Mind Blowing Facts About BMX Frame Materials!! Carbon Vs Chromoly!

In today's Tech Thursday brought to you by Phu Vu from EPIC BMX ( / _epicbmx ) we discuss Mind Blowing Facts About BMX Frame Materials!! Carbon Vs Chromoly! In the last video ( • BMX Bike Frame Geometr... ) we went over frame Geometry and in this video we go over all the different materials that BMX frames are made out of (Aluminum, Hi-tensile steel, 4130 Chromoly Steal, Carbon Fiber and we will be covering Titanium frames in another episode). BMX frame 101!
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[@gronkgrunk]

As a normie street rider myself who just got back into riding bmx after 30 years (i'm old!) I find this channel very informative & fun. Keep it up, guys! 💯 Sending ❤ from across the globe, Malaysia.

[@AlfredoMancuso]

That’s amazing to hear!! Welcome back!

[@storyyxx]

LADY N GELLMAN WELCUM BACK

[@SheepeyRace]

Sheeeesh

[@LOVES-A1911]

Back in the day(the eighties)hi- ten steel was used in low end models and department store bikes, aluminum was used for the mini racers and some pro models, Chromemoly was used for most BMX bikes and carbon fiber was something that was being played with for BMX.

[@davidmaerz2756]

Exactly, I would never buy a carbon frame, when it breaks it explodes since I am a heavier rider. Only bike I would use carbon on is a road bike. My favorite is 4130 chromoly, but I do have a few aluminum bmx frames. Steel is real, 4130 S&M style. Raced in the early to late 80s with a Skyway TA and even a Redline Rl-20 and raced the worlds in Saskatoon in 97. Todd Lyons was a riot in the crowd, such a comedian and such a nice guy.

[@weareallbeingwatched4602]

@@davidmaerz2756 go look at the tests of Santa Cruz handlebars and wheels, and carbon fiber based military armour technology. You could not be more wrong. Carbon is *expensive*. Simple answer. Low quality chinese manufactured no-brand anything explodes. I blew up some ball bearing races in my pedals... and that nearly killed me. Pulling big tabletop air on my Danish made pronghorn frame, at about 40mph downhill on tarmac, coming down off a ramp and blipping a kerb on the way back down.

[@davidmaerz2756]

@@weareallbeingwatched4602 I still would not touch carbon, I've seen videos of pro bmxers frames and forks exploding by them casing a set of doubles by a bit. No thanks.

[@weareallbeingwatched4602]

@@davidmaerz2756 go watch the Santa Cruz video and watch them demonstrate progressive failure modes and approximately double to triple the strength of aluminium at half the weight. We used to be wary of CF in mountain biking, and there are some horror stories from the '90s, but I was trained by the guys from westland helicopters, and they used it for bullet proofing seats against anti aircraft guns. There is no substitute for design and engineering, but the "carbon breaks like glass on an icy day" argument is basically ignorant and stupid. Carbon is just expensive. It's got a lot cheaper over the years. Poor quality carbon fiber or burned plastic cloth is easy to make, high modulus isn't. Cheap chinese polyester parts from the early noughties are dangerous. So are lots of things. I bought a soldering iron which melted and tried to set fire to the building out in Shenzhen. It's very scary indeed what goes on out there. I won't install Tiktok either. BMXers can break most things, but current composite technology is straight legit strong. Strong enough to take the licks. Have a look at what's going on in aerospace. It's feasible for bomb-proofing.

[@bartpang]

Aluminum doesn't have the fatigue strength of the steel. That is why they make it thicker at the joints.

[@ridzwansabtu3918]

Cro-Mo for my street & Alluminium for my race BMX. Its not just the meterial is diffrent in function, wait till Master Phu explain the components between those two and why some of those parts cannot be interchangeble. Great vids as usual Alf & Master Phu 👍🏻

[@cfmechanic]

I remember when dk was big in the late 90s. Sad they are in walmart same as schwinn and mongoose.

[@nomdeguerre13]

My I AM COOK race frame is American made steel and the rear triangle is oval-shaped tubing. I have Ti race bike too, shocker that it is NO lighter than the IAC frame. Fun video, but too bad the 13 minute thing is well a thing, could have been so much more informative with your captive audience. Should have mentioned Tri-Moly too... anyway, the beard looks good, toe not so much.

[@marcel98329]

Aluminium is not brittle (thats why teslas Floors are made out of aluminium alloy - plastic deformation is a way of energy absorption during crashes). It can be plasticaly deformed more than most of steels before cracking. Aluminium as a material is also less stiffer because it has smaller Young’s modulus. However frames made of alu can feel stiffer just because the material is weaker so the tubes must be bigger in diameter and wall thickness while still maintaining the advantage of almost 3 times smaller density than steel.

