toe Strike – How much of the foot interferes with turning the front wheel
Disclaimer: I’m not trying to sell anyone on a specific wheel size. Realize as you read this series, we are happy to build any size bike with any size wheel. I just want to show why we offer smaller wheels for those who need smaller bikes. We build small bikes with 700c wheels all the time as some people are willing to accept the performance compromises that are unavoidable.

Bike Industry Misinformation
There is a lot of misinformation that is spread throughout the cycling industry about bigger wheels and smaller wheels. There are reasons for this, but this article is about why we do what we do. If you want to delve further into the misinformation I go into that here. For those that have already heard it, and just want to get educated on the subject, read on.

Oh yeah, if someone at a bike shop tells you that 650c wheels are slow (it happens all the time), ask them if you can test ride one of their slow 650c wheel bikes to see for yourself. Chances are, they don’t have any, and probably have never even ridden one. Why would they have ridden a 650 bike if they are over 5’4″ tall? If you’ve been told this, and want to read more on the subject, that’s here.

Why Compromise? Well, sometimes you just have to.

If you ride a modern bicycle with a top tube shorter than 54cm, and the wheel size is 700c, you’re already compromising. This series is to inform you of the compromises that are made throughout the bicycle industry when designing bicycles for riders under 5′ 5″. It is very technical, and ventures into eye glazing geometries. If you read it well, and understand it, you will be more educated in the subject of bicycle design than most folks who actually work in the bicycle industry. My goal is to help the more petite cyclists among us make an educated decision based on physics and truth. Along the way, I’ve linked to some information that will dispel the myths that have been regurgitated for years in bike shops and magazine articles.

A stock frame from another company with 2 inches of toe overlap

Example of toe strike on smaller race bike


A Rodriguez built for the same size rider, with no toe overlap

Example of same size bike with no to strike

So, why do some bike manufactures suggest smaller wheels on smaller bikes?
Short answer: Because they want to offer the petite rider the same performance and comfort as they do the taller rider. It all boils down to something called Toe Overlap or Toe Strike:

If your front wheel overlaps and hits your foot when you turn, this is called ‘toe strike’. The smaller a frame becomes, the closer the front wheel gets to the rider’s foot. A small amount (maybe 1/4″ or so) of ‘toe strike’ can be common on modern race bikes, but more than 1/4″ can be quite a nuisance, or even dangerous, especially if the rider wants to use fenders.

Good Design
A smaller wheel allows us to produce a shorter reach frame with the proper head tube angle for good control while at the same time minimizing any, if not all, toe strike. Using a 700c wheel on a bike with an effective top tube of less than 53cm requires design gymnastics (or in some cases, cheating a little) to keep this from happening. Design gymnastics result in improperly fitted bikes, or bikes that handle poorly.


In the 1980’s smaller high performance bikes had 700c wheels. What happened to those good designs?

The Carbon Age – Now that carbon forks are the norm on just about all competition bikes, they must be purchased from manufacturers who do not offer products with rakes required to accommodate really slack head tube angles. If we could custom make carbon forks one at a time, the way we used to make steel forks, then we could pull this off, and our jobs would be easier.

Trail Mix
Something that most people don’t realize (including many who work in bike shops), is that there are good reasons for the head tube (steering) angle and fork rake as they relate to the handling characteristics of your bicycle. They are entwined with each other, and when one changes, so must the other. The trail number is dependent upon the combination of the two, and ignoring it will result in a bicycle that doesn’t handle properly. The desired trail number for most purposes is 60mm or somewhere very close to it.

If you want to have some real fun, ask your bicycle salesperson “what’s the trail on this bike?”. It’s a good way to determine the experience level of your salesperson.

Why did steel work better?
Steel forks offer much more flexibility for bicycle design. Years ago (1990 and before), we built lots of small bikes with 700c wheels and steel forks. We could change the head tube angle to a more ‘slack’ degree to move the wheel further out in front of the rider and then build the fork with more ‘rake’ to accommodate proper handling. The more ‘slack’ the head tube angle, the more ‘rake’ is required in the fork to maintain the appropriate ‘trail’ number of 60mm. The added rake moved the wheel out even further.

The very best way to put a 700c wheel on a smaller bike in 2012 is the same way that we used to do it in the 1970’s and 1980’s…..use a steel fork. By using a steel fork, we can keep the handling characteristics acceptable, and still build to the proper fit and knee angle.


The things I’ve seen:

Smaller bikes with 700c wheels and modern carbon forks have been made by many manufacturers, and I’ve probably seen them all in the repair shop. The compromises used are many. Here’s a list of the compromised designs I’ve seen:

Really bad option: No compromise, completely ignore proportions
Some manufacturers don’t even pretend. They simply make the small frames with a 54cm top tube, just like their bigger frames. So the reach to the handlebars for a 5′ tall rider is the same as the 5’8″ rider. Many women have ridden this way most of their lives, and they think bicycles just have to be uncomfortable.

I actually appreciate this approach simply because it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. This will provide the proper stand-over height, but a shorter rider’s reach to the bars will be a long trip and a very uncomfortable ride (sore neck, back, arms, shoulders, etc.). Many shorter riders know what I’m talking about as they’ve never been offered a proper fitting bicycle for most of their life.

Now, if you’re of smaller stature or need a top tube length less than 54cm, and you want your bike to fit right, there’s a number of compromises that you can choose from. Some of these compromises are much better than the others, and some are meant to fool you.

Tomorrow’s article:
Wipe-out! Some manufacturers are building dangerous bikes for their petite cyclists.

Click here to continue your study.

Related Items

Pioneers and Profits

Now that bicycles are hugely popular, I’m sure you’ve noticed that a lot of companies are getting into bicycle fitting of some kind or another. If you were to step back in time though, say… 30 years or so, you’d find that only a few very specialized companies had the passion to spend the time and resources to develop bicycle fitting technologies. One of these pioneer companies was, and still is, R+E Cycles right here in Seattle. For 38+ years we’ve been developing fitting technologies to make your cycling experience all it should be.

Next-Fit Logo


You know us for our Rodriguez and Trillium bicycles, but our bicycle lines actually grew out of our fitting techniques. Without the poorly fitting bicycles being sold all over the world, we couldn’t have performed over 50,000+ bicycle fits and collected the data to engineer our NEXT-fit™ Bicycle Fitting Software. Without the machines and experience of building bicycles, we couldn’t have created our NEXT-fit™ adjustable fitting bike. Without the data, and the adjustable bike, we couldn’t have engineered our 15 (now 18) production sizes of Rodriguez bicycles to fit as well as they do.

We are a different kind of bicycle company. Sure we spend time making our bikes light, but probably 90% of our development goes to making our bicycles fit our customers more comfortably. We’ve found that no amount of weight trimming or aerodynamics can replace a comfortable ride when it comes to speed on your bike.

Over the past 35 years, this philosophy has evolved into our own complete fitting system, the NEXT-fit™ system. The system includes software for accurate fitting suggestions for the professional, as well as a plethora of tools for accurate measurements. The crown jewel of the system is the only completely adjustable fitting bike made that can be adjusted by the fitter as the rider is riding.

