As most of you might know, I am a man of too many hobbies. I have an uncle who is heavily into cycling and he recently made the mistake of showing me a couple of Scott CR1 frames he acquired and is outfitting them with all sorts of expensive Dura ace and expensive wheels. He claims these frames are around 2 lbs each.
While I have an old mountain bike, I am NOT a cyclist. At 41 however, I am thinking I need to start exercising again and the technology of modern cycling is drawing me near the edge.
I started thinking about piecing together a light 54" (I am 5'8"), road bike. I know carbon is all the rage and Aluminum is considered harsh. As a hardcore DIY type, I can't help but think about building my own steel frame, then outfitting it with ultegra or maybe even dura ace or Campy components.
Those who know me, know that I am a mechanical engineer by day and a hardcore DIY'er at night. I have much experience in all aspects of aircraft building (tig welding 4130 thin wall tubing especially) and have built a violin from scratch after thoroughly researching it. IOW, I can easily research then build a fixture and braze/silver solder a lugged bicycle frame if I choose to.
I have done just a small amount of searching thus far at sites such as this
http://www.henryjames.com/
Are steel frames still of value today.... What is the weight of some modern custom built steel frames? Is sub 4 lbs common? I know there are some current avid cyclists here....any one with recent new steel frame experience?
PS, I do not NEED top of the line, but as a mechanical guy who likes custom building things, I would go big or not go at all. Chances are, after a year the bike will just sit like most of my other hobby toys.....it is a sickness I tell ya