[@francisluzano5872]

steel Vs Aluminum Now I’m understanding !!! Thanks for more info!!! Thank you 🙏

[@BarnsB_23]

I don’t ride Bmx anymore but ,These videos are so damn interesting haha

[@pauljames1978]

Aluminium 7000 series frame for racing and freestyle BMX go for a chromo frame but I’ve seen titanium frames for racing back in the day by hyper and Mike Laird makes custom titanium frames for freestyle now for pros and the public but it’s all about what you like I think not everyone likes a light bike and depends what you ride the most 👍🚲💨

[@MIKEZGAMER-g8b]

Ive learned alot, thanks bud

[@davidmaerz2756]

Aluminum is softer but stiffer than 4130, ironic right? 4130 all day. Aluminum is stiffer but at a bigger thickness. Pros would replace aluminum frames twice a year because once you flex aluminum it loses strength big time. 4130 flexes granted, but pros could go a whole race season on one frame because 4130 retains it's strength after flexing.

[@Erokia.]

1st song - Beamic - Charl´s Bronx 2nd song - Devaloop feat. Pete Flux & Debonair P - No Sides 3rd song - Coops - That Jazz (OFFICIAL VIDEO) (Prod. Talos) 4th song - AK420 - Long Way Home 5th song - Remulak - New Cone

[@davidspangler7379]

I'm gonna guess the aluminum is stiffer because of the structure of the molecules, allowing it to be softer and lighter.

[@MadMetalShop]

Naw the aluminum would gum up your file 😉🤣 alum has a better strength to weight ratio than steel. I build alum bridges that can span further distances becase the alum doesnt yeild under its own weight like steel will.

[@carltonbreezy]

Oooo! Phus done his hair! Lots of love from Wales ❤️❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@Michael-bs2yu]

Aluminum race frames do flex but they are stiffer than chromoly frames. It really doesn't matter at the end of the day it comes down the preference. Back when I was racing I raced with kids that had way more expensive race bikes and bikes that were lighter than mine and I still beat them.

[@adampierce7468]

2010 high tensile steel is absolute garbage. 4130 chromolly is where its at. Aluminum is great but has a bad habit of cracking around the bottom bracket. I heard way too many horror stories about carbon fiber bikes snapping in half.

[@demacherius1]

Roadbikes are not out of aluminum anymore. They are carbonfiber. Negative thing about carbon is once you damage the fiber you end up with a microscopic crack that can and will expode at any time. Not suitable for bmx that get thrown around and impact the ground hard.

[@robertlund5694]

You can but new roadbikes in aluminium, ti, steel and carbon right now- 2022 models!

[@kirstenspencer3630]

Ok, old Granny here, 1018 and 1020 higher carbon steel is much much stronger than a soup can. 1018 cam make a nice fatigue resistant grame. DOM ( drawn over mandrel ) quality 1018 is a Quality material built properly. The Walmart / mass market bikes are mostly not high carbon but questionable low to mid carbon steel. Cheap and easy to make into something that resemble a bicycle. Go online and check out the channels specializing in metals. Tin cans are specified to have LOW carbon so the can is softer and won't wear out the tooling when manufacturing the can. Thanks fer' reading....

[@JimS870]

What do you think of carbon fiber?

[@kurtweber4813]

Alf and Phù, where's the epic shirt store guys. Haha. Would buy from Australia and I'm sure there is more that would too.👍

[@weareallbeingwatched4602]

No. Softness is not equivalent to lightness. Titanium says "what?!" Please buy a book on engineering and metallurgy. Tensile strength is basically a question of the strength of the electrical molecular bonds, atomic weight is an influence, but simple it is not. Yes, alloys that form natural oxide layers are typically strong, that's aluminium and titanium, as well as cobalt and chromium - anodising can also be done to some types of steel, but hi-ten will basically convert to rust. It is just a question of whether the oxide layer sticks to the material - inherent oxide adhesion correlates with strong.

[@lawrencematos7493]

@alfredomancuso … when would you have your website up ? I live in Florida and there’s no old school bike shop like yours and EBay you never know what you get ?

[@potaylor9992]

Hi tin what no thanks hints the name chomemoly yes thank you Basically this information was just logic basically Never mind all the willy Nelly Fufu stuff. Thanks for keeping it simple for us simple folk

[@Alejandrolopez-sr9ze]

You straight to love girls no g..y 🙅🏽 and I am straight up love girls a beautiful on bmx a Rad .

[@bmx_or_die]

It’s always a good day when I get these videos!

