Thanks I watched the video.
I guess then the only practical difference is less strong steel is easier to bend and work? Like Zona and Spirit…
Then, the stronger steel is more dent resistant with the same thickness.
This was in a past issue of Bicycle Quarterly.
it’s fortuitous to have sentiments like these come back into the public’s eye, though the salient point is nothing new or novel. the ride of a bicycle (what someone atop supposedly feels) is hardly tethered to the material or its diameter or gauge or shape or country of origin. it’s always about design. after that, quality of construction will check a box or four. and before i get into the weeds, clearly a proper fit over and between the wheels of said bicycle is paramount.
the industry shoves a metric ton of marketing bullshit down our collective throats by way of advertising and race (related) results. buy this and you’ll be as efficient and fast as _______ . i never bought into this crap. i tolerated it when i was new because (mainly because) i didn’t have a calling card or any palmares to cite. but by the middle to late seventies it was game over for me. my tether was reached and i no longer believed the crap that permeated my trade.
the ride of a bicycle (assuming the rider fits it without compromise) is directly (and only) related to the frame design. obviously construction is key. but regardless of whether it’s welded, brazed, or stuck together with glue, or if it’s steel or not steel, or if it’s a set of modern tubes or something from the eisenhower years - what the rider senses, or feels, or discerns has to do with the layout and assembly so much more than the material used.
thank you for listening to my ted talk.
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Amen!
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ps sorry about all the editing.
my ipad and this site don’t understand each other that well!
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When we get into bike tubing, there are some more practical concerns.
Forming and cutting a more basic tube (Zona) vs. a fancier tube like Velospec (not heat treated) is roughly the same. Heat treating is what makes things much harder to work with (literally).
For example:
- heat treated steel is more dent resistant
- high end steel generally has better drawing and QC (more accurate butts, cleaner tubes, etc…)
- availability of butt lengths and butt thicknesses
- cost
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Here’s a blog post that summarizes the test:
and/or
No more questions now pretty much 
by fancier you meant specific butting on the Velospec right?
I was wondering who is this guy and how come he wrote “seventies” like who built bikes back then, then click on the profile… :o
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