Most of our customers are not professional racers, but ordinary people who want to enjoy a comfortable, high-end bicycle. It only makes sense to innovate with that in mind.

As a custom bicycle manufacturer (Rodriguez and Trillium), as well as a bicycle shop equipped with a computer programmer and a full machine shop, we have a unique approach to bicycle fitting.

A photographic sample of a NEXT-fit™ session is here.

Pioneering is very expensive, but we think our customers are worth it. That’s why we’ve dedicated huge resources over the years to improve our methods of adjusting bicycles for our customers. We have immediate feedback from thousands of clients, and we can make adjustments to our tooling or software on the fly. If you would like to read more about the NEXT-fit? system, I’ve written oodles of info and it even has its own web site. I’ve got photos of a NEXT-fit? session as well as sample forms that the software creates available for viewing on the site as well.

I’ve written a complete history of bicycle fitting here at R+E Cycles and it’s available here.

Rodriguez Custom Adjustable Fitting Bicycle


Stretch your Budget, not your Chain

Do you change the oil in your car? Most people will change the oil in their car every 3,000 to 4,000 miles as their manufacturer suggests. Why do they do it? It’s still oil when the mechanic drains it out of the engine right? Isn’t it still lubricating the parts inside the engine? But it is still drained out of the engine and brand new oil is poured in it’s place. The reason that the oil should be changed at a certain mileage is simply preventative maintenance. The engine would continue to run on the same oil for 10’s of thousands of miles, but slowly it would wear out, and the engine would become damaged. This is a much more expensive repair than regular oil changes.

The same is true for the chain on your bicycle. The chain on a bicycle is engaging on the gears in the front and rear. The chain is manufactured with exactly 1/2″ of space between each link, and the gears are precisely manufactured to ‘mesh’ with the chain. The chain is under incredible strain because of the force and leverage that a cyclist applies. The chain is also subject to sand and other road grime that collects and acts as an abrasive, wearing away the metal the chain is made of.

Even with these factors, a chain can last for 10’s of thousands of miles just like the oil in your car. But, over time, the chain will stretch. As the chain begins to stretch and is no longer 1/2″ between each link, it wears the metal from the teeth of the gears to match it’s new length. If a chain is allowed to stretch too far, it will wear all of the gears on the bicycle so much that they will not ‘mesh’ with a new chain. If a new chain is installed at this point, the chain will ‘slip’ on most of the worn gears and create a lot of rumbling noise on the others. Often a customer will come in with a chain that is so far stretched that the bike won’t shift well, or the chain may even be broken. At this point, all of the gears have to be replaced and the repair bill is much greater than it would have been if we had just replaced a chain earlier.

Drivetrain close up

What’s the recommendation? On modern bikes we are seeing people get about 1500 – 2000 miles before a new chain is recommended. On a tandem it’s more like 1000 – 1500 miles. I’ve seen some people get 3000 – 4000 miles with minimal stretch, but that’s the exception. I recommend that you start having your shop check your chain stretch at 1500 miles, and then every 500 miles after that. If you replace your chain at the first sign of stretch it will cost you about $30. If you wait until your rear cogs have to be replaced along with your chain it will run approx. $100. And if you wait until your chain just breaks and all of your gears need replacing it will run from $250 to $400 or more.

How many miles are on your chain?

Team Crest-Huffy

‘Steel’ on the road after all these years!

Dennis Bushnell holding a Raleigh 'funny bike' he's just finished buildingDennis in 1984 looking funny, holding an Olympic funny bike

A fleet of Team Crest bikes in Dennis' shop in 1990
Freshly built fleet of Custom Team Crest Bikes hang in Dennis’ shop – 1990


The Team Crest Huffy bike before repair
One of them makes their way back to R+E Cycles in 2011

Dennis Bushnell's signature on the bike's chainstay
Dennis’ signature still in great shape on the chain stay


A crack in the seat stay on the Team Crest Huffy bike

After 2 decades, a small crack has appeared in the super thin tubing


Willy checking seat stay's against the cracked one

Proper tubing is selected to replace the cracked section


A Picture of the repaired frame with no noticable paint damage

After a new seat stay, a little spray paint, the bike is ready for more action!

As you may or may not know, our head frame builder, Dennis Bushnell has long been respected as one of the finest bicycle frame builders in the United States. As long ago as 1984, he was selected to build the bicycles for the U.S. Olympic team.

It was no surprise that in 1990 he was asked to build a fleet of bikes for the Huffy Crest Team. The bikes were ridden by racers like Scott Moninger and others throughout the year. A few weeks ago, one of those frames found its way back to Dennis here at Rodriguez Bicycle company for a small repair.

I thought a quick article demonstrating the longevity of steel as a bicycle frame material was in order. Here’s a lugged steel frame that was built as light as possible for its day, and designed only to be raced professionally for a year. It certainly served that purpose, but then spent twenty more years on the road before a small crack developed.

The frame weighs just 3 pounds 14 ounces verified on a digital scale. For a 1990 frame, this is incredibly light. Now, I will say that there were plenty of aluminum and carbon bikes that weighed in just under 4 pounds in 1990 as well. Something to consider: How many of those world class carbon or aluminum frames built in 1990 do you see still on the road after being professionally raced? How many of them are on the road for 20 years? How many of them could be easily repaired and back on the road if they cracked? It’s just worth considering if you’re looking to ride your expensive custom bike for 20 years plus.

After selecting an appropriate new seat stay, we were able to repair the bike fully with very minimal damage to the classic paint job. This is just one of the beautiful things about a high quality steel frame. Even a high-performance steel frame built super light, can still be repaired decades down the road.


Bushnell, the Eccentric King!

Patent GraphicOur patent has been issued!
(To clarify, An eccentric bottom bracket is a part that is used to adjust the chain tension on any bicycle that has no derailleurs. Track bikes, Rohloff bikes and the chain between captain and stoker on tandems are the most common uses.)

How long does it take to get a patent? Apparently about 4 years.

Way back in early 2007 or so, we began the patent process for the now patented Bushnell® Eccentric bottom bracket. I didn’t know how long it would take, but as of December 6th, 2011 we have our patent! The patent number is U.S. Patent No. 8,070,633.

We’re thrilled to finally have the patent process completed. Production of this ingenious Dennis Bushnell creation continues uninterrupted. We manufacture several thousand of these each year right here in Seattle at the Rodriguez shop. It’s a true American manufacturing success story that’s seldom heard of anymore. We actually ship these parts to companies all over the world, including to Taiwan. That’s right! An American made bicycle part being shipped to Taiwan for use in bicycles.

The benefits of this light-weight, versatile design have been known throughout the tandem world for a long time. Now, with the onslaught of Rohloff equipped bikes and single speed bikes, the Bushnell® has really taken it’s position at the top of the industry! Congratulations to Dennis Bushnell on creating a design that is worthy of patenting!

I realize that the eccentric is a very specialized part, and not everyone wants to wade that deep into the muck, but I thought all of you would be interested in the fact that we now have a patent, and the parts will still be made in the U.S.A.