[@hohohaha999]

Stiffness IS brittleness, high density = flexibility is why steel and titanium don't break the same way as aluminum

[@cyberlingbot3d896]

The aluminum frame is thicker and beefier, it's lighter material but still thicker. The cromo frames are really thin so they flex. That's my guess.

[@charlesolson8107]

Phu thinks the fish won't recognize him with the beard!

[@karl11]

Those numbers(4130, 6061, 6065, etc) are codes for a certain alloy of steel. You can check it on engineering table of materials. It explains the percentage of metals and carbon that fuses together.

[@dogbreath6982]

He already said that simp

[@kirstenspencer3630]

6061 is aluminum alloy the T is the heat treatment.

[@Gee_MoneyzGee_Moneyz]

Alfredo put a aluminum frame bmx bike to the test.

[@skylarsoper241]

What about ti frames , I’m interested in a laird frame for street use ?

[@MinionOfDarkness]

Just a mention that you can also anodized titanium

[@BrettG64]

FYI 1010 and 4130 can be equally strong. The problem is weight. To have a frame made of 1010 be as strong as 4130 it would have to be made out of thicker material, therefore making it heavier. 4130 has a better strength to weight ratio.

[@machongtalong1210]

Title says Carbon Vs Chromoly, but comparison was between Aluminum and Chromoly?🤔

[@XARIER39]

Man he doesn't have the tiiime to explain that 😜

[@sparky6086]

Chromoly is also used in airplane frames.

[@matthewansell5549]

Tell us about 41thermal? What’s that all about and why Sunday give life time warranty with it

[@mikehagen3785]

It's a heat treating process

[@jasoncarona7737]

Magnatanium !!

[@kirstenspencer3630]

Actually a cast magnesium road bike frame ( Reynolds 531 manganese steel fork ) was manufactured in the late 1980's. One came in the shop for service and I rode it a bit. Not so bad ride. Halfway between the aluminum bikes and Quality steel bikes. The advertisement for the frame material showed a car driving over the frame and the frame springing back to shape. Interesting....

[@eduardogonzalez6331]

How can you tell if it’s hi ten or chromoly

[@jackkev408]

i hope you guys have a great fkn weekend peace.

[@akumastealthily123]

Fixed gear

[@fallenhobbit6554]

The carbon car body parts fu was talking about is referred to as forged carbon fiber. It can take on a lot of shapes traditional carbon fiber can't but the grain structure of the fibers is erratic and not as strong. The make high stress parts still out of layered carbon fiber sheets and resin. On aluminum, Alf is correct. With aluminum being less dense they can oversize and ovalize the tubes for increased stiffness while decreasing weight.

[@kirstenspencer3630]

You speak truth....

[@adamsifford6228]

Why not stainless steel its light and strong.

[@KINGSLAYER3000-BMX_RIDER]

Does an alliuminum frame bend?

[@VailSkateSupply1]

How about a shout out bro?

[@juniorsoto3476]

Make a video about titanium frames

[@130ponce]

I've noticed with chromoly when you grab the handlebars and bounce the tire on the pavement you can feel the vibration of the metal, and not so much when you do it with aluminium. I must say chromoly to me just feels better

[@fallenhobbit6554]

Thats the decreased density of aluminum. It doesn't transmit vibration as much.

[@atrax7023]

We use to have frames back in the 80s like the GT Performers were made out of "Tri-moly" half hi-ten and half chromoly. The GT Pro Performer frames were made out of full 4130 chromoly.

[@fallenhobbit6554]

ALOT of your complete bmx bikes are still made this way.

[@atrax7023]

@@fallenhobbit6554 It makes sense to have the 4130 only in places where you need it the most.Then hi- ten the rest keeping the costs down.

[@fallenhobbit6554]

@@atrax7023 good point actually since those completes are aimed at the entry level anyway.

[@atrax7023]

@@fallenhobbit6554 But you'd think seeing the name "Trimoly" it would be the best of the best. Area 51 stuff lol

[@XARIER39]

"I don't have the tiiime" 😅

[@kyleyazzie3022]

Sting Ray man good thing your ok

[@revvolutionz]

GUYS!

[@chrisgatewood5369]

Where is this shop located?

[@opxcgxo7256]

Hiii

[@jerebeardagreat4627]

What about titanium?

