Materials Used to Build Mountain Bike Frames
What a mountain bike frame is going to cost you is directly proportional to the material used as well as the treatment this material receives. When purchasing a mountain bike frame you will be asked to choose between five types - 1) high tensile steel, 2) chromoly steel, 3) aluminum, 4) titanium, and 5) carbon fiber. Some of the tubing material treatments that will increase the cost of the frame are 1) oversized diameters, 2) heat treating, and 3) butting.
Lower priced mountain bikes frames are usually constructed with a very durable alloy known as high tensile steel. High tensile steel has a large carbon content so it is less stiff than chromoly steel. Because of this, additional material is necessary to ensure that this frame is stiff enough to be used in bicycle frames. As you can guess, this process makes the bicycle relatively heavy.
High tensile steel is relatively inexpensive to produce. This material can be found in city bikes, trail bikes, and in the less expensive beginner mountain bikes. Some bikes are manufactured with a chromoly seat tube with the rest of the bike being made with high tensile steel.
Next on the list of mountain bike framing materials is chromoly (short for steel alloy ). Chromoly is better defined by the major additives it contains - chromium and molybdenum. This framing material is probably one of the most refined and can more than 100 years of reliable service.
Chromoly steel can be found in bikes from $400 on up to and through $1500 dollars, depending of course on the type of heat treating and butting used in the process. When used in the manufacture of mountain bikes, chromoly steel delivers great durability and provides a compliant ride characteristic.
Over the last fifteen years, aluminum continues to be refined essentially in a similar way as has been chromoly. There have been numerous alloys produced along with oversizing, heat treatment, and butting. Used on dual suspension bikes, aluminum is the desired material being the stiffest and most cost effective.
Because of aluminum being stiffer than chromoly, it will tend to crack before chromoly will. This depends of course on your riding style and how much abuse you subject your frame to. One of the major advantages to the use of aluminum in mountain bike frames is that the frame is very light and stiff with oversizing and butting.
Considered to be a bit exotic by some folks, prices for titanium frames have come down in the past few years. Due to the additional time required to weld the tubes to the frame however, titanium frames continue to remain comparatively, rather expensive.
Titanium is considered an alloy, normally mixed with small amounts of vanadium and aluminum to give it better weldability and ride characteristics. More compliant than chromoly, it offers better fatigue and corrosion properties.
The material you choose for your bike, all depends on where you ride and what style you use. Almost all materials will last you for years, as long as you take care of your bike and treat the frame with some respect.
Mountain biking is a wonderful sport and can take you places you have never been to before. Now be sure you return to where you embarked with a GPS Garmin Watch. The Garmin GPS Watch such as the Garmin Forerunner Watch is going to be sure you don’t get eaten up by the wilderness you set out to conquer.