SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
I'm impressed by the way this project has turned out. It's a useful and practical machine. Whilst I'm a big fan of lightweight butted Reynolds steel frames, there is nothing inherently bad about basic hi-tensile tubing like the Carbolite 103. On really large bikes like a 25" carrying a big rider, it can even be preferable sometimes to employ a frame made out of thicker wall tubing.
The tensile strength of a frame is related to the properties of the frame material, but the stiffness of a frame is related to the tube diameter and wall thickness not the type of steel.
On very large frames or heavily loaded ones, it can sometimes be better to use a lower grade steel with thicker wall tubes than to take out too much material using very thin butted tubing and end up with the frame being too flexible when heavily loaded.
A colleague of mine who is over 6ft and solidly built rides one of these old 25" Peugeots daily to work and rates it highly for comfort. He uses a Brooks saddle and M+ tyres.
The tensile strength of a frame is related to the properties of the frame material, but the stiffness of a frame is related to the tube diameter and wall thickness not the type of steel.
On very large frames or heavily loaded ones, it can sometimes be better to use a lower grade steel with thicker wall tubes than to take out too much material using very thin butted tubing and end up with the frame being too flexible when heavily loaded.
A colleague of mine who is over 6ft and solidly built rides one of these old 25" Peugeots daily to work and rates it highly for comfort. He uses a Brooks saddle and M+ tyres.
