How much hammer can a 'vintage' steel road frame take?
Discussion
I'm back on a bike for the first time in the thick end of a decade. Well, not literally now, but I have a bike in the office and I'm riding it home, which is a mammoth 3 miles or so away (it's been a long time, and in my defence it's quite warm out there and it's quite a hilly route)
Anyway, my knees have been giving me serious gyp recently and I'm not sure how they'll cope with cycling again, so rather than spend money on a new bike only to potentially discover that my knees are beyond hope, I've borrowed the road bike that proved perfectly capable of getting my dad to work and back for 15 years or so.
I rode it for the first time yesterday morning (2 mile test to see if anything fell off or broke on me or the bike), having given it the most basic of services the night before. Obviously it's no lightweight, but compared to the bikes I've ridden over the last 10 years (two hired mountain bikes with kids trailers on) it felt like the stiffest, most responsive thing I'd ever ridden. I loved it.
Anyway, where I live there are quite a few big parks and woods and so on that I could conceivably include in my commute to make it a bit more fun than a ride along hilly main roads, but I just wondered how much hammer a early 80's steel road frame could take? Should my knees be up to it, and should I feel the need, I'd like to get something like a Genesis Croix de Fer so detours into the woods won't be a problem, but them I reasoned that the Genesis might not be that much tougher than my Carbolite Peugeot. What do you think? (Wheels might need changing - the front it a rather lovely mid 80's Mavic E3 rim which looks rather thin and delicate)
Anyway, my knees have been giving me serious gyp recently and I'm not sure how they'll cope with cycling again, so rather than spend money on a new bike only to potentially discover that my knees are beyond hope, I've borrowed the road bike that proved perfectly capable of getting my dad to work and back for 15 years or so.
I rode it for the first time yesterday morning (2 mile test to see if anything fell off or broke on me or the bike), having given it the most basic of services the night before. Obviously it's no lightweight, but compared to the bikes I've ridden over the last 10 years (two hired mountain bikes with kids trailers on) it felt like the stiffest, most responsive thing I'd ever ridden. I loved it.
Anyway, where I live there are quite a few big parks and woods and so on that I could conceivably include in my commute to make it a bit more fun than a ride along hilly main roads, but I just wondered how much hammer a early 80's steel road frame could take? Should my knees be up to it, and should I feel the need, I'd like to get something like a Genesis Croix de Fer so detours into the woods won't be a problem, but them I reasoned that the Genesis might not be that much tougher than my Carbolite Peugeot. What do you think? (Wheels might need changing - the front it a rather lovely mid 80's Mavic E3 rim which looks rather thin and delicate)
There are quite a few vintage sportives on the continent which have a cut off date for bikes around the early eighties and they take in some pretty tough terrain including gravel roads and the like. You'll need to be sure the bike is in good condition but obviously they rode them in period on many of todays courses so theres no reason why a frame in good condition shouldnt be able to cope today.
Check out l'eroica as an example
Check out l'eroica as an example
Given that in it's current state (rust everywhere and no bar tape) it would probably fail to attract a bid of tuppence of eBay, that's great advice.
Stupidly excited about riding it home in 10 minutes, even though I know I'll be knackered when I get there. Still haven't chosen between the two route options:
I'd like a flatter route to start off with, but even for 2 miles, rule 5 applies, right?
Stupidly excited about riding it home in 10 minutes, even though I know I'll be knackered when I get there. Still haven't chosen between the two route options:
I'd like a flatter route to start off with, but even for 2 miles, rule 5 applies, right?
Steel frames can take a LOT of hammer.
My beater (day to day commuter) was a free to me Claude Butler steel frame with downtube shifters. It's survived salt, winters, potholes, crashes and 25 miles of off-road triathlon in the Cairngorms(I was the only one on a road bike - certainly the only one on 700x23 tyres...) and several hundred+ mile rides.
As long as the initial tubing is ok and you keep on top of the dreaded tin worm, then it will last for a long time. Fatigue is not really a problem.
Cheers,
Tom
My beater (day to day commuter) was a free to me Claude Butler steel frame with downtube shifters. It's survived salt, winters, potholes, crashes and 25 miles of off-road triathlon in the Cairngorms(I was the only one on a road bike - certainly the only one on 700x23 tyres...) and several hundred+ mile rides.
