Steel bikes are overrated

Steel has its place but it’s not the wonder material some claim,

- Matthew Loveridge

I love a good steel bike as much as the next tedious man in his thirties, but I don’t think steel deserves the almost mythical status it now enjoys. If you want a bike to be as light and stiff as possible and you prize these characteristics above all others, make it out of carbon. The very lightest steel frames weigh more than very average carbon ones, and steel bikes that manage to be truly light only do so by virtue of using expensive high-end components.

Steel is also far less versatile than carbon composite. There’s no limit to the number of ways you can lay up sheets of carbon to target stiffness, strength and flexibility where you want it. You can also make pretty much any shape you want, a critical consideration when it comes to aerodynamics. By contrast, a steel frame is inherently more compromised. You can select specific grades of steel for different tubes and you can do some clever things to influence the material’s behaviour, but these methods all need to work within the limitations of the steel itself.