That is an old wives tail. How a frame rides is a function of tube size, thickness, and shape. There are steel, aluminum, and titanium frames that ride as stiff as a board, and there are ones that ride like a noodle. Is is how they are built, not what they are built with.
K2 Bikes
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That is an old wives tail. How a frame rides is a function of tube size, thickness, and shape. There are steel, aluminum, and titanium frames that ride as stiff as a board, and there are ones that ride like a noodle. Is is how they are built, not what they are built with.
1. Beerman, your dumb 
, The frame is much more important. It dictates HOW the bike rides
2. Cary, your right that the design is most important, but at the same time, two bikes built the exact same. one of steel, and one of AL, the steel bike will weigh more and have a more forgiving ride, the AL will be stiffer and lighter.
3. Tonkota, I have always heard of K2 bikes being in the same category of trek, specialized, ect.
, The frame is much more important. It dictates HOW the bike rides2. Cary, your right that the design is most important, but at the same time, two bikes built the exact same. one of steel, and one of AL, the steel bike will weigh more and have a more forgiving ride, the AL will be stiffer and lighter.
3. Tonkota, I have always heard of K2 bikes being in the same category of trek, specialized, ect.
Sorry, but it simply is not true. Lets start with 4130 (since you didn't spec the type of steel, 631, 853, Nirvcom, S3, etc.) for the steel and say 6061 Aluminum, and build the identical frame, same size tubing, same wall thickness, same geometry, everything. The steel frame will be nearly 3 times stiffer than the aluminum one. In fact it would ride like a girder it would be so stiff.
I have ridden steel bikes that are rock hard, and currently ride a aluminium framed hardtail that rides nicer than most steel frames (Titus Riddler made out of 6069). Material does not dictate the ride.
get an aluminum gary fisher and be done with it! Great bikes.
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What year was your 930 produced? When you install that 80mm fork your current geometry is going to change. How much will depend on how old the frame is. IIRC 1991 was the first year Trek designed the frame around a suspension fork, granted back then a Rockshox Mag 21 had 53mm of travel? Your talking 80mm.
Long story short you might end up with handling characteristics you don't like.
Poorly built AL bikes. In the early days of AL bikes, they were considered whippy noodles, then Gary Klein came along with oversized tubes, going a bit overboard in the name of proving stiffness. Cannondale then jumped on the bandwagon using even bigger, non butted tubes, and their frames were really, really stiff. This started a trend in very oversized tubing, which resulted in an entire generation of overly stiff AL frames.
Here is my roadbike, look at it carefully, is it one of the new generation steel frames like S3 that uses larger thinner tubes, or is it aluminum tubes that aren't massively oversized?
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Cary, one minute between posts was not enough time to answer. But clearly it is AL by the size of the TIG welds.
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yes but the weld puddles of steel are much smaller than those of an AL joint. I guess my point was why post the question if the answer was only 60 seconds away?
Shoulda been more specific about the comparison to Schwinn and Mongoose. The Schwinn and Mongoose bikes you get at the big box stores are NOT the same Schwinn and Mongoose bikes you get at the real bike shops. They have two different lines of bikes, and the bike shop variety are actually good bikes. They kinda hurt their rap, but are making very good bikes again.
1. Beerman, your dumb
2. Cary, your right that the design is most important, but at the same time, two bikes built the exact same. one of steel, and one of AL, the steel bike will weigh more and have a more forgiving ride, the AL will be stiffer and lighter.
3. Tonkota, I have always heard of K2 bikes being in the same category of trek, specialized, ect.
Hey dumbass. A newbie rider wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Are you a complete moron? Or do you just act like one on the board?
Since steel and titanium are stronger than aluminum, they generally use smaller diameter tubing, with double, and sometimes even tripple butted tubing, and thinner walls.
Also, steel and Titanium ride differently than aluminum, so geometry makes a HUGE difference here as well.
I have an aluminum Gary Fisher Mt Tam Hardtail (Easton Elite 6061 T6 Aluminum tubing) that climbs like a mountain goat, and is an AWESOME bike for XC style riding. Point it down the hill though, and the long top tube and short rear triangle make it REALLY sketchy to the point of being scary.
The ride is also VERY harsh on anythign but hardpacked dirt, and smallish gravel.
My 'big' bike is a Transition Dirtbag, which is also 6061 T6 aluminum, and has 7" of suspension front and rear. This bike ROCKS going downhill, but climbing is seriously an afterthought...
IF you're going to spend alot of time in teh saddle, I'd consider a high end steel or titanium hard tail.
If you're only going to use the bike occasionally, a 7000 series aluminum hard tail will suit just fine.
It's all in how much you want to spend, and what kind of riding you intend to do.
Personally, I won't own another aluminum hard tail.
My next hard tail is going to be either a steel or titanium 29er.
most of the carbon fibre bikes and bike parts out there are made in china.
Many chinese products suck.
However, they seem to hit the nail SQUARE on the head when it comes to Carbon Fibre production.
Here are my 2 rigs.
I dig the Thermoplastic from GT and the Aluminum on the Azonic serves a great function for overall weight on a 50lb bike.
I'd stay away from K2 and try and fly with a Gary Fisher as someone mentioned. Just remember, you'll probably ride it MORE than you think and want to hold on to it longer than you would think so buy accordingly.
Whatever you do..enjoy...riding is a blast.
I dig the Thermoplastic from GT and the Aluminum on the Azonic serves a great function for overall weight on a 50lb bike.
I'd stay away from K2 and try and fly with a Gary Fisher as someone mentioned. Just remember, you'll probably ride it MORE than you think and want to hold on to it longer than you would think so buy accordingly.
Whatever you do..enjoy...riding is a blast.
