Hi all. I am beginning to work on my third road bike frame. On my first two frames i didnt seek any advice from you guys and made some poor choices on tubing....so i figured i would seek some advice this time. The bike i am building will be used mostly for riding 10 miles to work plus maybe some light touring. I enjoy a road bike that has nimble handling, corners well, and is generally fun to ride. So i may have some conflicting interests, but i am leaning towards more fun to ride over a bike that is going to stable for touring. I got a bike fit last week so the geometry of the front triangle is pretty set in stone.
Frame Geometry:
drawing.jpg
Tubing selection:
I am mixed between reynolds 631 and reynolds 853....I had an 853 bike frame stolen several years back so i have always wanted to replace that. I realize 853 is has a higher yield strength, so i could potentially build with thinner tubing, however i am not confident in welding thinner than .8 mm on the main triangle tubes. Does anyone have any experience with ride quality between the two? handling? responsiveness? The first bike i built was with 631 and it was fairly easy to work with compared to the practice tubing i used. Is 853 much harder to work with? Below i listed out two potential tube sets for 853 and 631. I ended up choosing the same OD on both sets so the frame should be the same stiffness between the two but the 853 a little stronger....Let me know your thoughts and your experiences with the two tube sets, both building and ride quality. I realize there are many other tubing suppliers out there but i am familier with reynolds, have an account with them, and needed to just narrow things down.
Additional Note: I am relatively new to welding still and the st ss junction is really tough for me. on my first bike there was some space between the ss's at the st and i was able to weld them fine. on my last bike i used a 28.6 st with 16mm ss which was very difficult to weld given the ss's were touching at the junction...i ended up brazing the section where the inner section of the ss junction. I was thinking for this frame i would use a 31.75 st but i cant find any from reynolds in the right length. Because of this i decided to go with 14mm ss.
853 tube choice:
Head tube DX2340 36.4 1.2 200
Top tube BX2060 28.6 0.8/0.5/0.8 635 100.50.300.50.135
Down tube BX2110L 31.75 0.8/0.5/0.8 680 120.50.300.50.160
Seat tube CX2364 28.6 0.9/0.6/1.2 650 190.50.260.50.100 bulge 27.2
Chainstays FX2510 17.5 x 29 oval 0.9/0.6 410 oval (reynolds 725)
Seatstays GX2620 14 0.6 620 s/taper (reynolds 725)
631 tube choice
Head tube DX5340 36.4 1.2 200
Top tube BX5050 28.6 0.8/0.5/0.8 635 100.50.300.50.135
Down tube BX5125L 31.75 0.9/0.6/0.9 680 120.50.300.50.160
Seat tube CX5364 28.6 0.9/0.6/1.2 650 190.50.260.50.100 bulge 27.2
Chainstays FC1510 17 x 29 oval 0.8/0.6 410 oval
Seatstays GC1620 14 0.6 620 s/taper
Thanks so much for all your input,
Scott
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