[@BMX_Derek]

Will hi ten steel hold up as a wheelie bike and light street riding like hops off curbs little bit of jumps

[@rtz549]

Yes

[@weareallbeingwatched4602]

Mate... you just explained how out of touch BMX is with CF technology. That's crazy what you just said. So long as you use enough pressure and epoxy resin, you can work with "pre preg" carbon just fine at home. Much easier to DIY than metalwork, loads of it going on. You would not want to use polyester resin like a glass fiber surfboard, but done correctly that is pretty bloody strong. Depends on your layup and design chops . Composite materials can be made so many ways - there are "metal matrix composites" in aircraft - MMCs - and those are seriously strong. Aluminium-carbon-fiber... oh yea it exists. Please research before you tell people stuff that's basically wrong. Composite materials are basically limitless - carbon fiber on it's own is thin as sewing thread, and so weak it breaks simply by being blown upon in the wind. I use impact resistant drumsticks made of an injection moulded type of carbon fiber, using nylon. You could even 3d print this stuff at home. Markforged have machines on a whole different level - it lays glass, kevlar or CF strand into 3d printed pa6 nylon. Get stuck in, bro.

[@eugenecastro6202]

Verry nice the red one sir

[@prayarcher]

I was waiting for you to talk about those bikes that say "chromoly rear triangle" or "chromoly downtube". The hybrids. Also Diamondback had one bike frame labeled "Tri-moly". To this day I have no clue what that is🤔

[@reviewyourownadventure2083]

Cold cut and dry. You heard this new sandwich phrase here first.

[@makncheese6836]

I'm still wondering why aluminum isn't used very much knowing that aluminum mtbs are very strong

[@josephcorso5081]

Mtb suspension takes stress of the aluminum.

[@Kretunio]

it tends to crack easier than cr-mo when taking a lot of abuse like unsuspended bmx do. I've seen a lot of cracked MTB frames used on street. Plus what was said in the video it didn't withstand grinding well.

[@xzavier-_-1659]

I have a question can you have pedal assist on your BMX BIKE and is there a good one that you need that only works or does it not matter what you get? Anyone know.

[@kanszunyog]

All i know about bmx parts and sht, i know it from Phu 👊🏽🙌🏽

[@keam210tx]

Came out with that fiya talking bout tinda jajaja Another solid vid 💪

[@BlackyBrownDestruction9337]

Stainless steel is the best because you don’t have to worry about paint chipping away or rust

[@MorbidThrasher666]

You forgot to talk about Tri-Moly,im sure you hate it too lol.

[@Jason-rk3zv]

How do you make a gyro work on a 5" headtube? 165mm steerer tube.

[@bimmix2054]

I think the aluminum would do okay grinding if you kept it to mostly round rails. CF too for that matter

[@acidface624]

Be cool to see a flatland frame and the different Geometry that is put into them . Different in offset and component's used etc

[@bigjobby7115]

I allways thought the low end cheap.bikes were made from mild steel ? My first bmx snapped and There was a deal going where you could upgrade to a high tensile chrommolly frame for 15 bucks (early 80s) which I did it cracked and got welded back together several times lol I've got many frames from the past even a Standard ox Platinum which was special back in the day 2000 ish

[@robertlund5694]

Car exhaust s are made from mild steel - Raleigh had low end BMX bikes with cro-mo stamped on the rear brake bridge, a little chromium was added to the hi ten steel but they were still only a little above the bottom end for quality.

[@ssLFM4387]

Can you do a video about Titanium Frames please 😁

[@VAustin89]

on a fixie you really can feel the flex between aluminum and Cr-mo.

[@VailSkateSupply1]

Those Sleeper frames are sexy!

[@storyyxx]

alfred come on dawg, post some different shit bruh

[@ColbysToolRivew]

Yo send a subscriber some pegs the longest ones that ya got lol

[@mikealverson5575]

That Fit frame looks awesome

[@V4MPIRE_AESTHETICS]

You most definately lose power through the cranks due to the flex on a cro-moly frame. The stiffness of an aluminium frame on a BMX race bike gives much more power on the push... It's the same reason aluminium mountain bikes were so good at hill climbing compared to steel framed bikes. The lack of flex increases the power through to the back wheel.

[@SH-ry2xi]

False

[@aquilonianace4791]

Cromo propels you forward

[@sparky6086]

Chromoly is the way to go. It's light, strong, durable, and most of all, it absorbs vibration!

[@dancor8380]

What about titanium phu? 🤔

[@BullyGovJ4F7775]

720p? come on!

[@calimongoose8433]

Titanium.?

[@cindyzaragoza2736]

I think the pork was the first bike made in both cromo and aluminum

[@ArnieJames666]

For freestyle specifically, yes, and they were ugly as hell. I believe the aluminum one had a steel insert in the head tube

[@penscivemage9174]

hi

[@VailSkateSupply1]

Steel frames have too much pop for racing. It’s hard to stay low on a springy frame.