Why did the predominant 'Scandium' bicycle disappear?



The average person is not very familiar with the metal '

scandium ', but scandium-based bicycles have long been a favorite of cyclists. Bike blog or die, a news blog for industry people who specialize in bicycles and cycling, explains how such scandium-framed bicycles are no longer touted by cyclists.

What Ever Happened to Scandium Bike Frames? | Bike blog or die
https://www.bikeblogordie.com/2016/11/what-ever-happened-to-scandium-bike.html

Scandium is a metal that can be mined with uranium in Ukrainian mines. Scandium itself is a soft metal, but by mixing it with a small amount of aluminum, it is possible to produce alloys with amazing strength. The first discovery of this alloy was a metallurgical expert who was studying weapons in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union, scandium alloys were also used in the products of private companies.



According to the bike blog or die, scandium increases the strength of aluminum because it promotes the reconstruction of aluminum particles. In addition, aluminum alloys containing scandium have the characteristic of being resistant to cracking even when cooled after heat treatment. This was very important in making a bicycle. This is because the

7005 aluminum alloy , which has been attracting attention as a bicycle part due to its lightness and strength, has the drawback that it cannot be used as a frame because it becomes brittle when welded. Therefore, by adding scandium to the aluminum used as the material, it has become possible to weld aluminum pipes to make a bicycle frame.

This led to the production of many bicycles claiming to use scandium, which became a boom among cyclists, but the epidemic did not last long. Scandium is said to be expensive, partly because it's expensive, but it's not uncommon for luxury-minded cyclists to buy a bike that's more expensive than a car, so just because it's expensive is a reason to disappear from the market. not.

The decisive factor was that the 'counterfeit scandium frame' swept the market. The inferior frame quickly cracks and cracks, so scandium has come to have a negative image.



But that doesn't mean scandium is no longer used on bicycles. Rather, the bicycle industry is one of the largest scandium markets at the time of writing. From this, the bike blog or die said, 'Scandium-based bicycles haven't disappeared, they're just no longer touted as a brand.'

In addition, bike blog or die said, 'My favorite bicycle frame, Salsa Podio, uses scandium, and I think I bought it for less than $ 600 (about 63,000 yen) including a fork , but the lightness is $ 2000. It was the same as the carbon frame (about 210,000 yen), and the ride quality was the same or better. '

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