Which frame material?

[reohn2]

Our roads are probably the worst in western Europe to cycle on by a long shot,I would prefere something that can stand the abuse British roads will without doubt give it,so for me its steel.That said we've just recently bought an Aluminium tandem (Cannondale) but not without a bit of research first,I'm as sure as I can be that Cannondale make a very durable Alloy frame,which is guarenteed for life.
Carbon Fibre,forget it for me,it won't stand British roads for too long.

[Si]

I'm as sure as I can be that Cannondale make a very durable Alloy frame,which is guarenteed for life.

Your life or the life of the frame?

[stewartpratt]

Our roads are probably the worst in western Europe to cycle on by a long shot

Precisely, which is why softer tyres work so much better here than on the continent - they take the roughness out of the road and make for a grippier and smoother, thus more efficient and more comfortable, thus faster ride. They do this in a way which frame deformation simply can't. So if you're taking the sting out with tyres it seems odd to me to add a wallowy frame to that. Personal preference, natch.

Stuffing the bike into potholes, yes, that's different and I'll admit to wincing on the rare occasions I've planted a carbon fork into a hole. But generally I'd rather avoid (or as a last resort jump over them) than have a steel fork (though a steel fork is something I appreciate on my CX bike). Again, YMMV.

[Tonyf33]

Titanium but buy a top quality one. This the best Ti frame Raleigh made(IMO), Ti tubes from IMI who have been dealing in titanium for over 50 years and welding from a person who puts his name & moniker to a certificate. With a proper ti frame you'll be able to ride it for pretty much most types of road riding. I just swap the wheels/saddle out for whatever I'm doing. I'm 15stone and this baby flies, feels very very secure at high speed & is superbly comfortable. I've yet to do a century on it but I reckon it wouldn't be a problem

[willem jongman]

Even on continental roads (not always better) I much prefer a good 30-32 mm wide tyre.
Willem

[Mick F]

Enter into this argument, my Floosey.

A beautiful Vitus Duralinox 979 in Red and Silver.

Light, aluminium and VERY compliant. It has been said that the racers of this frame found it "noodley".

I put all my Campag Triple stuff on it some time back when my Mercian was in for a refurb, and was utterly smitten by the ride quality, the comfort, the aggressive geometry, the lightness, the compliance and the handling. If I wasn't already madly in love and faithful to my Mercian Vincitore in 531c, Floosey and me would have eloped!

If any one can convince me that the frame has nothing to do with the bike (all other components being the same) they will deserve a medal!

Remember, my Mercian is 73 deg parallel, and Floosey is 74 deg parallel. If they were made of the same material, Floosey would be a harsher ride. She isn't - she's softer!

[Mick F]

PS,
Here's a piccy of her when she was fully clothed.

[glueman]

I agree that tyres are the main ingredient in bike comfort, once the rider's position is correct. My ideal would be 37mm finely threaded skinwalls that could take 115psi on a nice tight radius steel fork.
As rare as hen's dentures.

[willem jongman]

Which proves that it is not the material itself, but the way it is (has to be) used. Modern alloy frames have stiff oversize tubing. Earlier alloy frames such as your Vitus did not, and were a joy to ride, therefore. Some of them did fail, however. There was an interesting article in the last issue of Bicycle Quarterly in which it is argued that more flexible frames are actually faster.
Willem

[reohn2]

I'm as sure as I can be that Cannondale make a very durable Alloy frame,which is guarenteed for life.

Your life or the life of the frame?

Both I hope!

[reohn2]

Our roads are probably the worst in western Europe to cycle on by a long shot

Precisely, which is why softer tyres work so much better here than on the continent - they take the roughness out of the road and make for a grippier and smoother, thus more efficient and more comfortable, thus faster ride. They do this in a way which frame deformation simply can't. So if you're taking the sting out with tyres it seems odd to me to add a wallowy frame to that. Personal preference, natch.

I wouldn't call our Santana (steel) tandem "wallowy",stiff,comfortable,beautiful even,but not wallowy.
Our Cannondale(alloy)tandem is ever so slightly harsher,though still comfortable and definately beautiful,despite the industrial looking front fork which TBH frightened the life out of me to look at, when we test rode friend's,but even with 28mm tyres we were impressed.When we got ours and fitted it with 32mm Marathons we were even more pleased, though I found it better with 5psi less in the front tyre(85psi rather than 90psi, I'm also finding the new H268 Marathon tyres more supple than the old H308's) than the Santana

Stuffing the bike into potholes, yes, that's different and I'll admit to wincing on the rare occasions I've planted a carbon fork into a hole. But generally I'd rather avoid (or as a last resort jump over them) than have a steel fork (though a steel fork is something I appreciate on my CX bike). Again, YMMV.

One does not, if one doesn't want earache all day "stuff" one's tandem anywhere near potholes

[Si]

Yeah, we found the Alu cannondale a tad on the harsh side compared to the cro-mo Burley that we'd ridden the previous day. Being a tandem they both had fairly large tubes. We went for the Burley due to the nicer ride, my distrust of both Alu and cannondales (back when they were known as CrackandFails) and because the brakes on the cannondale were non-existent in the wet! As I said upthread, it's the other way around for my commuters - the Alu is much more comfy than the Cro-Mo, which just goes to show that frame design can make much more difference than material.

Of course, if you were to build two identical but for material frames then the material would matter more, but this wouldn't be a level playing field because different designs work better for different materials.

[PW]

Reynolds 953
Stainless so it won't rust, twice the tensile strength of 6/4 Titanium, harder than British military armour plate. So the tube walls are 0.3mm thick Diameters are slightly oversize but you'd need to look close to notice, the end result is a frame which weighs not a lot but is extremely stiff around the bottom bracket. It goes like a bomb and somehow manages to be comfortable too. It can be made/ altered by your local artisan builder.
And yes I've got one.

[stewartpratt]

Re tandems: a whole different set of design parameters there. Wasn't really including those in any comments

[MichaelM]

These people are using an interesting material blend to make bikes, [url="http://www.museeuwbikes.be/products.php?lang=EN&itemno=1_3&catid=1&articleno=11"]Museeuw[/url]. Tubes made from up to 80% Flax and 20% Carbon. Looks nice too but no idea of price. Not a tourer though.