If you are hungry for knowledge though, and you’d like to read more about the Bushnell® eccentric (oh I’ve got more believe me), and why it’s the number one item in its class, read on.

Eccentric Thoughts from Rodriguez Bicycle Company.

Who Cares About Eccentric Bottom Brackets?


Rohloff, Tandem or Single Speed bike riders should.

Each week, I get dozen’s of emails asking if they can upgrade their existing bicycle to our patented Bushnell® Eccentric Bottom Bracket. These are from people who’ve bought expensive single speed bikes, Rohloff equipped bikes, or tandems that use eccentric bottom brackets (referred to as EBB throughout this article). As they have examined their bike, they’ve discovered the fact that their bike came stock with an EBB that was designed in the the Fred Flinstone era. While this may have saved their frame builder a hundred dollars or so, it has no benefit for them, and actually makes their bike heavier, and harder to use. They discovered our design on-line, and want to know if they can retro-fit one into their custom bicycle. Most of the time, it is possible, but sometimes the bottom bracket shell that is used is too small to fit any EBB into the bike except for the one that came with it:-( For this reason, it’s important for you to find this out before you order your new frame.

In this article, I aim to help customers understand the different designs, so they can steer their frame builder to the eccentric that works best, not just the cheapest option. As a customer, it’s up to you to educate yourself on the different styles, and then ask your builder to use the one you want before the frame is built. Otherwise, they will usually choose the cheapest option. It’s an easy place to skimp if your customer doesn’t know any better right? Customer education has always been our friend here at Rodriguez Bicycles, and here’s a new area to focus on.


Note: All of the designs mentioned in this article, including the Bushnell®, are available to every frame builder through their standard frame building supply companies. Any reputable frame builder is able to build your frame to accept any design, but you have to express your preference.

The Bushnell® EBB


The Patented Bushnell® EBB is the most popular design on the market today.


The Bushnell® EBB is self contained. It does not rely on parts welded to the frame to hold it’s adjustment.

This is a product that we manufacture right here in our
shop in Seattle
. We ship them all over the world, and have distributors in England, Germany, and large accounts in Taiwan and Japan. Just last week I was notified that our patent will issue on December 6th, 2011! I thought an article about why this product exists, and why it’s better, was long overdue. There are several things that make the Bushnell® unique, but lets focus on the benefits to the user.

Safer Design:
The first benefit is the fact that the design does not use parts welded to the frame to hold it’s adjustment. That means if you get a little heavy handed, ‘reef’ to hard on the bolt and strip the threads, you’ve just stripped a nut, but have not damaged your frame. Every year we upgrade several people to Bushnell® EBBs after they’ve stripped the threads in their frame. Sometimes we even get a call from other bike manufacturers trying to help one of their own customers who’ve stripped their frame.

Ease of adjustment:
As you read through this article, you see that there are many eccentrics on the market, but only one Bushnell®. The Bushnell® was designed by Dennis Bushnell, our head frame builder, to address all of the design drawbacks of the other designs, and ease of adjustment was key. A 4mm alan wrench is all that is required to adjust your chain tension when you are using a Bushnell®. No hammers required (yes some require a hammer).

Light Weight
Although we’re not complete weight freaks, a lot of customers want the best performance and the lightest weight option. The Featherweight Bushnell® EBB is that answer at just 140grams. This is why it is used as the standard on light-weight tandems and other bikes in the industry.



There are massive differences between a $15 eccentric and a $160 eccentric

The Mark
(set pin) design ebb







Mark leaves terrible divots in your ebb, making accurate adjustment almost impossible.


Benefits: Extremely inexpensive

Drawbacks: Harder to use, and not very reliable.

The first $15 option we’ll call Mark. Mark is a good name, because the design forces sharpened ‘set’ pins into a solid block of aluminum and leaves ‘marks’ all over it. I guess we could call it Scratch or Gouge, but Mark sounds more like a real name. It always finds it’s mark again, even though you’re trying to adjust it.

The eccentric itself is just a solid block of aluminum that the user rotates in the bottom bracket shell welded into the frame. The frame builder welds nuts onto the outside of the frame on the bottom bracket shell. You will use a wrench to drive the set pins through the nuts, and into the aluminum EBB. Once the hardened steel pins have created a deep divot into the softer aluminum EBB, it’s very hard to make a fine adjustment because the pins always try to turn the ebb right back to the divot.

Aside from being very difficult to use, the Mark design has very little surface contact so is the most likely to slip out of adjustment. This is because the amount of contact bewteen the frame and the aluminum ebb is very little. The set pins drive the unit against the top of the frame’s bottom bracket, so the points of contact are about 25% at the top, and the set pins themselves.

As if this is not enough, the Mark design is often rendered useless when a rider over-tightens a set pin and breaks the welded nut right off of the frame. The good news about the Mark design is that a Bushnell® EBB usually drops right in and works beautifully.


Here’s an example
of a custom titanium frame rescued with a Bushnell EBB. Every month we sell several Bushnell EBBs to customers who have the Mark design in their frame. I’m very surprised at how many manufacturers still use the Mark design in their $4,000+ bicycles.


Enter Evolution:

Modified Mark uses a ‘pinch bolt system’




The second $15 option we’ll call modified Mark, as it’s really just an improved version of Mark. This is a design that we used to use ourselves way back in the mid 1980’s when it was the best option. It’s pretty much the same solid block of aluminum, but the frame has been cut, or slotted, where it holds the ebb and then a pinch bolt system has been brazed or welded onto the frame. When the pinch bolts are tightened, the frame ‘closes up’ around the aluminum ebb and holds it into place.

The Good News
The pinch bolt design holds it’s adjustment better than Mark because of the fact that there is full contact all the way around the aluminum EBB. It also doesn’t gouge ‘memory’ marks into the EBB so you can more easily make micro-adjusments.

The Bad News
Other than it’s relatively heavy weight, there are a few other drawbacks to this design. The biggest drawback is the fact that, like the Mark design before it, the bicycle frame is used as the method to actually hold the adjustment and not the EBB component itself. This means that if the pinch bolt breaks off of the frame, or the threads are stripped out, the fix is not an easy one, but one that requires frame work and re-painting. The next drawback is the fact that since the frame is split at the bottom bracket, an expanding design like the Bushnell® will not work in the frame unless frame modifications are made.



Let’s step forward to 1990 or so


The 1990’s brought the
split/wedge design



Adjustment required
know-how and a hammer


Here I am adjusting a Rodriguez tandem customer’s chain ‘on-the-road’ during the
1995 Tandem Rally


I can’t remember if it was the late 1980’s or the early 1990’s, but around that time Cannondale came up with a good design that we started to use instead of modified Mark.

We liked the design because it didn’t use threaded parts welded awkwardly to the frame to hold the adjustment, but was a self-contained unit. This meant that the frame was safe from the gorilla type torque that bike mechanics often applied to eccentric bottom brackets.

The design was similar to a handlebar stem with a wedge and a bolt that pulled the wedge into position tight against the bottom bracket shell. There was very good friction between the parts and the adjustment held extremely well. The design was heavy like the others, but all in all was nice looking in the frame, and kept the frames safe.

