Not too long ago, a friend sent me a link to an article about KVA Stainless steel.
To save you the trouble of reading about the company, and the article about them, let me sum it up for you. After being turned down by Ford, KVA decided to make tubing for bicycle frames. To say that their product is good would be an understatement. They sold tubing to Reynolds. No small feat, that. And now they are offering it to frame builders. It can be TIG welded or silver fillet brazed, and is exceptionally light while significantly stronger than titanium. TIG welding is not to be underestimated as it creates exceptional bonds with the welded metals.
No other material can match the strength to weight ratio of steel, while offering the same ride quality. Of course, in trying to do so, frames prices have gone steadily upwards. The good news is that based on the prices shown on the KVA site, their tube sets are very competitively priced. Sure, they still need to be assembled into an actual frame by a qualified builder, but they’re priced lower than other sets that can’t match their quality. This impresses me for tubing that’s made in America. And for fans of Reynolds, Columbus, and other high performance steel tubing, this is a welcome alternative.
I’m looking forward to seeing some new bikes made with this tubing.
Interesting! The stainless aspect also makes it competitive with Titanium. Aside from cost and strenght to weight ratio there ia also the matter of responsiveness and feel and in the end onlyriding can determine if it is a good frame material.
Stainless Steel is always good…