Titanium bike

tommy1

I read the article on sportive bikes, at the moment saving money to buy a Ti-bike, I wonder how a vannicholas euros would do in comparision whit the litespeed sportive and the enigma etape? Anyone has any thoughts?

munnser

have a look at sunday bycycles, i got the sunday silk road, and love it.

tommy1

Thank you, I will.

tommy1

Had a look at Sunday bicycles, it's not getting easier to choose a new bike......

Slow Downcp

tommy1 wrote:

Had a look at Sunday bicycles, it's not getting easier to choose a new bike......

Have a look at this:

http://fatbirds.co.uk/Sunday_Silk_Road_ ... _Frame.htm

Maybe that price makes the decision easier?

lugster77

the new planet x ti bike got a good review. introductory offer seems pretty good!
bit off point tho sorry!

gkerr4

Slow Downcp wrote:

tommy1 wrote:

Had a look at Sunday bicycles, it's not getting easier to choose a new bike......

Have a look at this:

http://fatbirds.co.uk/Sunday_Silk_Road_ ... _Frame.htm

Maybe that price makes the decision easier?

that is a bargain at that price - it was £750 ex fork + H/S - so usually a grand all-in.

very nice frame - i'd have had one of those at that price - but my roubaix S-Works came in at £950 for the frame/fork/headset/seatpost so won the battle.

but at £700... it could have went the other way..

pedylan

Whatever you choose, get a good fitting so that you get the right size and set up. That'll contribute a lot more to comfort and enjoyment than material choice.

What slowdowncp said.

I've got a Silk Road - bought direct last year - and the frame price offer at Fat Birds makes it very attractive especially if you can spec your own equipment to go with the frame. Sunday will do you a custom build and a comprehensive fitting.

Don't be afraid to give Greg Roche a ring he was a great source of very impartial advice. Others on here speak highly of Enigma.

mrushton

tommy1 wrote:

I read the article on sportive bikes, at the moment saving money to buy a Ti-bike, I wonder how a vannicholas euros would do in comparision whit the litespeed sportive and the enigma etape? Anyone has any thoughts?

There might have been a review recently on www.roadbikeuk.com or some other site of these 3. Opinion seems to be that the L/speed is not the best of these bikes. The VN and Enigma are priced favourably and the quality is excellent, the Sunday is nice and the Planet X is a winner for that money - it's built by the former owners of L-speed

giant_man

The Planet X sportive and Pro Road Ti look very good value and as already stated, good introductory offer, with it being Lyskey built and all.

The recent test in 220 Trialthlon magazine tested four ti framed bikes (Sunday Silk Road Pro, Litespeed Siena, Cyclefit Glider Tupelo Ti and the Planet X Pro Road ti) resulting in the Planet X coming out on top, they loved it. 10/10.

The 'Sportive' comes with their own forks but not with mudguard eyes, and I am guessing the Pro Road Ti will come with the same fork.

I have yet to try one but would like to compare of course.

tommy1

Thank you for your answers, I like doing long rides, for example 300 km in Motala Sweden every year. So comfort and still a fast ride is my aim with my new bike. The Sunday silk road looks fantastic, I wonder how it feels after 10-12 hours in the saddle?

greg roche

Tommy,

You're more than welcome to call and take a test bike for a week or so. You won't be disappointed. And feel free to buy through our retailer network off the back of that.

Anyone riding the etape du dales this weekend? Like last year, we're the bike sponsor (a bike is going to the Dave Raynor Fund again) and we'll be at the event with a few test bikes, a coffee to get the riders off to a great start and a recovery massage to make sure they don't feel toooooo bad on the drive home!

Hope to see some of you there. Sunday's efforts will be a full on family affair, with me, Iain, Beth and 20 month old Oscar there to give solid bike advice. Oscar is particularly good at pointing and shouting at 'daddy's bike!'. He's not great on price points or tubing technology, though...

Greg

tommy1

Greg, Thanks for the offer about a testbike, problem is that I live in west London, have filled in your bikefitting chart so I am looking forward to hear from you.

greg roche

London isn't a massive issue. I'm in Hampstead next wednesday delivering a Lucky Seven (our full custom catchall model name) In the meantime, i'll look over your bike fit form and give some pointers.

Cheers

Greg

Positron

I'm very please with my VN-Euros. ~£1300 with Campag Veloce. To some extent you get what you pay for and while this is rather "entry-level" Ti you would get "better" paying more. So where does the law of diminishing retruns kick in? Obviously a bike twice the price isn't twice as "good" although if someone would like to give me a few grand to test this I'll happily report back.

One other thing I'd say is that fit is probably even more important.

Good luck, p.

cycles goff

i have a Sunday silk road pro. A very decent firm to deal with prompt and helpful; what swung my choice was the fit and geometry but the ride is superb; very fast and very comfortable. just over a grand though f+f.

bhodgkiss

I bought a brand new Airborne Carpe Diem (the cyclocross titanium frameset, before it changed names) for just £400 from Halfords with a warranty, and that was 4 years ago now.

I'd highly recommend it for general cycling. More upright position than a race frame, pannier and disc brake bosses if you want to fit them, masses of clearance for off road tyres, and bombproof without being heavy (mine is about 1500g (54cm) but is reinforced under the top tube/steerer tube interface etc. And brushed titanium is timeless!

dttlincs

Positron wrote:

I'm very please with my VN-Euros. ~£1300 with Campag Veloce. To some extent you get what you pay for and while this is rather "entry-level" Ti you would get "better" paying more. So where does the law of diminishing retruns kick in? Obviously a bike twice the price isn't twice as "good" although if someone would like to give me a few grand to test this I'll happily report back.

One other thing I'd say is that fit is probably even more important.

Good luck, p.

Personally I think this is a good looking bike along with the Chinook. I would consider either along with the "cheaper!" of the Sunday or Enigma bikes. The planet X also looks excellent value if you have a little more cash.

tommy1

Thank you again for all the input, there seems to be a lot of Ti-bikes out there. I am leaning towards the Sunday silk road when I have saved up the money. Buying brittish you know when I live here, also the exchange rate on the euros is not so exciting at the moment. Itwould be innteresting to blind test a selection of, for example, sportive bikes in different priceranges from £ 5000 and down and see if you really can see a marked difference in riding experience. A journalist who test bikes all the time may pick up on things that a "normal punter" never would notice.

Monty Dog

"buying British" whilst the seller might be UK based, but you'll find the frames are certainly not made in the UK - probably China or Russia - doesn't make it a bad bike, but just wanted to clarify the point. I have a custom ti frame from China, well-made and great value.