It was not without it’s problems though. The Cannondale wedge design required a very specific method to loosen it when you needed to adjust the chain. That technique? Hammering! “Woooh, wait a minute! Are you going to use that hammer on my bike?” Was a phrase anxiously hollered by customers watching me preparing to make an adjustment to their expensive tandem.

The design was not intuitive for most bike mechanics either. When you break a stem loose, you hit the stem bolt with a hammer, not the actual stem. For this reason, most bike mechanics who hadn’t seen one of these before, usually took a good ‘whack’ at the bolt after loosening it up like they would on a stem. Well, this would not loosen the eccentric, but rather drive the threads right out of the special nut required for the eccentric. I spent many hours on the phone (and still do) explaining to mechanics how to get one of these out of a bike after you’ve stripped the nut.

A better design was needed for expensive tandems.


That answer came in the form of the Bushnell® EBB.



The Patented Bushnell® EBB is the most popular design on the market today.


The Bushnell® EBB is self contained. It does not rely on parts welded to the frame to hold it’s adjustment.

Well we’ve come full circle. The patented Bushnell® EBB was designed by Dennis to specifically address every drawback in all of the above designs. It remains to this day the best selling EBB on the market. There is no substitute for the quality of engineering and construction of this American made product.

With the rise of popularity in single speed bikes and Rohloff equipped bikes (we’re the biggest Rohloff builder in the U.S.A.), the eccentric bottom bracket has new life. Dennis originally designed our EBB for tandems, and that’s why we have a big head start on every other manufacturer of EBBs. The fact that ours was in development for years means that you’re getting a product that’s tried and true. This goes for any bike that needs an EBB.

We stand behind the Bushnell® EBB just like we stand behind everything we make. When a Bushnell® EBB customer emails us for help, their talking directly to the folks that have designed, manufactured and assembled that part. Remember, demand the best for your custom bike. We think you’ll agree, that the Bushnell® EBB is that choice.

If you’d like to read an evolutionary history of the eccentric bottom bracket, click here.

Rediscovering Steel Race Bikes

Outlaw Guy Head Outline
If you’re curious about the specs on the bike mentioned in this article, here you go!

Another Convert

Dan – October 2011

Today while I was writing the Outlaw web page, a customer (let’s call him Steve) brought in his Cervelo R3 carbon bike for a new rear wheel and some various other work. Little did he know he was in for the ride of his life! You see, while we were gathering up the parts and building the wheel, Scott asked him if he still wanted to ride today? He said that he wanted to, but the bike wasn’t cooperating. It was a slow day in the shop, so Scott offered to loan him a bike for the afternoon. The customer agreed.

The bike that we loaned him was a Rodriguez Outlaw made with S3 tubing. This is a bike that is comparable in price and weight, and happened to have the same SRAM Red parts group that Steve had on his Cervelo R3.

Well, Steve road about 50 feet down the street and then back up again. “OMG!” he said, “this thing is incredible”. Scott made some final adjustments and told Steve to make sure and ride some hills that he was used to while he was out. “I’d like to know how it stacks up against the Cervelo R3” said Scott. The truth be told, we already knew how it stacked up.

Fast forward about 45 minutes and Steve rolls back up on the Outlaw. He said “I’m getting one of these!”. He decided that he would get the wheel now, and ride the Cervelo for a few more months. Then he took off down the road on the Cervelo.

Not so Fast?

Well, months turned into minutes as Steve is being fit for his Outlaw frame as I write this. Turns out 5 minutes on the Cervelo and he said to himself “I can’t ride this thing anymore”. He turned around, came right back to the shop, and ordered his Rodriguez Outlaw.

This is not the first time that we’ve had a customer make a conversion this fast, but since I was right in the middle of writing the Outlaw web page while this was going on, I thought an article was in order.

I’ve said over and over that a person really has to experience this bike. Even if you already own an expensive carbon bike, the Rodriguez S3 Outlaw is still a bike that you will find worth trying. I cant’s stress it enough… It’s THAT GOOD! It’s as light or lighter than his Cervelo, it’s faster than his Cervelo, and most importantly, it’s much more fun to ride that his Cervelo. If you want to see why Steve, and so many others have abanDoned their expensive carbon bike after riding one these, I dare you to give it a try.


Steve's new, lightweight Rodriguez S3
Update November, 2011 – Steve’s Bike looses 1/4 pound!

Now the bike is finished and Steve is enjoying it. The total weight of the bike is 4 ounces lighter with the steel Rodriguez Outlaw frame than it was with the Cervelo R3! The Cervelo was a very respectable 15.5 pounds, but the same parts on a Rodriguez Outlaw frame/fork weighs in at just 15.25 pounds. That’s even including a heavier saddle! Not only is Steve going to be more comfortable, he’s riding a lighter bike now. Not to mention how sweet his Outlaw looks! Seeing is believing….. click here.

To view the complete ultra-light steel bike race gallery here.

A lot of people ask me “how’d you do that?” when they lift one of our steel bikes. It’s hard from them to believe that a steel bicycle frame can be as light, or lighter than a carbon fiber frame. The fact is that we’ve been doing this for almost 40 years. Dennis Bushnell has tremendous experience in the field of building lightweight steel frames. Although the steel has evolved over the last several decades, our methods have too. Our frames are differenct because of that experience. If you think you might be like Steve, and want to try one of our ulrta-light steel bikes, give us a call at 206-527-4822 or shoot me an email today.


Material World – Steel, Carbon, Aluminum bike frames…which is the best?

Material World
(this article was run in four parts in The Bicycle Paper through the summer of 2009)

Penny Farthing Bike

Ever since I can remember, bicycle makers have tried to find the ‘perfect’ material to build a bicycle frame that was the lightest, safest, most comfortable, durable, responsive frame ever made. In short, they’re looking for the ‘Miracle Material’. In today’s high-end bicycle frame market, customers will often decide on a brand of bicycle based on the material the frame is made from. There’s steel, titanium, carbon fiber and aluminum. There’s certainly others like bamboo, magnesium, etc., but we’ll try to limit this article to the four most commonly used in today’s bicycle frames. Which one is best? What are the differences?

If you know me, then you know that first and foremost I think that a good fitting bicycle is the most important factor, and things like components or frame material are always second to that. That being said, there is a lot of information and opinions that a bicycle shopper is exposed to when discussing a new frame. Keep in mind that I’m no engineer, and I’m not going to pretend to be one. We have been designing, making, selling and repairing bicycles full time here in Seattle for several decades now. I have been riding, building, selling, fixing, destroying, customizing and loving bicycles since I was given my first one at the age of 6. It is from these experiences that I draw on to write an article like this one.

You’ll notice that when I refer to weights, I refer to things I’ve actually weighed. This is because I find that most manufacturers either have poorly calibrated scales or they…..well….stretch the truth a bit. It’s kind of like my Uncle Earl and his ‘Fish that got away’.

I’ve been trying to decide the best way to analyze this topic without delving so deep that the entire issue will be consumed by my ramblings, and I think I’ve come up with some relevant filters.

