Steel bikes making a comeback?

News from the Interbike 2007 show in the US is that an increasing number of manufacturers are coming out with steel framed bikes.

There's some coverage from Wired here.

To be honest, I can't see why. Steel is heavy, and brittle - it can't stand up to the punishment that a well built aluminium or carbon fibre frame.

My Cannondale F700 has covered over 40,000 tough, abusive miles in the 6 years I've owned it. The CAAD3 frame has put up with a lot of abuse, but apart from the usual scratches and marks it's absolutely fine.

Check out this excellent frame stress test: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/EFBe/frame_fatigue_test.htm Some very interesting reading there.

For mountain bikes, steel just doesn't give you the confidence and handling that aluminium does. I've yet to try a new Cannondale carbon fibre frame (my local shop recently stopped being a Cannondale dealer) but I'm eager to give them a go, even if I don't want to part with my trusty F700.

Any racing bike riders care to weigh in with comments on the viability of steel frames?

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