Tange and Reynolds Steel

[dirttorpedo]

Didn't Miyata make their own tube sets BITD? I recall seeing Miyata ads that talked about their spline butted tubing. Oh, and my GT Edge is an early variant made with some French brand of tubing I'd never heard of before I bought the bike.

Edited to say I checked my GT and it was made with Excell tubing which was in use in the 90's on a variety of racing bikes.

 

[24pouces]

but Bontrager's ride fantastic despite not having a 'high-end' tube set, it's partly down to the geometry.

Bontrager was made in True Temper 4130 double butted if I remember…

 

[ibbz]

Anyone ever been to any refinery or plant or had experience in which method or make is higher in quality?

 

[danson67]

There's Columbus and True Temper too with high steel quality tubes…

And of course also Ishiwata (now Kaisei), Vitus, Dedacciai, Oria. They all made a good tube, and some pretty nasty stuff too mostly generic Chrome-Moly/4130/T45 derivatives.

IMHO Columbus Nivacrom was a serious advance after the heat treated nightmare that was 753, but Reynolds have trumped everyone else with air hardening 853 and air hardening stainless 953 since. It's boring round tubing to look at, though

True Temper tubes are rolled, seam welded and then drawn, so the grain's not as good as the cold drawn seamless stuff. Columbus, Tange and Deda tubes have far more interesting and innovative profiles, (See Columbus Max & Genius, Tange Infinity etc.) but Dedaccai and Kaisei have the best tolerances, straightness and finish for building, Reynolds do not have a good reputation for straightness among builders.

All the best,

 

[xerxes]

It's boring round tubing to look at, though

Don't have to build boring frames with it though:

 

[ferrus]

An awful lot of BS has been spoken over the years about steel quality; high strength steels merely offer the potential to make light, strong tube sets - it's the design and spec' of the tubing that determines it's characteristics. As mentioned, the frames design, construction and tube selection all contribute to how it handles and feels.
In the early days of MTBs, Reynolds might have produced perhaps the finest steel, but those first tubesets were conservatively designed and heavy - hence Roberts decision to sometimes use more up to date Columbus tubes, for example.

By far the nicest frame I've ridden is a Breezer Jetstream/Lightning; this is built with 'no name' 4130 Cro Mo, albeit heat treated, but manufactured to Joe's distinct spec's, which is where the magic comes from.

 

[24pouces]

By far the nicest frame I've ridden is a Breezer Jetstream/Lightning; this is built with 'no name' 4130 Cro Mo, albeit heat treated, but manufactured to Joe's distinct spec's, which is where the magic comes from.

I thought that Breezer were made with Tange tubes, first Ritchey Tange and after more classic Tange.

For making a first comparison :
Tange MTB / Reynolds 531
Tange Prestige / Reynolds 753

But we need to consider that Tange Prestige has been divided in Tange Prestige "Ritchey Logic" Ultra Strong, Ultimate… and for Reynolds, under the same number 531, there were series like "off road", "tandem"… etc
What a mess ! :mrgreen:

 

[ferrus]

By far the nicest frame I've ridden is a Breezer Jetstream/Lightning; this is built with 'no name' 4130 Cro Mo, albeit heat treated, but manufactured to Joe's distinct spec's, which is where the magic comes from.

I thought that Breezer were made with Tange tubes, first Ritchey Tange and after more classic Tange.

Yes, before '96 they were; my '92 Storm has Logic maintubes (non-Prestige) and ''Prestige Bi Conical'' seatstays.
The Jetstream's from '97 and uses Breezer D Fusion tubing, made by Hodaka to Joes design. It's the most supple and stable-handling bike I've ridden despite weighing c20lbs, yet isn't at all flexy.

 

[JamesM]

For making a first comparison :
Tange MTB / Reynolds 531
Tange Prestige / Reynolds 753

531 and 753 aren't Chromoly. I think 525 and 725 would be a better match.

 

[24pouces]

For making a first comparison :
Tange MTB / Reynolds 531
Tange Prestige / Reynolds 753

531 and 753 aren't Chromoly. I think 525 and 725 would be a better match.

But 531 and 753 contain molybdene

I tried to make a comparison about their range and quality, no to say they got the same composition