I don’t think I have the time here to compare every price range, so we’ll limit this article to higher end and custom frames….let’s say frames that cost over $1,000. We can also filter out the mass-produced frames from Asia (that could be a book long analysis in and of itself).

We’ll compare cost, durability (longevity), versatility, repairability, and the all important ‘ride quality’, of the four common materials. I’ll also throw in a little ‘wrap-up’ section at the end.


Aluminum:

Very quick history:
Aluminum has been used in bicycle manufacturing since the 1890’s. A quick Google search for aluminum bicycles of the 1900’s will turn up very modern looking bicycles from the 1930’s made with aluminum frames and aluminum forks. Aluminum has the advantage of ‘no paint needed’ if you like that aircraft industrial look.

Aluminum Peugot from the middle of the 20th century

Peugeot aluminum bicycle circa mid 1900’s
Photo – blackbirdsf.org

When I was kid, all bikes were steel. Not just any steel though, they were really, really heavy steel. It wasn’t until the mid 1970’s that Vitus and Alan introduced aluminum frames that I lusted after. These frames resembled conventional frames but had anodized finishes instead of paint and were very light weight (in comparison to the steel frames of that day). The ride was very soft, and worked best for riders who were of lighter weight, and rode with very high cadences.

About that same time, Gary Klein came out with a new aluminum frame that used super fat tubes and a neon painted finishes. It looked completely different than any frame I’d ever seen before. In the 1980’s, Cannondale followed suit, and the oversized aluminum craze took off!

Eventually, these oversized aluminum beasts gained a reputation of being so stiff that they were uncomfortable to ride. This was my experience when I commuted almost 40 miles 3 days per week on one of these frames for nearly 2 years. Soon, riders were running for the Ibuprofen, and scheduling appointments with their bike fitters.

Modern day aluminum:
While in the 1980’s customers thought of aluminum as expensive and lightweight, today, the story is very different. Just as any great thing eventually turns into a fad, heavy, huge, fat aluminum frames have pretty much taken over the lower end bicycle market. Just because it’s made of aluminum does not make it light. One visit to Toys-R-Us to lift the 40 pound aluminum monsters will prove that. There are still however some light weight, high-end, custom aluminum offerings. We also build a lot of the super long bikes (triples, quads, and quints) from aluminum.

Expect a high-end, light weight aluminum frame to be 3 pounds or a little more. On occasion I’ve weighed one in under 2.5 pounds, but those are usually very small sizes and very expensive custom frames.

Cost:
Custom light-weight aluminum frames can be built for a fairly reasonable price. Expect to pay $2,000 to $3,000 for a custom aluminum frame with fork built to your specifications.

For a custom builder, it takes more time to weld an aluminum frame, and the aluminum ends up costing a bit more to mitre and shape as it clogs the equipment faster than steel. It also has to be heat treated after welding, adding to the time and cost. These extra costs show up in the retail price of custom aluminum frames, but the actual material is relatively inexpensive.

Durability (longevity):
Warranties vary on aluminum frames. Some companies offer lifetime warranties, and some offer just one year warranties. I feel that most aluminum frames are very durable, and will last a very long time. Although, over-sized aluminum does have a very non-forgiving characteristic – if it is over-stressed or cracked, it can fail very abruptly. Because of this characteristic, it is important to inspect aluminum frames after an accident for any sign of cracking or stress, even if the bike rides perfectly. Some manufacturers put a warning sticker right on the frame advising the owner to inspect frequently for cracks.

The super light aluminum bikes will not last forever, and aren’t advertised that way. On the other hand, I see a lot of the old original Cannondale and Klein frames still on the road after all these years. As a matter of fact I saw one of those original 1983 ~ 1984 Cannondale bikes in the repair shop for a tune-up just yesterday. I also have a neighbor that rides his Vitus aluminum frame as his daily commuter, so I’d have to say that aluminum as a material can have a very long life span if not damaged.

Versatility:
When building a custom frame, aluminum is a versatile material. It’s available in many weights for different riding styles and rider weights. When building extremely long bikes like a triple or a quad, aluminum offers a light-weight, reasonably priced alternative to steel. After the frame is built and heat treated though, that’s where the versatility ends.

Aluminum machines easily, and is readily available in our area so it’s easy enough for us to machine any frame fitting or dropout that’s not available to order.

Repairability:
Repainting an aluminum bike is always possible. It’s more labor intensive than steel because paint has to be chemically stripped off of aluminum. Since we don’t offer chemical stripping services, our aluminum bike customers….well they’ll have to do the stripping themselves.

As far as frame repairing goes, aluminum is not very repairable. After it’s welded, an aluminum frame must be heat treated. Once it’s been heat treated, further structural welding will weaken the frame. Sometimes very small things can be fixed, but if something crucial breaks or bends, the frame is done for.

If you wind up in a pinch somewhere, you’re probably not going to get your aluminum frame repaired.

Ride Characteristics:
For the most part, oversized aluminum frames are very stiff and unforgiving. You’ll get good transfer of power through the cranks to the wheel, but suffice to say that the ‘thud’ sound you hear if you flick the frame with your finger nail, is the same ‘thud’ sound you’ll feel when riding on pavement or bumps. You’ll feel the road transferred to your ‘contact points’ through a very unforgiving frame.

Tight corners on bumpy roads will require more slowing down for control purposes as the bike can ‘bounce’ or ‘rattle’ out of the groove if your not careful.

Not to characterize all modern aluminum bikes the same though, Scandium aluminum from Easton claims to ride more like a steel frame. I’ve ridden a Scandium frame that was my size, and it rode much nicer than my other oversized aluminum frame, but I wouldn’t say it had the liveliness of steel.


Carbon Fiber:

My brief (and rather limited) history with carbon bicycle frames:

First, a bit of mythbusting:
Most people think of carbon frames as fairly new to the industry as well as being ‘uber light-weight’. Fact is, there are some very light carbon frames out there, but no lighter than the ‘uber light-weight’ offerings in aluminum, titanium or even steel. If weight is important to you, then it’s important to actually weigh a frame yourself on a digital scale before you buy it.

I’ve been turning my office upside down this morning looking for one my old Bicycling magazines that had a picture of an old Rodriguez graphite (carbon) frame. Low and behold, in an old dusty filing cabinet behind a wooden dresser in the warehouse, I finally found it. I had to page through many of my old magazines to find it, but that was fun too.

Here it is straight from Bicycling Magazine, November of 1975, a Rodriguez Carbon track frame. For those of you who wonder if we’ve ever built carbon bikes here in Seattle, the answer is yes. Note: (Even the 1975 photos were provided by The Bicycle Paper.)

1970's Carbon Fiber Race Bike

Angel Rodiguez hand-built Carbon Frame – 1975

Photo From Nov. 1975 Bicycling Magazine

Dennis, our head frame builder (through 2012), also built a pair of carbon fiber tandems for a world record setting ride back in 1987.