As long as the initial tubing is ok and you keep on top of the dreaded tin worm, then it will last for a long time. Fatigue is not really a problem.
Cheers,
Tom
The wheelset will fail long before the frame, assuming there is no significant rust.
Stick as big a set of tyres on as you can, 622-28 should make things interesting off road if they fit.
The Planet X Kaffenback is also worth considering if you're thinking about the Croix de Fer for your future. I think they run at approx 800 quid with Tiagra 2x10 speed and Avid mech disc brakes.
Stick as big a set of tyres on as you can, 622-28 should make things interesting off road if they fit.
The Planet X Kaffenback is also worth considering if you're thinking about the Croix de Fer for your future. I think they run at approx 800 quid with Tiagra 2x10 speed and Avid mech disc brakes.
Thanks all. The bike is quite rusty actually, but it all looks to be surface rust.
My main issue, it turns out, is being chronically unfit, having high gearing and working at the bottom of a hill. So before anything else I need to get fit again. Fortunately the knees are holding up ok so far ...
My main issue, it turns out, is being chronically unfit, having high gearing and working at the bottom of a hill. So before anything else I need to get fit again. Fortunately the knees are holding up ok so far ...
I love my old steel Peugeot that I bought for 20 odd quid last year.
As for taking a hammering, I did the ultimate heart stopper of driving into a car park barrier with it on the roof...totally ripped off the rack and left dangling from the barrier like Mussolini's corpse.
I thought I'd killed it but turned out the only damage was a small dent in the headtube and needing new forks. Now it looks like this...
It's just such a versatile and useful bike. Did my first 68-miler sportive on it earlier in the year and surprised a few modern jobs. I commute to the station on it, I take it on my work trips to London and ride round there, most times getting into conversations with other bikers about it and it's perfect for the 20-30 mile training loops round the Worcestershire lanes. I average 27-28kph for these. It's fine on towpaths too but I haven't taken it onto anything rougher, but I'm sure it'd take it.
As for taking a hammering, I did the ultimate heart stopper of driving into a car park barrier with it on the roof...totally ripped off the rack and left dangling from the barrier like Mussolini's corpse.
I thought I'd killed it but turned out the only damage was a small dent in the headtube and needing new forks. Now it looks like this...
It's just such a versatile and useful bike. Did my first 68-miler sportive on it earlier in the year and surprised a few modern jobs. I commute to the station on it, I take it on my work trips to London and ride round there, most times getting into conversations with other bikers about it and it's perfect for the 20-30 mile training loops round the Worcestershire lanes. I average 27-28kph for these. It's fine on towpaths too but I haven't taken it onto anything rougher, but I'm sure it'd take it.
2volvos said:
I love my old steel Peugeot that I bought for 20 odd quid last year.
As for taking a hammering, I did the ultimate heart stopper of driving into a car park barrier with it on the roof...totally ripped off the rack and left dangling from the barrier like Mussolini's corpse.
I thought I'd killed it but turned out the only damage was a small dent in the headtube and needing new forks. Now it looks like this...
It's just such a versatile and useful bike. Did my first 68-miler sportive on it earlier in the year and surprised a few modern jobs. I commute to the station on it, I take it on my work trips to London and ride round there, most times getting into conversations with other bikers about it and it's perfect for the 20-30 mile training loops round the Worcestershire lanes. I average 27-28kph for these. It's fine on towpaths too but I haven't taken it onto anything rougher, but I'm sure it'd take it.
Holy Flying Chain-Guard Batman! Nice bike As for taking a hammering, I did the ultimate heart stopper of driving into a car park barrier with it on the roof...totally ripped off the rack and left dangling from the barrier like Mussolini's corpse.
I thought I'd killed it but turned out the only damage was a small dent in the headtube and needing new forks. Now it looks like this...
It's just such a versatile and useful bike. Did my first 68-miler sportive on it earlier in the year and surprised a few modern jobs. I commute to the station on it, I take it on my work trips to London and ride round there, most times getting into conversations with other bikers about it and it's perfect for the 20-30 mile training loops round the Worcestershire lanes. I average 27-28kph for these. It's fine on towpaths too but I haven't taken it onto anything rougher, but I'm sure it'd take it.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff