Bikes are made out of a lot of things these days . Steel and aluminum remain the most widely used materials for bike frames because they give the rider a combination of  performance, durability, weight and price that are hard to beat.

Steel tube sets from Reynolds and Columbus have been the standard of the industry for many years. Steel tubes make a bike frame that is comfortable all day long and has excellent fatigue resistance to let you enjoy your custom frame for years to come.

Aluminum is the performance riders tube of choice. Aluminum offers a stiff frame that transmits a riders power to the road in the most efficient manner possible. Frame weights as low as 2.5 pounds can be achieved for riders seeking the ultimate in light weight racing frames.

How the frames are measured and set up?

All frames except for the cross country mtb and mtb touring are set up for drop bars and standard stems. That means the designs are based on a level top tube (the traditional road set up). Seat tubes are measured center of bb to center of seat cluster (center of top tube at seat tube). Top tube lengths are center to center measured level. The length of the head tube is set by the other dimensions.

The mountain bikes are different. Seat tube length is center of bb to top  of seat tube. The top tube length is measured...are you ready?... from the center of the headtube 30mm below the top of the head tube to the centerline of the seat tube, level to the ground. Since the top tube slopes on mtb frames the point you are measuring to on the seat tube centerline will be above the frame someplace along the seat post. A word about head tube length. Traditional road design locks in the head tube length because of the level top tube design parameter. The length of the head tube on mountain bikes is set by the designer. TomET geometry gives head tube length for each size using a 422mm long suspension fork. When ordering a mountain frame please let us know what length fork you will be using so we can adjust the head tube length accordingly.

See proper fit to help size your frame correctly.

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