Toughest 90's steel frame you have ridden
- Thread starter widowmaker
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Good topic this! Gets you thinking from a different perspective
Certainly in my youth we found that gas pipers were no good. They cracked and dropouts broke off and stuff like that as well as weighing a ton - Saw more than one mate with a lower end Raleigh calling that 15 year F&F Warranty
Also while being nice rides the earlier lugged 531 bikes had an Achilles heel, a heavy frontal would get transmitted by the cool lugs to the butted down tube and crease the damned thing
Those old school Tange GTs were literally tanks though
Certainly in my youth we found that gas pipers were no good. They cracked and dropouts broke off and stuff like that as well as weighing a ton - Saw more than one mate with a lower end Raleigh calling that 15 year F&F Warranty
Also while being nice rides the earlier lugged 531 bikes had an Achilles heel, a heavy frontal would get transmitted by the cool lugs to the butted down tube and crease the damned thing
Those old school Tange GTs were literally tanks though
TrevorKershaw
Retro Guru
I had this bike for a while before I got into serious racing MTB's and it was HEAVY, but tough. My later bikes were tough, light and had a degree of flex which was quite disconcerting at the time. Every time I put the hammer down it flexed and I thought it was going to snap! It took me a while to get used to bikes being "alive" underneath me.hydorah":acel490n said:
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Heavy weight doesn't guarantee strength. Just as double butted spokes are significantly stronger than plain gauge ones, a bike with thick single gauge gas pipe tubing will lack any flex. The welds are usually the weakest part on cheap frames and thick wall stiff tubing concentrates stress onto those welds. That paired with low end frames and their higher likelihood of poor welds would increase the chances of failure.
Thus a strong frame also needs a degree of elasticity to make it durable.
Thus a strong frame also needs a degree of elasticity to make it durable.
SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum
Old School Grand Master
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