KHS Road Bike Materials: Compare Steel, Alloy and Carbon by Model
A KHS road bike material comparison becomes more useful when the frame and fork are recorded separately. The Taiwan Vitamin S1 page lists a chromoly frame with a carbon fork. The Flite 390D pairs aluminum with carbon, while the Flite 720 page describes carbon for both. None of those combinations alone establishes how a complete bicycle will fit or perform.
Compare a KHS road bike as a frame-and-fork pair
Calling the Vitamin S1 simply a steel bicycle omits its separately specified fork. Describing the 390D as alloy likewise leaves out the carbon fork entry. Start with those paired rows rather than assuming a single material runs through every structural component.
The photographed older KHS road bicycle illustrates why visual identification has limits. Its material and precise model are unknown. Tubing shape, paint and a familiar badge do not establish that it belongs to any of the three documented builds, so it is not assigned a place in this material comparison.
Put the equipment beside the material names
The Vitamin S1 table lists drop-bar controls, two-by-ten Tiagra transmission entries, a separate Claris brake row and 700 × 25C tyres. The 390D is documented as a flat-bar model with hydraulic discs, ALTUS shifting and 700 × 35C tyres. The 720 original-language page specifies 105 Di2, hydraulic discs and 700 × 28C tyres.
Those are tangible differences between the named bicycles. They provide a stronger shortlist than a claim that steel, aluminum or carbon must be universally more comfortable or faster. Even the tyre figures describe fitted equipment, rather than setting maximum clearance or independently measuring grip and rolling resistance.
Compare complete-build evidence before choosing
Keep any quoted weight with its inclusion details. The 390D reference explicitly includes pedals, whereas the other sources do not provide a common weighing method for this comparison. Subtracting the headline numbers would not isolate the weight of a frame material, because the complete equipment also differs.
Identify the actual bicycle, intended use and fitting information before deciding which combination deserves a closer look. A used example may have changed components, making its own record essential. Follow the KHS model collection for specific equipment questions and the wider brand introduction for range context; this comparison concerns these three road-oriented source records rather than every KHS family.
FAQ
Do the Vitamin S1 and 390D have steel forks?
No. Both cited tables specify carbon forks, despite their different frame materials.
Does the photograph establish an aluminum or carbon frame?
No. Its material is unverified and is not inferred from the photograph.
Can the three weight references rank frame materials?
No. Different complete builds and unmatched inclusion details prevent that conclusion.
Official reference 1 (https://en.khsbicycles.com.tw/products/vitamin-s1/).
Official reference 2 (https://www.khsbicycles.com.tw/products/road-bike/2023-flite-390d-%e7%a2%9f%e7%85%9e%e5%b9%b3%e6%8a%8a%e5%85%ac%e8%b7%af%e8%bb%8a/).
Official reference 3 (https://www.khsbicycles.com.tw/products/road-bike/flite-720/).
Photograph credits and permissions
Photograph 1
Original title: BICICLETA KHS EM ITAJAI - SC.jpg
Creator: Projeto Transite; source-provided creator URI: https://www.flickr.com/people/96759246@N04/
Original source URI: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BICICLETA_KHS_EM_ITAJAI_-_SC.jpg
License / permission: CC BY 4.0
License / permission URI: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Modification notice: Original Commons JPEG retained unchanged by this publisher; no new crop, resize, conversion, retouching, re-encoding or metadata removal. Source metadata records earlier Lightroom editing, cropping and rotation; those source edits remain intact. Photograph remains under CC BY 4.0.
Source disclaimer: No endorsement by the photographer is implied. Historical KHS road bicycle photographed on 14 August 2013; exact model and material unverified. Original publication URI: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96759246@N04/13678344353/