Now, I’m not quite as old as those guys (I was 10 when Angel built that frame), so my history with carbon fiber goes back to the early 1980’s when I worked a summer at a Peugeot/Schwinn dealer. They had an extremely expensive Peugeot that was made from carbon fiber, but I wasn’t allowed to ride it. I never saw anyone ride it actually, but it sure looked cool on the top rack in the shop. Every time I see one of those Peugeots I kind of want it, more because of it’s looks than anything else.

In the late 1980’s I started work here at R+E Cycles. We sold Kestrel carbon frames that were roughly 3 times the price of a nice steel frame at the time. The design was much more like the modern molded and shaped carbon bikes. By comparison, these frames were much lighter than steel (at that time), as well as the aluminum Cannondale and Klein frames that we sold.

During this time, I ran the repair department, and we assembled all of the upper-end bikes. I got to ride Kestrel frames on several occasions, but really never rode one more than 5 minutes at a time. The ride of these frames was not attractive to me, and I could only describe them as ‘dead’. I would say that the ride was as dead as an oversized aluminum frame, but for the rider looking for the lightest frame they could get, this was the best option if they could afford it.

Modern day carbon frames:
Like aluminum, carbon went from being the ‘untouchable’ super light frame on the top rack to a more affordable version. The ‘uber light’ versions are still very expensive, but Taiwan and China are now cranking out heavier, less expensive carbon frames in record numbers. I have never ridden a carbon frame that made me want to buy one, so my experience is limited to that of my customers who do have them.

Carbon as a material is pretty versatile because it can be molded into just about any shape that you want it to be. Then those shapes can be used to add strength where needed. It has a very strong strength to weight ratio, and is replacing aluminum in a lot of aircraft manufacturing.

I’ve seen carbon frames advertised at 2 pounds, but on my digital scale those same frames weighed 2.5 pounds. When we checked into the discrepancy, we found that the advertised weights did not include the bottom bracket shell or the dropouts. Most people want to have their cranks and wheels attach to their bicycle, so we always quote weights that include the bottom bracket shell and the dropouts. 😉

Cost:
Custom carbon fiber frames are pretty expensive. Mass produced production models have become affordable over the last few years, but in the world of custom bikes, expect to pay about $2,500 to $5,000 for a custom carbon fiber frame with fork built to your specifications.

Durability (longevity):
This was an interesting quote that I came across while researching for this article.

“DO CARBON FRAMES LAST?
Yes. [Our] frames are guaranteed for five years of racing and training use. When the primary consideration is performance, carbon is the only choice. If you really need your frame to last for fifty years, buy a steel one.”

Believe it or not, it is a quote from a major carbon frame manufacturer from the FAQ section of their website. I think it is worth pointing out that the frame in question here is a $4,000 frame, and the manufacturer thinks that 5 years is a reasonable life for such an expense. Let’s see….$4,000 over 5 years (60 months) = $67 per month. The warranty excludes damages from “extremes of temperature, or the effects of UV light”. Isn’t that sunlight? OK, we don’t have to worry about that one here in Seattle 😉

I also strongly disagree with the statement ‘carbon is the only choice for performance’. This is obviously a very un-researched opinion. Maybe they need to read this article;-)

What my personal experience says about the durability of carbon frames is that when they fail during an impact, it usually looks catastrophic. On one occasion a customer brought her broken frame in for me to see. The frame actually had broken in half after she hit a curb. The 2 halves were separated completely, and the customer broke her collar bone so she was in pretty rough shape. The frame was probably 10 years old, and she did hit a curb going fast, so a frame failure is not surprising. However, this failure was much more dramatic than I’ve seen on aluminum, titanium or steel frames under any rider accident circumstance.

She replaced that carbon frame with a steel frame.

Side note:
I have heard of an occasional aluminum frame breaking in this same catastrophic fashion, but due to defective welding, and not due to age, accidents, or damage from the sun. In those cases, the frames were virtually new, and failed under normal use…not that that’s any comfort ;-(

As far as longevity of carbon frames, I don’t see a lot of old carbon frames out there. Certainly the ones from the 1970’s and 1980’s are very, very rare to see. The occasional old Kestrel rolls in for some work in our repair shop, but for the most part I can’t say how long a carbon frame will last if ridden all the time. I can tell you that the company quoted above thinks that 5 years is a long time for a carbon frame to last. I know that some manufacturers do warranty their carbon frames for 25 years, and some for life, but if you look real close you’ll find that there is still some planned obsolescence in a few of those warranties. To explain that understandably, I’d have to delve into proprietary parts manufacturing and that’s a whole article in and of itself.

I think all in all I want to see a number of old carbon steeds that have been used as commuter bikes for maybe 20 years or so before I can recommend carbon as a very durable custom frame material.

Versatility:
Modern carbon frames that are mass produced are built with a mold. This isn’t a cost effective way to build a custom frame as the molds cost a lot money to make. So, for a frame built especially to your dimensions, the frame is built in a different fashion. Custom carbon frames are built kind of like the one pictured in this article from 1975. The tubes are cut and mitered, and then attached together. Some are glued into lugs, but most modern frames are wrapped with carbon fiber fabric and then coated with an adhesive resin.

I think that the versatility of carbon fiber has a lot of promise. As far as custom frame building goes, there’s not a lot of small bicycle frame shops that are insured and set up to build or repair carbon frames. In modern times, we’ve used a few carbon rear triangles upon request., but these are pre-fabricated. Apart from that, we haven’t found the need to switch to the material as customers don’t come to us often for carbon.

Repairability:
Every year I have customers who would like to have me paint their carbon frame. Some carbon manufacturers will void their warranties if the frame is re-painted because most methods of removing the old paint will cause structural harm. Sometimes we’ve painted carbon frames but more times than not, we can’t do it. We won’t remove old paint from carbon frames with chemicals or heat, so paint removal can be very costly. In short, if you’re a person who likes to have their bike painted different colors once in a while, don’t buy a carbon frame.

As far as fixing a broken carbon frame, like I said before when I’ve seen a carbon frame fail it was always something that looked unrepairable. I have a friend whose dog chewed through his carbon frame and he did have it repaired successfully. But, the repair was in a non-crucial area of the frame, and the work is kind of bulky and obviously a repair.

Again, there’s not a lot of frame shops insured and set up to fix carbon fiber bicycle frames, as most of the carbon frame manufacturers are overseas. So, at this point anyway, I would agree with the carbon frame company that I quoted above and say that carbon frames aren’t really meant to last forever.

If you wind up breaking your carbon frame, you’re probably going to need a new one.

Riding characteristics:
Carbon frames have evolved a lot since the 1970’s (so have aluminum , steel and titanium frames for that matter). There are carbon frames designed to ride smoothly, and there are carbon frames designed to be lightweight. Since I haven’t ridden one that made me excited enough to buy one, I will have to speak from my customer’s experiences on this topic. I would say that for the most part, modern carbon frames are reported to ride more comfortably than oversize tube aluminum bikes. Most of my customers prefer the ride of steel or titanium frames to the carbon frames, but I do have a few customers who prefer carbon.

Our head frame builder, Dennis, originally built his steel S3 frame with a carbon rear triangle, but after a year, replaced the rear triangle with an S3 steel rear end. The steel rear triangle was lighter than the carbon one, and he reported an increase in both hill climbing power and responsiveness.


