Was the early 90's the golden era of steel bikes?

[dirttorpedo]

Since I've joined Retrobike and obsessively scanned Craigslist and eBay for my dream bikes and components I've gradually (rightly or wrongly) come to the conclusion that the early to mid 90's was the pinnacle of steel bike design and manufacturing. I'm sure that there are some wonderful steel bikes being made today, but when I saw the incremental advances in tube sets and the competition between mulitple manufacturers from the 90's vs. the paltry options today (Tange 4130 or Reynolds 853 seems to be pretty much what's on the menue now) it got me thinking. Riding my sadly too small Norco Rampage (Tange Prestige Ultimate Ultra Strong) was an epiphany. The design and the tube set of that Taiwanese frame made for a sublime riding bike. Replacing it with a 2000 Rocky Hammer (rides like a brick) just hammered the differences home (pun intended).

So, what do you guys think?

 

[xerxes]

Re:

I have also have a made in Taiwan, TIG welded Tange Ultimate Ultrastrong frame and very nice it is too. But there's still some nice very stuff being made. How about this stainless Reynolds 953 beauty:

Columbus: http://www.columbustubi.com/eng/1.htm and Dedacciai are still going too: http://www.dedacciai.com/

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

have to say, i wouldn't describe 853 as a paltry option, it's pretty expensive stuff, 2 of my frames are made with the stuff and it's great to ride.

i do get your point though, but then it's no different now with carbon, there are options in that aswel.

regarding steel though i'd say there are plenty of options out there currently, but in real terms you need to get a custom frame to find out what your available options actually are.

but back in the day you got (to a point) what you were given, there were choices in tubing but only by model of bike, back then we were riding kona's and oranges etc, some people bought the prestige above the clockwork but not necessarily because of the tubing (even though the bike was named after it) but because it was the next model up, so was that a choice to buy prestige tubing or a choice to spend more money?

 

[Chute55uk]

I dont think its different today, its just the manufacturing process/cost has moved on where the design of the bike cant really accommodate steel, what I mean is could you imagine trying to market a steel full susser or all mountain bike? you wouldn't sell one, the cost would be prohibitive and the manufacturing would be a nightmare. with hydroforming and the wheelsize battle thats going on, the frames are to a certain extent slipping by unnoticed providing the have high front ends and look the part. can you remember when we first saw cannondales with their fat frames? people bought into alloy and never looked back. take a look in a bike shop today, alloy and carbon its what people recognise (us lot excluded) but to your average joe....
that said I have just got rid of my alloy framed road bike for a new reynolds 725 so its nice to see steel road frames are still alive and kicking.

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

I wasn't trying to say that there are no high quality steel bikes being made today, but rather that steel as a material hit its peak around 1995 as demonstrated by the large range of bikes - both boutique and mass market - that were made with high quality tube sets. My recollection is that from the time of my first Tange 5 tubed Rocky Fusion, there was constant improvement in metallurgy, tubing design, intense competition between Tange, True Temper, Reynolds, Columbus, Miyata, Ritchey, etc. to improve the breed.

Sure, I remember the first Cannondale I saw - looked very cool - and I still think of them as Crack'n fails based on some of the experiences that early adopters had. Same for the first Rocky Stratos, but it took a fair time for those materials to dominate the industry. I suspect that was helped in great part due to the innovations in suspension that paralleled that transition. Heck, I didn't get my first alloy bike until 2004 when I got tired of trying to ride my steel XC bike on freeride trails. I do agree that the frame seems to have taken a back door to other aspects of the bike today - they all look the same. Seems true for both ATB's and road bikes. I have a Norco CX bike that looks strikingly similar to my friend's Cannondale CX. I don't know if its the centralizeation of manufacturing to a few factories in Asia or the competitive nature of the industry pushing companies to skimp on design or the fact so many brands have been purchased by large conglomerates. Makes me miss those crazy days of the 90's when so much radical innovation was going on.

 

[NeilM]

Re:

You're mixing two separate subjects and rolling them into one, and at the same time, failing to acknowledge the differences in the mtb market.

First tubesets. I agree with you that there are no longer the developments in tubesets that there appeared to be back in the 90's, and those developments that have happened, Reynolds 520 / 725 for instance are more just updates, with the cutting edge developments like 931 and 953 being road based. I don't know what Columbus, Tange or others have been doing of late.

Second bikes. There are still plenty of new steel 'production' bikes being made, a quick glance at the website of people like Surly, Cotic, Pipedream and many others will show a whole fleet of hardtails and fat bikes, and that is before we look at the likes of Roberts, Yates, Rourke, DeKerf and others who still offer updated versions of their classic designs plus the explosion of new craftsmen that I feel has yet to hit it's peak.

The part of the equation you are missing is the variety of types of mtbs that now exists. BITD there were mtb/atb bikes.... Now we have downhill, freeride, xc, jump bikes... more variation than ever before. Some of these work in steel, many don't. Along with the explosion of different types of bikes has come carbon; specialist and in it's infancy in the early 90's, now a light, strong, mainline material, and probably the area where all the current R&D research is going.