Steel is real. It’s a refrain you’ll hear time and time again in the forums from die-hard cro-mo fans. And while there are cro-mo race options out there…like S&M, Supercross, Standard and CycleCraft, by and large, they are available in frame and fork only.
Why doesn’t anyone offer a cro-mo race complete?
Back in the day, a complete cro-mo race cruiser was easy to find. Not so anymore. Pure race machines are pretty much all aluminum these days.
Is it time to bring the complete cro-mo 24 race cruiser back?
I think so.
And there are a number of reasons why.
Versatility: Sure an aluminum bike might be fine for the track, pump track and light trails….but would you trust it anywhere else? Bigger trails? An impromptu session at the skatepark? Probably not. A cro-mo bike would let you ride in any of these situations with confidence. Sure, some people have a second bike for this very reason but many people do not have this luxury.
Better value: A good cro-mo bike can easily outlast an aluminum bike. With the way the economy is these days a bike that lasts just makes good sense. And if you’re a Dad just swinging a leg over a 24 for the first time (or after a long layoff from the sport) a little bit of the “give” that 4130 has will be welcome. If your kid decides to quit racing and just ride trails and park? No problem, the cro-mo bike will take you to the park or trails in style.
Pent up demand: With such a vocal group on the internet forums, a good cro-mo race complete would probably sell like hotcakes.
While I don’t expect S&M to suddenly jump into the complete market, certainly the Fit CR24, with a couple of tweaks to the geometry (and maybe the components) could be offered as a race version (just as an example…not to pick on S&M/Fit). I think there’s a market out there and whoever decides to take the plunge will be pleasantly surprised.
It’s time for race bike manufacturers to get back to their roots…it’s time once again, to sell the metal.
David Frid knows steel is real. He rocks one of the nicest 38 Specials out there in the O-Cup race series.
cruiser revolution 
I’ll forward this article to Chris Moeller. I know if I ever started racing again I would definitly go with an S&M.
For a short period of time FBM offered the Bitchin Camaro, a cro-mo race frame. Unfortuntately it has been discontinued because it was a badass frame.
If you put a rigid suspension adjusted fork on the SM frame you’d raise the bb to be like a modelc. This way you could race a street by simply swapping forks?
Ian, Identiti has the Rebate fork available in 10mm, 14mm, &20mm dropouts. It is the fork they offered on the P45, 24″ bike. It will fit a 26″ wheel but doctors normal cruiser geometry up well. It has bmx style for a mtb fork.
S&M has a 26″ fork now…
Cheers endo. DMR’s trailblade 2 fork will also fit the bill.
I have a FIT CR 24 for park and a Formula (Aluminum) race cruiser. I hate the Formula and love the Fit on the track. It’s funny you posted this as I have been thinking of buying another to convert to a race bike. My Fit is down to 24lbs (about 4 more than my Formula) but it feels so much better to ride cro-mo and I like the geo on the track. Of course I am an old school Freestyler who is new to BMX>
Cro-mo cruisers are easy to come by in the UK for racing. http://www.dialledbikes.com are a UK brand making Reynolds 853 cruiser frames and they are absolutely amazing!!
[…] chro-mo complete 24″ race bike […]
[…] race cruiser completes down 40- 50% like they did last year…well, then my dream of getting a Cro-mo race complete suddenly looks within reach. I’ll just transfer the parts over to the new frame. If I turn […]
[…] you may have gathered from my previous posts, I’m not afraid to join in the refrain of “steel is real” when people debate the pros and cons of frame/fork materials. That being said, it kind of […]