Titanium (ti)

If you would’ve asked me 10 years ago to make a bet on the preferred frame material of 2009, I would’ve said it would be titanium. Titanium has been used for high-end bicycles since the 1970’s (and probably earlier if one did some looking). It only took me about 5 minutes to come up with this advertisement from August 1975 for a ti frame that was going to ‘change the world of cycling forever’. Titanium rides great, doesn’t need paint, plus the sun won’t damage it.

Titanium frame ad from 1975

In August 1975, this advertisement
appeared in Bicycling Magazine

Early titanium frames proved to be a disappointment for me as the metal is so strong that the frames can be built too light. Too light, you ask? Yes, too light. Ti is very strong, but also very springy. I remember getting some titanium tubes for $1 each at Boeing surplus and setting one across a pair of milk crates. I could jump up and down on the thin-walled, super light tube to bend it several inches, but it would spring back every time. No matter how hard I jumped, the tube wouldn’t bend to it’s ‘crumple’ point (technical bike shop terminology). Well, when a bicycle frame is built from titanium to it’s ultimate ‘light-weightness’ (more bike shop technical terminology) so to speak, it acts like this thin-walled tube. This results in a frame that’s very light, but rides like a wet noodle. My first experience on a ti bike was an ‘uber light’ frame in the 1980’s. This colored my judgement until I rode a heavier Merlin ti frame in the late 1990’s.

Note:
Titanium didn’t take off like I thought it would as steel evolved so much that we can now build steel frames that ride great and are lighter than 3 pounds. That darn evolution, I didn’t take that into account.

Modern titanium frames:
We offered ti frames in the late 1980’s for a short time. We only recently started offering them again (back by popular demand).

You can still find some ‘uber light’ ti frames advertised out there, and even see a few of them on the road. Most ti frames however, are built around 3 pounds or so and ride very much like a high-end steel frame. Although it’s completely possible to build a ti frame well below that, if you’re my weight, height and riding style you’ll prefer a ti frame that’s 3 ~ 3.25 pounds….or 2.5 pounds if weighed by Uncle Earl 😉

Cost:
Well, I would say that titanium is on par with carbon fiber as far as custom frame pricing goes. Expect to pay $2,500 to $4,000 for a custom made titanium frame and fork built to your specifications.

Ti is difficult to machine, and requires a lot of extra steps to be taken during welding. The material is not as readily available as steel or aluminum, and is much more expensive to purchase. When you purchase a ti frame, you’re paying for twice the labor as a steel frame. The materials run about three times that of a high-end steel frame.

Durability:

A little more mythbusting:
In the bike industry, most people think of titanium as indestructible. While I believe that titanium is the most durable of all modern bicycle frame materials, it’s not completely indestructible like many people think it is. This winter alone, we’ve fixed three cracked titanium road bike frame of various makes. Some of the cracks were due to extreme circumstances, but some were just from regular wear and tear. As far as misalignment goes though, the material has such a memory that it’s very difficult to bend it out of shape permanently.

I would expect a ti frame to last forever. They’ve been around since at least the 1970’s, and I have no horror stories to report. When they break, they break like a steel fame. A tube might break at the welding point, but I have never seen a ti frame break in half and result in a catastrophic failure.

Versatility:
Ti is a versatile material to work with, but it’s limited availability and difficulty to machine, result in compromised aesthetics in my opinion. If my prediction would’ve come true, there would be hundreds of different dropouts and tubing manufacturers vying for our custom business, but that just wasn’t meant to be. Even so, I would consider titanium a versatile material that is great for just about any type of bicycle as long as the rider doesn’t mind paying a higher price.

Repairability:
There’s probably more frame shops in the U.S. insured and set-up to repair titanium frames than there are carbon shops, but the number is still very limited. We have been able to fix the ti frames that come to us for repair, but the ease of the job is somewhat limited to the materials available. For instance, if we need a certain diameter of ti tube to maintain the look of the bike, and that diameter is not available, then we have to improvise. This can result in a different look, maybe even a “wow has that been repaired?” look, but none the less it’s fixed.

As long as you are in a fairly large modern city, you can probably get your ti frame repaired if needed. Otherwise, your trip is going to be cut short.

Riding characteristics:
If the frame is built heavy enough for the rider, then the riding characteristics are fantastic. Ti frames ride smooth and responsive and stable. If the frame is too light (which is possible on a ti frame) then the ride is like a wet noodle. We have lots of customers who ride ti and love it.

Titanium and steel are my personal favorites for ride characteristics.


Steel

Steel has been used for making bicycle frames forever. No need to really go into the history here, as I’m sure just about everyone reading this has had a steel frame at least once in their past. Many people associate steel bicycle frames with ‘heavy’ because of the 50 pound Schwinn Varsity that they rode in high school. While it’s true that a steel bike can be very heavy, I’ve also shown that an aluminum bicycle can be very heavy as well. What it boils down to is cost. A cheap bike is heavy no matter what it’s made of. Steel bicycle frames can be as light as a $4,000 carbon fiber frame, and lighter than a $4,000 ti frame. Steel technology has evolved just like carbon, aluminum and ti has.

When I bought my first racing bike, it was a Peugeot steel frame equipped with all French components. It was light, but the frame was probably 5 pounds. I rode high-end steel bikes until I went the Cannondale route for a few years. I loved the ride of my steel Reynolds 531 Peugeot and I still have the frame hanging in the shop if you want to drop by and see it. I got it back from my step father whom I’d sold it to, and I’m waiting to have Teresa do a full paint restoration.

Steel bike frames in the 1970’s were advertised in bicycle magazines to weigh as little as 3.75 pounds, though I think Uncle Earl may have been writing their ads.

By the late 1980’s steel bikes seemed pretty heavy in contrast to the carbon fiber and aluminum frames.

Steel evolved through the 1990’s at a very rapid pace though. Since most custom builders are equipped to build with it, the steel tubing companies had an instant market for their products and didn’t have to ‘sell’ a builder on converting their entire operation to new material. Fittings and tooling for working steel are easy to get and relatively inexpensive, and it’s much easier to work with than the other materials.

Photo of Road Bike Action Magazine about the Rodriguez Outlaw Superlight Bike

In June 2009,
Road Bike Action Magazine an image of the steel Rodriguez Outlaw for an article about ultimate frame materials.

Modern day steel frames:
True Temper developed some new super strength tubing that was designed for the TIG Welding process. Eliminating the need for lugs lightened the frames as well as sped up the build process. It also allowed for more flexibility in custom design, and R&D projects.

When steel frames got down to lower weights than the aluminum frames, they started catching back on. The ride quality was seen as far superior to aluminum or carbon, so customers were willing to but up with a small weight difference if it meant a better ride.

Starting in 2009, we were building steel frames at well under 3 pounds. That weight includes the bottom bracket shell and dropouts 😉

So, instead of ti being my favorite all around bicycle frame material, steel remains my personal favorite.

Cost:
Steel is the most economical material for custom frame manufacturing. A custom steel frame with fork will set you back $1,200 to $3,000 built to your specifications. You can spend more on some of the froo froo stuff, but for most part these prices should get you just about anything you want.

