Tmogul
08-24-2005, 02:51 PM
I realize there will be many opinions on this forum about the best material to use (which I'm interested to hear). I'm starting to realize that many folks here love their steel frames and traditional horizontal top tube designs. I am undecided since I have limited experience with various materials. However I also like the look of semi-compact frames (gentle slope) with a stem that is parallel to the TT.
I was wondering how the material used to make lugs would affect the ride and performance of a frame. I was always told that ti lugs were actually lighter than carbon lugs because of the extra layers and resin needed on carbon lugs to add enough strength to the joint. I'm not sure how steel lugs would compared to carbon or ti as far as weight and strength are concerned. However carbon lugged frames seem to produce very light frames. I would be curious what the weight of an Ottrott would be with only ti lugs and all the tubes carbon...including chainstays and seat tube.
What I'm curious about is whether having a bike made of only carbon tubes would ride that much differently with lugs of different materials? Since all the tubes would be glued into the lugs with carbon tubes anyways then the only difference in weight would be the weight of the lugs. (using the same carbon tubes of course)
It seems that today's market is saying that full carbon frames are the best. I can see the argument with monocoque frames (maybe) but for lugged carbon I'm not sure what to think. Also since the carbon lugs cost so much and come in limited shapes or angles they really don't allow for full customization to the nth degree. However metal can be shaped to any angle without the use of costly molds.
Also is there swaging and butting etc that goes on with lugs that make some better than others or is it their job to simply hold the tubes in place? I'm not sure if there is a lot of manipulation going on with the lugs or if that is all done on the tubes only.
I guess with respect to full customization and weight savings I would think carbon with ti lugs would be ideal (for lugged frames) but then I'm just an amateur cyclist trying to sort it all out.
Thanks for any info in advanced.
I was wondering how the material used to make lugs would affect the ride and performance of a frame. I was always told that ti lugs were actually lighter than carbon lugs because of the extra layers and resin needed on carbon lugs to add enough strength to the joint. I'm not sure how steel lugs would compared to carbon or ti as far as weight and strength are concerned. However carbon lugged frames seem to produce very light frames. I would be curious what the weight of an Ottrott would be with only ti lugs and all the tubes carbon...including chainstays and seat tube.
What I'm curious about is whether having a bike made of only carbon tubes would ride that much differently with lugs of different materials? Since all the tubes would be glued into the lugs with carbon tubes anyways then the only difference in weight would be the weight of the lugs. (using the same carbon tubes of course)
It seems that today's market is saying that full carbon frames are the best. I can see the argument with monocoque frames (maybe) but for lugged carbon I'm not sure what to think. Also since the carbon lugs cost so much and come in limited shapes or angles they really don't allow for full customization to the nth degree. However metal can be shaped to any angle without the use of costly molds.
Also is there swaging and butting etc that goes on with lugs that make some better than others or is it their job to simply hold the tubes in place? I'm not sure if there is a lot of manipulation going on with the lugs or if that is all done on the tubes only.
I guess with respect to full customization and weight savings I would think carbon with ti lugs would be ideal (for lugged frames) but then I'm just an amateur cyclist trying to sort it all out.
Thanks for any info in advanced.