Light Frames?

[tmusson]

I currently have a rockman kortz frame. I bought it because of the way it look not because of how light weight it is, but now im not sure if its holding me back from going big on stuff because theres always that thought of how strong is it and if it dies thats £488 down the drain

Just wondering how light can a frame be before it is weak?

[psycholist]

No good answer to this. If you're light and ride smoothly there probably isn't a frame out there you'd break. If you like to slap your bike off things hard, land heavily and do drop gaps to front then there isn't a frame out there that won't break eventually. If the frame is holding you back, even if it is psychologically, you're probably better to swap for one that you're confident won't break on you though. If you haven't broken a frame before there's no reason to think this one will break on you anyway.

[Shaun H]

Just wondering how light can a frame be before it is weak?

That's too much of an open ended question really.

A frame could be really well designed but use a poor quality/poor performance material that means it is weak or fatigues quickly.

On the other hand a frame could be designed quite badly but use a quality, high performance material that means it is strong and can last.

However if a company gets both right, a good design with a great material, then it can be very strong and potentially (material dependent) last a long time too.

If I were to generalise (although like I explained it's massively open ended in truth) then I'd say any frame under 1.8-1.9 kg risks being "weak" and/or having short fatigue "life".

[Cahill Trials Kid]

Just because its light doesnt meen its going to be week.

If its desiged and built well it shouldnt snap, unless your a very rough rider and not to smooth. If you are like that just practise more before trying bigger stuff that could damage it.