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That Aluminum is a Tricky Material..
- Thread starter scott43
- Start date
LOL
road.cc
Aluminium frames are the work of the devil
Aluminium frames may well have come a long way in recent years, but are they still as brutal on the body? Steve Thomas has his say
Thread Starter
TS
Happy ending? Kona warrantied the frame as promised. 10 year old frame replaced with a 2023. It will require some new parts but that's a solid response from Kona. For $500 he'll have basically a brand new CX bike. Fortunately he has access to cheap labour.... 
Thread Starter
TS
In the spirit of the late Jobst Brandt, I challenge him to show more compliance in any frame besides aluminum! Sure if you have a carbon with some built-in iso blobs or flexy posts. But really, you're sitting at the apex of a triangle, show me where the compliance is!!!LOL
Aluminium frames are the work of the devil
Aluminium frames may well have come a long way in recent years, but are they still as brutal on the body? Steve Thomas has his say
Happy ending? Kona warrantied the frame as promised. 10 year old frame replaced with a 2023. It will require some new parts but that's a solid response from Kona. For $500 he'll have basically a brand new CX bike. Fortunately he has access to cheap labour....
BB? Brakes? HS? What changes to the drivetrain?
If that's a 2012 wheelset you might be able to get one of those ginormous Mz plates from Sunrace, go to 1x front and lose the FD cabling?
But really, you're sitting at the apex of a triangle, show me where the compliance is!!!
You know, setting up a motion amplification camera could be a quite fun project...
Thread Starter
TS
Seatpost, front der and headset work, same sizes. Rear der, cassette chain, stem, bars, cables good. Basically BB and crankset (Shimano and GRX 600), wheelset (work in progress) and calipers (TRP hyd/mech hybrid on sale currently here for $50 each). Soma had some Suzue wheels on for $104 (!!). $20 for thru-axle conversion and needs discs. Sale is over..currently trolling for wheelsets or I'll build a set from whatever bargain bin stuff he can find. Frame arrives next week. I'll post something of the final build. Looks decent though.
Again, good on Kona for making the warranty happen.
Again, good on Kona for making the warranty happen.
Thread Starter
TS
Honestly, one of the primary reasons I like sloping top tube is longer seatpost which offers compliance. They really need to compare apples to apples in these "aluminum is harsh" things..
Shall we raise our glasses to the nice people at Giant then?
I'll just peer over the nose bridge, thanks.
I like modern aluminum! One of my carbon bikes is probably the smoothest bike I've ever ridden - Salsa Cutthroat. But that said, I've been on a couple of far cheaper Alu bikes lately too,and they have been remarkably smooth. Even one with a cheap aluminum fork that is significantly smoother riding than aome carbon forks. Some aluminum tubing tuned up really nicely nowadays!In the spirit of the late Jobst Brandt, I challenge him to show more compliance in any frame besides aluminum! Sure if you have a carbon with some built-in iso blobs or flexy posts. But really, you're sitting at the apex of a triangle, show me where the compliance is!!!
On the other hand, I bought a aluminum Specialized e-hybrid for my wife maybe a year ago. Not cheap, and it rode like a miserable rattle trap from the late 1980's. Sold it. I'd almost forgotten how bad aluminum used to be, didn't love the ride down memory lane.
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- Dec 20, 2015
- Posts
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Kona is just full of fine, fine folks!
Thread Starter
TS
I'm not sure I believe you!!
Thread Starter
TS
So I hear they'll be bankrupt by summer and that it's fairly self inflicted. Glad this frame got done!
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2015
- Posts
- 8,480
Yup, that's definitely floating around out there.
But always easy to armchair quarterback (see Peak thread).
Thread Starter
TS
Finished product. Not bad, steering is a bit floppy...
Steel has an endurance limit and if stresses are below that it won't crack (theoretically, it gets more complicated in practice). Aluminum does not have a limit and will crack with enough cycles.
Thread Starter
TS
Ended up with a new Shimano RS510 crankset with 46x36, new standard ultegra bb, take off TRP Spyre mechanical calipers and used Shimano RS rims with 105 12 sp hubs. He's into it for $1300 all in. Not bad. Rebuilt everything along the way. Fits perfectly and mechanically is as good as new. I personally found it a bit short on top and a little too long in wheelbase and head angle. But good for gravel. Customer is happy and that's really all that counts.
It is a pretty bike.
Thread Starter
TS
His wife calls it the middle aged mutant Ninja turtle...