Frames And Materials Used To Assemble Bicycles

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In 1817, a German inventor, Karl von Drais, developed the first bicycle dubbed as the “swift walker”. This bicycle lacked pedals and people “walked” on them. It had a wooden frame held up by two wooden wheels with iron rims and covered by leather. Since then, the bicycles have come a long way both in terms of frames and materials used to assemble them.

A tubular steel frame replaced the wooden or cast iron frame in the late 1800s. Although the steel bicycles were very strong, they were also not easy to handle because of their weight. Even today, steel is the preferred material though new age materials like titanium, aluminum, and carbon fiber are also being used to make high-end and specialized bicycles.

It is vital to consider the properties of the material before using it to design a bike. The properties that are given importance are the ultimate strength, yield strength, and elasticity of the material. The alloy that has the three properties in the right ratio is the perfect metal to design bicycles.

It was later on known that steel has higher ultimate strength making it less dangerous for the rider in case of a crash. Steel is also the more cost effective, more popular and researched material available, and had been used to make a great variety of tubes and frames. Today, thin tubes are being made to reduce the weight considerably.

Because of its low weight, aluminum is very popular for designing. However, a major drawback of using this metal is the high probability of bending because of its very high yield strength. That is why large diameter tubing is used to decrease the chances of bending.

In general, titanium is the material of choice. It has a natural sheen connected to it and requires very little maintenance. But it is very expensive, and bicycles made of titanium can only be bought by the wealthy. It has a great strength-to-weight ratio, and reverts to its shape even after a collision.

Another material is carbon fiber, also dubbed as a boat builder’s material. With carbon, you can literally alter the direction of fiber according to the load bearing areas. The carbon fiber is highly expensive, and makes it out of reach for all but a few rich or the fanatic racers.

The most famous frame design is the diamond or double triangle, which has changed very little since the invention of the safety bicycle in the 1880s. A few frame builders are experimenting with new variations of this classic design. For instance, some carbon fiber frames are now made with oval tubing making the bicycle more aerodynamic. Also, new full-suspension bikes have modified the diamond design to allow for mounting a shock absorber on the seat stem.