Budget Carbon or Ti?

dttlincs

Trying to decide on budget Carbon - Planet-X or Focus at £999 or a Ti bike from the likes of Sunday, Van Nicholas or Enigma which would therfore mean around £1500 and a bit lower component spec.
I don't race except possibly some TT this year and will do one or two sportives and triathlons a year. Otherwise I ride for fitness averaging 17-21mph depending on the ride. Distances 10 to 50ish miles.
I could probably afford the carbon option in 2 or 3 montths ready for summer. As for the Ti it would probably be a considerable amount of time for that unless I got the frame and built it up which would be nice. The bonus there is I could sneak a few upgrades in under the wifes radar!
Component wise I would be happy with 105 or Veloce as I have Sora at the moment.
One consideration is that I occasionally have back problems from an old injury. This does not restrict movement too much it just aches! This does make me think Ti would be a good idea although I am therefore assuming the Focus + Planet X are not as comfortable. But I would like a carbon bike at some point.
I suppose one thing I am asking is a budget Ti bike very comfy and are budget carbon harsh?
Help me out here please!!!!!

gkerr4

you could build yourself - which would be fun.

I looked at getting a silk road from sunday - the frame is £750 - but you need at least another £100 for the forks so £850ish

(I ended up getting a specialzed roubaix S-Works frameset which is frame, forks and seatpost for £999 from sigma sport in their sale)

anyway - you could build it up within budget but there would be a temptation to buy better bits than you started out with in mind - I'm speaking from experience here.

I started out thinking of veloce but was woo-ed by the centaur carbon bits - started out looking at zonda wheels, but was seduduced by the thick alu-spoke lovelyness of the eurus - and now £1800 I'm still not done

that said - my bike will be a dream spec and I will have had the satisfaction of building it myself..

pedylan

I can't comment on carbon as I haven't ridden one for any length of time.

I have though replaced my alu frame bike with a Silk Road from Sunday and the benefits in comfort and handling from having a thorough measurement and fitting are very significant. Probably at least as significant as the transition from Alu to Ti.

If you buy off the peg or on line you're missing out on the refinements in comfort from a good fitting so whichever route you go down don't compromise on this aspect.

Sounds like you'll save for this bike and it'll be a significant purchase - as it should be, so make the investment count.

You could buy a frame and build it up as cash or bargain components allow.

Even if you don't buy give Greg at Sunday a ring, the enthusiasm, advice and and service are excellent

dttlincs

Any more help on this one please!

rjsmith

Whereabouts are you? Both Planet X and the likes of Enigma will offer you a test ride I reckon.
I've got an Enigma and a S-Works Tarmac SL amongst my bikes. The Tarmac might be the slightly faster bike but the one I really love is the Ti Engima. What a super quality of ride and nice to know how durable it is compared to the Tarmac.

bhm100

Hi,
I reckon it's down to personal opinion, you really ought to try and ride both frame materials. I'm a metallurgist and, because us types seem to end up with "metallic" solutions to problems, I always thought I'd like a Ti frame - it just seemed the right thing and I went on about one for ages.

I looked at several, but ended up with a CF Trek which I built up myself, despite all the adverse comments about Trek at the time. And it probably cost more than I could have gotten a Ti frame for.

I've ridden it slowly, fast (well, fast for me) and used it for rides of 100+ miles. Never a problem with comfort, handling, etc. You probably need to take more care with it than a metal frame but otherwise it's fine. Maybe the key thing is that if I broke it tomorrow I'd go and buy another. Anything that wins the TdF is going to cope with a Sunday ride.....

Again a personal thing, but I reckon the components make quite a contribution to how a bike feels. The simple things like seats/bars/wheels or even tyre pressures can easily turn a comfortable & well handling frame into a nightmare.

giant_man

I was in the same dilemma as you and looked at all the cf and ti alternatives, so that was Burls, Enigma, Sunday etc. there are a lot of options ti wise, but as I have been riding a cf frame for the last five years so a change is well overdue.

Good luck with your final choice, but at the end of the day it will be your bike, ridden your way and with your choice of competentry, so I would go and test as many as I could and make your decision based on what feels good, what looks good and how much it costs.

munnser

i have just recently got the sunday silk road, the fist time i have had ti, my lbs built it up with centaur off one of my other bikes, great bike wish i had got one years ago.

henderson_mk

have to say I have a silk road pro and its the cats pyjama's. great comfortable, yet stiff as hell frame when you give it a welly.

i'd recommend giving greg from sunday a bell... he's a nice chap and would be happy to chat and give you a test ride I reckon.

dcj

...old back injury, worried about harsh ride...

obviously a highly considered and saved-for purchase decision...

... a made-to-measure titanium frame is the one surely?

Iain Roche

Firstly a massive thank you to all our customers that have been so positive about our products and the service they have received from Greg.

I'm Sunday bicycles technical director and am responsible for the products greg (according to you lot) does a great job of advising on !

I dont want to sound like a sales man (as we have already identified, that’s gregs job !) but I would just like to make a couple of observations from a technical / design point of view.

When good quality carbon fibre is used in a well designed frame a vast range of its desirable properties can be exploited. Super high modulus (stiff) frames can be produced and if used correctly the materials inherent vibration adsorption properties still remain. Also it is possible to designed lower modulus frames that have the potential (depending on design) to be much more comfortable and potentially be more suitable for long distance sportif type riding or customers who have specific medical conditions that need to be catered for.

3Al, 2.5V titanium is also famous for being a very comfortable frame material. This is partly true, but just as in the brief explanation above, the same material can be manipulated to give a very stiff ride indeed. We use the chemically identical material in our “silk road” as in our “Mondays child” and the ride characteristics couldn’t be more different !

One benefit of using Ti is it is much easier to obtain a custom design / fit. Although this is possible with some carbon manufacturers there are limitations due to dye design etc etc. A well designed custom could result in a stiff responsive frame that is made more comfortable to suit rider / application. However, this isn’t a necessity for everyone by any means but good framebuilders do offer this bespoke service.

As a slight aside, the Planet X carbon that this post was originally about is a great frame and amazing value. Also in terms of customer service you wont go wrong with the guys at planet x, so if you do decide carbon is for you give them a ring to chat through all the options….

Iain

www.sundaybicycles.co.uk

simmo3801

What a nice man. I had already had the thought as soon as I read he was from Sunday Bikes that he would be trying to advise that dttlincs choose ti over carbon, however his last paragraph praising another companys frame is reassuring to say the least in this day and age!

Well done sir

dttlincs

Thanks for all the help.
I am still undecided as part of me wants a new bike for the summer so in financial terms that would have to make it the carbon option from either planet x or focus.
Then I think the more sensible option, considering my slightly dodgy back, would be a ti bike even if I only get frame and forks now and then build it up over time as budget allows.
I think i need to get a test ride on some of the options I have spoken about and take it from there.
Thanks again.

feel

As comfort seems to be a major consideration have you thought about a modern steel frame eg condor fratello looks an ideal sportive bike. There is a good review of it on the link. I believe they are also on sale at the moment, £100 to £150 off list price i think.