Every bike on this page is built on a steel or chromoly steel frame. Steel absorbs road vibration better than aluminum, flexes instead of cracking, and can be repaired by a competent framebuilder. The result is a smoother, quieter ride that gets better with age instead of worse.

Why a steel bike rides better in a city

City riding is a long series of small impacts: expansion joints, streetcar tracks, curb cuts, patched asphalt. A steel frame damps that buzz before it reaches your hands and your lower back. Aluminum is stiffer for the same tube diameter, which is why race bikes use it, but on a four mile commute over broken pavement that stiffness is what you feel at the end of the ride.

Which Brooklyn Bicycle Co. bikes are steel?

The Roebling and the Lorimer use lightweight double-butted 4130 chromoly steel. The Franklin 3, Franklin 8, Bedford 8, and Wythe use steel frames.

Three models in our lineup are aluminum instead: the Brighton 7, the Driggs 8i Disc, and the Willow 8i Disc. We would rather tell you that than claim the whole catalog is one material.

Are steel bikes heavy?

Not the way they were thirty years ago. Butted chromoly tubing is drawn thinner through the middle of each tube, where the strength is not needed, and left thicker at the welds. The Lorimer is 26 lb and the Roebling is 28 lb, light enough to carry up a third floor walk-up.

Steel versus aluminum, honestly

Ride quality: steel wins on rough pavement. It flexes a little and damps vibration.
Weight: aluminum wins, though modern butted chromoly closes most of the gap on a city bike.
Repairability: steel wins. A bent or cracked steel frame can be cold set or brazed. Aluminum usually cannot be repaired and has a finite fatigue life.
Corrosion: aluminum wins on paper. In practice a finished steel frame that gets wiped down after wet rides lasts decades.
Longevity: steel wins. A steel frame that is looked after outlives the components bolted to it.

Do steel bicycles rust?

Not if the finish is intact and the bike is not stored in standing water. Our frames are finished to resist corrosion and the chains and hardware are rust-resistant. Wipe the bike down after a wet ride, keep the paint from getting chipped to bare metal, and the frame will outlast you.

What does a steel bike cost, and how does it arrive?

Our steel bikes run $599.99 to $1,199.99. Every one ships free to one of 450+ partner bike shops, where a certified mechanic assembles it, trues the wheels, and test rides it before you pick it up. There is no box to open and no assembly fee.

Not sure which frame size you need? Enter your height once and we will show your size in every model we make. Across the lineup we fit riders 4'10" to 6'4". Still between sizes? Reach out and a real person will help.

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