amaferanga wrote:You say that a good quality steel frame will be better than an aluminium frame, but with your budget you can't get a good steel frame, just a generic one.
My 'generic' T400 frame is a good as far as I can tell, so was my Eur 330 Halfords touring bike frame also made from steel. I have been reading some of the threads on the forums wrt to play in frames causing front mechs to rub on chainwheels, tyres that rub on frames and so on with some disbelief. I have never noticed these sorts of problems on either bike even on long steep climbs in Norway. Both feel solid and secure when fully laden.
Also looking at the catalogues of the big companies here in the flat lands there are plenty of aluminium framed bikes are heavier than my Halfords bike (remember bargin basement with steel chainrings and handlebars). Many mid-range aluminium framed Dutch touring bikes (with derailleurs) are at least as heavy as my steel framed T400 Rohloff. There are some poorly designed aluminium frames out there, not in the sense that they will break but in the sense you are carting unnecessary weight around.
The German market is very competitive wrt bikes. VSF produce fully equipped bikes that most people would be happy to use every day and at a price little more than UK (or Dutch) companies can supply a 'hybrid' on a generic aluminium frame made in China that doesn't have 'essential' items such as mudguards, lights and a rack. We bought our T400's in 2008 when the Euro was at a more normal 1.6 to the pound. The same money would have got us a Thorn bike with a Rohloff and a rear rack. Everything else that was fitted as standard to the T400 (SON dynamo and LED lighting set, Magura brakes, mudguards, chainguard) were extras on the Thorn bikes.
Finally you must not forget the power of the logic of personal preference. I am quite sure that my preference for a steel frame is on some level irrational. However it makes sense to me and I want to buy bikes with steel frames. It makes sense to those other posters who also have a preference for a steel frame. This piece of personal logic has also caused me to buy several steel framed bikes that, despite their individual foibles and failings, I enjoy using very much.
Regards
Stan