Aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium alloys are a very popular choice for bike frames. There are a huge amount of aluminium frames out there and you can pay everything from £400 for a complete bike all the way up to £7,500 if you want something super fancy like Specialized’s S-Works Allez.
Aluminium is popular because although it’s not as strong as steel, it has a better strength to weight ratio, meaning you can build a lighter frame. It’s also a very rigid material, meaning it can build into a nice, stiff, responsive frame.
Aluminium does have a reputation for being harsh and that may have been the case in years gone by, but it’s less of a concern with modern frame and – just as is the case with everything we’ve said about ride feel in this feature – the main things to think about when it comes to comfort are tyre choice, width and pressure, saddle choice, frame geometry and riding position. Get a well-design aluminium frame and stick a set of 25mm or 28mm tyres running at 85-95psi and the chances are you won’t be complaining.
Another bonus of alu is that it’s cheap. Other than the S-Works Allez, £700 is about the going rate for a top-of-the range aluminium frameset and with some of these coming in at 1,100g you can comfortably build a bike that will tickle the UCI’s weight limit without getting too exotic. Sure, it won’t be 4.65kg like the Trek Emonda SLR 10, but it won’t set you back £11,000 either.
At the base level, aluminium probably even cheaper than steel these days, almost certainly if you’re buying new, largely because most mainstream bike brands don’t offer steel bikes any more.
Similar to its metallic cousins, titanium and steel, another of aluminium’s excellent properties is durability and ease of repair. While not being in the same league as steel when it comes towards durability, which in turn isn’t as durable as titanium, aluminium is still ahead of carbon in the fact that it can bend and dent rather than shatter or snap. It’s for this reason that aluminium is still a popular choice with amateur racers, who can build a stiff, light bike without the fear of writing it off in one crit crash.
While many riders are drawn towards carbon fibre if they have around £1,000-£2,000 in their pockets, don’t write off aluminium. A top-end alloy frame can often be lighter than an entry-level carbon one, with a more responsive ride. Plus you’ll have some money left in your pockets to upgrade other components.