I love steel bikes. This is what the first Bici Pidassos will be made of, as well.

Carbon is my favourite material, I admit, but there's nothing like a good old-fashioned, round-tubed steel steed in the stable, as well. I will have a Reynolds 853 in my garage as soon as I get stuff sorted.

Just make sure you occasionally spray in an application of Frame Saver to preserve your investment.

As bunnyman mentioned (and I second his comments) steel is an excellent material for a tri bike. Back in the good 'ol days QR made some impressive steel bikes. Waterford (Barb Lindquist's bike sponsor) and Seven are both doing really nice custom frames in steel. Steel is an excellent material, currently overshadowed in popularity by the cosemetic (and somewhat functional) allure of aluminum which lends itself more easily to light, aero, bladed tube shapes. It would be nice to have a light, comfortable tri bike out of Reynolds 753 or 853. Steel is a great choice.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Said with sarcastic voice:

No! Steel is heavy. It's the frame material of has-beens like Merckx, Indurain and Hunault. And ESPECIALLY avoid anything from Scapin. Just too close to "scraping," which sounds too bottom-of-the-barrel for me. Gotta go with aluminum. Light and harsh. What's an IM without some pain?

Sarcasm off.

The more important aspect than frame material or manufacturer is fit. Scapin has some good road-oriented stuff, and uses a variety of grades in their various offerings. The road geometry may well be the best for your particular riding tendencies.

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

You mention a 753 tri bike. Did anybody ever make lugs that are appropriate for steep seat tube geometry?

Dre'

Seven Cycles will custom make a steel Axiom in tri/steep geometry. This is a sweet bike. www.sevencycles.com. Here's a pic. of the Ti version. You can pick your paint/decal colors for the steel version.

I don't know about lugged steel trii bikes, but I know that all of the custom dealers can set up a bike with a steep angled seat tube... my personal recomendation would be serotta... I can't remember off of the top of my head but there are some custom guys out there who specialize in detailed lug work who should be able to answer that question if it comes back to me I will repost

italian steel........yummmmmm !

I got me a Moser and I love it.

No!, only can you ride steel in a triathlon if your John Howard.

Seriously though, weight is not as important on flat courses like Eagleman. But weight is important on hilly courses like IMUSA, Columbia, etc.

IMHO, I would not think that steel is appropriate for a tri bike. Bottom line is steel bikes are heavier than aluminum, carbon, titanium.

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I was, now I will tri again!
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Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.

Taku,
I mentioned lugs because it's the only way you can hold together a bunch of 753 tubes. This steel can't be welded or brazed: you have to silver solder it. 753 is a bitchin' tubeset, but it's such a mess to work with that Reynolds killed it a few years ago ("replaced" by 853, which any imbecile can work with, thus the proliferation of TIGged bikes). The advantage of TIG welding and filet brazing, of course, is the ability of customizing the geometry.

If Mandaric were lurking, he'd chime in, as he's one of the "about 50" guys who were "allowed" (by Reynolds) to build 753 bikes.

Serotta? I'd go for Waterford myself ... I can't really picture a Bob Jackson tri bike! :)

Dre'

Waterford in TrueTemper S3- that's good stuff!!!

I have heard that a few tubesets of 753 are still floating around. I am sure that it would cost a MINT to get something like that!!!! I think Bob Jackson claims that he still has some.

More people than you think still have little piles of 753. The problem is getting the geometry you really want, unless what you want is standard road geometry.

Yeah, S3 is in a league of its own ... and for two big g's, full custom, it's not that expensive (relatively speaking, of course). I read somewhere that Santata was coming up with full S3 singles, at complete weights under 16 lbs. What would Brian Boitano do?

Dre'

Ok, then let me ask the question: what are the chances of Ves Mandaric building up a steel frame in tri geometry? Ves?

If he's not limited by lug availability, i.e. if you want a steel he can TIG weld, you'll get the geometry you want. If he doesn't want to do it, ask Slawta: he's built a lot of steep bikes with dropped top tubes.

I've recently started dreaming about this tri-geometry fixie ...

Dre'