Dropouts, braze-ons, bottom bracket shells, and just about any thing a custom builder needs is available in steel so there’s not much reason to compromise. This availability adds to the lower cost of building with steel as well.

Steel is very easy to machine, and the tooling to do so is available and fairly inexpensive. We can make any custom part we need when we are building a custom steel frame. Welding steel doesn’t require all of the special tooling and steps that welding titanium does. It also takes less time and less electricity than aluminum welding.

When purchasing a steel custom frame, you’re paying for only about 1/2 the labor costs of an aluminum or titanium frame. Steel as a material is also less expensive than ti or aluminum, so your costs of materials are less as well.

Durability:
As a bicycle frame material, the durability of a steel frame is very good. This is evidenced by the large number of high-end, heavily used steel bikes that you’ll see out on the road everyday.

A steel frame can be bent easier than a ti frame or an oversized aluminum frame. But all in all, it holds up extremely well, and it’s ease of repair if it is bent helps add to the durability factor a bit.

Steel can rust unlike the other materials, but in my 44 years I’ve only seen about 10 or so bikes that were rusted so badly that we couldn’t fix the frame. Those bikes were all decades old, and most had been ridden extensively on an indoor trainer. Sweat is the most corrosive agent to a bicycle it seems, so if you ride a steel frame on an indoor trainer, make sure to always wipe off the sweat when you’re finished.

Versatility:
For custom frame manufacturing, steel is probably the most versatile. You’ll see every kind of high-end frame made from steel and the material is very readily available. We use steel that’s manufactured right here in the U.S. When we need something made in a custom length, diameter, or thickness, we can spec it and they’ll make it. This is not as true for the other materials.

Repairability:
Steel is the most repairable of all the frame building materials. Just about anything on a steel bike can be replaced or redone. For example, every year we have someone who’s got an old tandem that they want to bring into the new century. We can weld in a new head tube so they can use modern headsets and forks. Then we can re-space the rear end to fit modern axel widths and more gears. Then we can move the brake studs to a position for use with modern 700c wheels. All this for about 1/5 the cost of buying a new frame. This also goes to versatility.

Riding characteristics:
Steel is the standard that other materials are compared to. It’s got a lively, comfortable ride that most customers prefer. I think that everyone reading this probably had an old Motobecane, Gitane, Peugeot, Raleigh, or some other sweet steel ride that they remember fondly. The ride of most modern steel bikes is just a great, they’re just lighter weight. Titanium and steel win the ride characteristics as far as I’m concerned.


The Wrap up:

Which material you choose for your custom bike can depend on so many factors. I’ll list a few here.

Weight – If you were to come in the shop and ask for the lightest frame available what would I recommend? I would say that despite what one reads in magazines, at this point in time if you’re willing to go to the top end of any of the price ranges, you can get equally light weight offerings in all the listed materials.

However, for those who value extreme light weight I have some rules to follow:

  1. Paper doesn’t refuse ink – Just because a frame weight is printed in a catalog or magazine this doesn’t make it true
  2. Keyboards don’t refuse fingers – If someone types a frame weight in a news group, find out if it’s my Uncle Earl
  3. Apples to apples – Make sure to compare equal items. If a frame requires proprietary parts (special fork, bottom bracket, head set etc…) then you’ll want to weigh all the comparables. Several manufacturers take weight off of the frame, but then add it back in the fork, headset, etc…. (again with the proprietary @#$#@%)
  4. Don’t trust, but verify – If you’re going to pay top dollar for light weight frame, weigh that frame (and proprietary parts) on a digital scale before you assemble it. The weight should be what your builder said it would be or your money back (bike salesmen everywhere are cursing my name right now).

Cost – That one’s easy. If dollar value is important, then I would suggest steel as your best option for a custom bicycle frame in 2009 (and still in 2012). At $1,200 for a custom frame/fork, it’s a hard value to beat.

Cool Factor – If you want your friends to be blown away by the look of your new machine, I think you can do it with any of the materials. Carbon has some interesting shapes, but steel and aluminum you’ll see with some amazing paint jobs. Titanium has that really cool ‘naked’ industrial look to it. Cool factor is really a personal choice, so I have a very hard time picking a winner, but my personal favorite is something that looks classic.

Longevity – If you really want a frame that lasts forever, I will suggest steel or titanium. Even if they do break, they can be easily fixed. If you don’t care to have a frame that last 20 years or more, then any of the materials will suffice.

Ride characteristics – Basically here, I would just suggest that you ride a bike that fits you well, and buy from a shop that will work with you over time to ensure that you’re comfortable. A good shop will spend an hour or so fitting you before even suggesting a frame size. Frame material plays a factor in comfort, but your shop’s willingness to get you comfortable is WAY more important.

Overall performance:I’m a firm believer that fitting comfortably on your bike will improve your riding performance more than a frame material will. But, if a ‘best’ material must be chosen, I would suggest a frame that won’t rattle your teeth when cornering on a bumpy road. This way you won’t have to slow down as much around those corners, and you’ll be able to stay on the bike longer between rests. I find that these things are much more important to average speed than saving an ounce or two anyway.


Well there it is. I’m having a hard time not writing 10 times as much as I’ve written here, but hopefully I’ve done an OK job recounting my views on custom frame building materials based on my experiences (or lack there of).

Just in case you thought I might be an impartial judge, let me set you straight. Steel is my favorite material for the bicycle frame. It seems to be the best balance between cost, ride quality, versatility and weight for me. We all have some bias one way or the other, and I appreciate this opportunity to express some of the factors that have formed my bias towards steel. Thanks Bicycle Paper.

I sure had a great time down memory lane looking through all of the 1970’s Bicycing magazines and seeing all of the ads for the new titanium, aluminum, carbon fiber, and even (believe it or not) bamboo bicycles. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

#1 Rohloff Frame Builder

#1 Rohloff seller
Rodriguez Bicycles becomes biggest Rohloff builder in the U.S.A.

A few weeks ago, as we were ordering yet another Rohloff hub, I asked Amber to find out how we ranked in U.S. Rohloff sales. As it turns out, we’ve built more Rohloff bikes than any other builder in the U.S. this year. Yesterday I confirmed it with them again, and asked if we could call it official. They said yes.

We want to thank all of you who’ve chosen to make us your Rohloff headquarters. It’s official! You’ve helped to make us the number one Rohloff builder in the United States!

Rohloff Speehub illustration
Building so many Rohloff bikes has helped to develop very specific ways of building them. We’ve managed to come up with innovations to make make life easier for the rider as well as make the bike more aesthetically pleasing. The more we’ve built, the better they’ve become!

Why are we number one? It could be the special innovations or it could be the fact that we have excellent pricing on our custom Rodriguez Rohloff equipped bicycles and tandems. The Rodriguez Make-Shift series is priced extremely competitive.

See our full line of Rodriguez Make-Shift bikes on our website or download the PDF spec sheet PDF logo (2meg).

We plan to keep up the pace for 2012 as well! See you on the road.

Dan