While there was a time when all bike frames were handmade from steel, stretching back only a couple of decades, now there’s plenty of choice when it comes to material. Steel remains the go-to option for a handbuilt frame, but titanium, carbon fibre and even aluminium are all popular alternatives. We asked Donhou and Roberts about the pros and cons of each.

Just as bicycle technology has advanced, so has the quality of materials available to a frame builder. Metal frames can now be built lighter than ever and steel has made something of a low-key comeback as a viable material from which to make a performance-focused bicycle, with the UCI Continental-registered Madison-Genesis team using the Genesis Volare 953 in the Tour Series.

Indeed, steel is still the most commonly used material for custom frames, simply as it is the easiest to work with. It also allows builders to easily tune the ride using tube diameters, wall thicknesses and butt lengths by picking and choosing tubes from different manufacturers. Donhou says then when he builds steel frames for touring use, he will often select a larger diameter or thicker walled option for the toptube to prevent the bike from shimmying when fully loaded. When asked why they chose to go with steel for a custom build, many people will cite the fact that a well-built steel frame has a character to it and a springiness that other materials cannot match.

“With steel there is so much choice. I mainly work with Reynolds 853 tubing,” says Donhou. “It’s a great steel and there’re a lot of different options within the range: tube diameters, butt profiles, wall thicknesses. That choice allows me to fine-tune the ride of the bike to the customer’s needs. I also use a lot of stainless steel tubing. Most of the time I use Columbus XCR, but I also use Reynolds 953. The choices with stainless are limited at the moment, but there are more options becoming available all of the time. The benefit of using stainless steel is that it is resistant to corrosion, which means in that in theory a stainless frame should last a life time.”

Carbon fibre is material of choice for Comtat and Roberts says, as well as offering an unbeatable stiffness-to-weight ratio, it can also be fine-tuned according to the customer’s preferences. However, while low weight is the main benefit of carbon fibre, the need for specialist manufacturing processes means that very few businesses are able to offer it as an option and the setup costs for producing custom carbon frames are reflected in the final cost.

“For Comtat frames, either 3K or 1K weave carbon tubes are used, and the choice comes down to cost and final weight. 1K is the lightest option and also give a more supple ride thanks to the narrowness of the threads used. If the thicker 3K weave is used the bike can be made a lot stiffer and the price is relatively lower,” says Roberts. “With titanium frames, the geometry is custom on Comtat frames, but the tubing remains the same diameter due to limited availability. The tubes we use are all double-butted and are drawn to order for the builder.”

The lively feel of a well-built steel frame can also be achieved with the use of titanium tubing with the advantage of less overall weight. Titanium is also often considered as the material of choice if you want a frame for life, due to its resistance to corrosion. However, stainless steel offers that corrosion resistance and is not as expensive a titanium, though it is still considerably more costly than regular steel.

Alongside the options of steel, stainless steel, titanium and carbon fibre there are also a small, but steadily increasing number of bespoke builders working with aluminium.