Lightest Road Bike Frame Material

If you can handle a heavier bike a steel frame packs more weight but offers a cheaper price tag.

Lightest road bike frame material.

There is little doubt that a carbon frame can be made the lightest so it wins assuming you just go by the numbers. Saving weight was a racer s primary concern in the pursuit of speed. It s ideal for bike frames as it provides a stiff and light frame. As the saying goes steel is real and as a frame material it provides a smooth and springy ride quality that no other frame material can match.

The best steel road bikes you can buy image. In the past finding the best lightweight road bike has been the sole requirement for a road cyclist when buying a new bike. These allow the frames to absorb shock better than ever while still offering the wonderfully lively ride that makes aluminum all the rage today. The specialized s works tarmac sl6 that we reviewed here on road cc weighed in at just 6 35kg 14lb well below the uci s minimum weight limit for racing of 6 8kg 14 99lb and that got us thinking about the other super lightweight road bikes out there.

Before then every winning bike was made from. Road cc bike of the year 2017 18. The tour de france was only won from 1994 to 1998 on aluminium bikes. Here s a look at the key attributes of each material to help you make the right choice.

This magic ride is attributed to aluminum being the lightest frame material even lighter than carbon and titanium. It makes aluminum frames great choices for racing and time trialing. Aluminium is the most common material and it s used primarily for road bikes at the affordable end of the price range. Most bikes consist of steel aluminum or carbon fiber.

However aluminium s time as the top material for road bikes was short lived. It is possible to make an excellent frame with any of the materials mentioned but for a high performance frame the choice will usually come down to be either carbon fibre or aluminium. Trek émonda slr 9 etap project one 9 057. Here are six that barely trouble the scales.

The lightest materials used in bike frames are carbon fiber or aluminum however they tend to have a higher price tag.