Lightest Road Bike Frame Material

If you can handle a heavier bike a steel frame packs more weight but offers a cheaper price tag.

Lightest road bike frame material.

However aluminium s time as the top material for road bikes was short lived. In the past finding the best lightweight road bike has been the sole requirement for a road cyclist when buying a new bike. It s ideal for bike frames as it provides a stiff and light frame. The specialized s works tarmac sl6 that we reviewed here on road cc weighed in at just 6 35kg 14lb well below the uci s minimum weight limit for racing of 6 8kg 14 99lb and that got us thinking about the other super lightweight road bikes out there.

The most common bicycle frame material aluminum is known for being corrosion resistant fairly light though typically not as light as carbon fiber and having a high strength to weight ratio. Aluminium is the most common material and it s used primarily for road bikes at the affordable end of the price range. The best steel road bikes you can buy image. As the saying goes steel is real and as a frame material it provides a smooth and springy ride quality that no other frame material can match.

Carbon or high tensile steel is a good strong long lasting steel but it isn t as light as its more high tech brother the steel known as chromoly. Trek émonda slr 9 etap project one 9 057. Steel is the most commonly used material in bike frames. It is possible to make an excellent frame with any of the materials mentioned but for a high performance frame the choice will usually come down to be either carbon fibre or aluminium.

The tour de france was only won from 1994 to 1998 on aluminium bikes. There is little doubt that a carbon frame can be made the lightest so it wins assuming you just go by the numbers. These allow the frames to absorb shock better than ever while still offering the wonderfully lively ride that makes aluminum all the rage today. The lightest materials used in bike frames are carbon fiber or aluminum however they tend to have a higher price tag.

Here s a look at the key attributes of each material to help you make the right choice. This magic ride is attributed to aluminum being the lightest frame material even lighter than carbon and titanium. Here are six that barely trouble the scales. Saving weight was a racer s primary concern in the pursuit of speed.

Before then every winning bike was made from.