Titianum or carbon for £1500-1700?

teagar

As the title says.

I've come into a bit of hard earned money, and I'm looking to buy a nice new bike so I can relegate my current £500 steed to "winter bike".


The question is:

Do I go carbon or titanium?

So far, all I ride is a Spec Allez from 2005 and I love it to bits, simply because it's let me do so much riding.

I'm a light guy at 54kg (in case that has a bearing on your answers) and only 21.

I want a bike I will still be riding and enjoying for many years to come, but that enjoyment will come in a large part from the performance.


So, the question is, titanium or carbon? (for that money!)

Cheers!

dodgy

I vote titanium as you mentioned you wanted to keep the bike for many years. I would take a look at the Planet-X Titanium Road or Titanium Sportive. Both come with Ultegra SL 6700 (the latest and greatest incarnation of this groupset) and the frame is made by Lynskey which are very highly regarded. Total price is around £1650.

The Sportive is very mudguard compatible, too, increasing its versatility.

Others will have different opinions of course

eh

If you intend to race then carbon.

Would be better if you specified how long you wanted it to last for, but 10 years is fine for every frame material, with the usual assumptions that it is built and looked after properly.

skyd0g

IMHO I'd go down the Titanium route. Somehow, Ti seems forever, whereas Carbon somehow seems more transitory.

Plenty to choose from - Vannicholas, Sabbath as well as the Planet X already mentioned.

markos1963

Good test on a Van Nicholas in this months C+. Came out top of the bunch they tested and not to badly specced at sub £1500

Slow Downcp

As already said, it depends on what you want it for - racing, fitness, leisure etc. Also it depends which carbon and which Ti bike you're looking at.

I have a carbon Kuota Kharma and a Ti Enigma Etape - the Kuota is more responsive, slightly lighter and has more of a spring in it's step. The Enigma has more relaxed geometry, full mudguards, and magic carpet ride quality. The intention when I bought Ti was that the Kuota would be my dry weather bike, the Enimga for wet. In reality, the Kuota is good if I fancy a blast for a couple of hours and can forgo the extra comfort, the Enigma is used if I want a relaxed ride (but still brisk), longer distance etc.

Each bike has it's merits.

giant_man

The best advice I can give is to test ride both materials, only then will you be able to decide what kind of bike suits you. You will prefer one over the other that much is assured.

Then you are going to have to choose a model in your chosen material in your price bracket. What fun ..

hopper1

I have both, well, all three, actually... :oops:
I think that I would side with a Ti frame, with race geometry (to keep your ride sharp).
I have a VN Yukon, which is a little softer edged than my Cinelli carbon bike, but this suits me, for relaxed winter mile munching.
Not sure I'd keep a carbon bike for 10+ years...
Check out Planet X, Sabbath, Enigma, if you can stretch more have a look at Qoroz, they are stunning!

APIII

Whatever you choose, don't base it on an assumption that carbon fibre won't last. It's nonsense IMO. The paintjob may be a different story though.....

Escargot

Why do people have this ridiculous notion that carbon will not last more than a few years and that a titanium bike will last forever :?

Any well looked after bike will last a lifetime irrespective of the material it's made from.

I think it speaks volumes about a material when the majority of bikes are still being made out of aluminium and carbon. Titanium is still a niche material because the benefits are not great enough when compared with the complexity and price of the design/build.

redddraggon

eh wrote:

If you intend to race then carbon.

Why? My Ti P-X is stiffer than my Nero Corsa, especially at the front end.

redddraggon

Escargot wrote:

Why do people have this ridiculous notion that carbon will not last more than a few years and that a titanium bike will last forever :?

Any well looked after bike will last a lifetime irrespective of the material it's made from.

IMO, a frame that will last Donkey's years will be one with a threaded BB, and traditional aheadset.

A frame with integrated headset cups or press-in bearings is likely to last less time. This is largely unconnected to material properties, but unfortunately integrated headsets are a common thing on a CFRP bike.

But anyway, a Carbon frame should last as long as a Ti frame, but due to design and aesthetics, carbon frames will date far quicker than Ti.

Escargot

redddraggon wrote:

Escargot wrote:

Why do people have this ridiculous notion that carbon will not last more than a few years and that a titanium bike will last forever :?

Any well looked after bike will last a lifetime irrespective of the material it's made from.

IMO, a frame that will last Donkey's years will be one with a threaded BB, and traditional aheadset.

A frame with integrated headset cups or press-in bearings is likely to last less time. This is largely unconnected to material properties, but unfortunately integrated headsets are a common thing on a CFRP bike.

But anyway, a Carbon frame should last as long as a Ti frame, but due to design and aesthetics, carbon frames will date far quicker than Ti.

True. I guess that's the limitation with interfacing CFRP with metallic components but in most cases the bearings etc should last the life of the bike (providing you don't do 10k miles a year).

That's an interesting one about aesthetics and maybe one reason why some manufacturers have maintained the butted tube route with carbon tubes. It's a classic look but I quite like the look of large section downtubes. Time will tell if they date badly but if they do then there'll be a fair amount of aluminium frames that will date too.

In this day and age though do people really expect to keep their bikes for a lifetime ? I certainly like the idea as my father in law still has his Eddie Mercx but I very much doubt I'll keep mine for more than 5 years before selling it on.

eh

Why? My Ti P-X is stiffer than my Nero Corsa, especially at the front end.

Ok but typically carbon race frames are stiffer and lighter than Ti frames, but I agree this is only a rough generalisation and there maybe exceptions.

Not sure I'd keep a carbon bike for 10+ years...

Hope you've told Boeing and Airbus of your findings :roll:

redddraggon

eh wrote:

Not sure I'd keep a carbon bike for 10+ years...

Hope you've told Boeing and Airbus of your findings :roll:

Who says it's all about performance or longevity though?

hopper1

eh wrote:

Why? My Ti P-X is stiffer than my Nero Corsa, especially at the front end.

Ok but typically carbon race frames are stiffer and lighter than Ti frames, but I agree this is only a rough generalisation and there maybe exceptions.

Not sure I'd keep a carbon bike for 10+ years...

Hope you've told Boeing and Airbus of your findings :roll:

My comment wasn't based upon my feelings as to the longevity of carbon. Personally, I think standard Ti frames look timeless, whereas carbon framesseem to be more dynamic in their design, causing trends and fashions...

aracer

redddraggon wrote:

But anyway, a Carbon frame should last as long as a Ti frame, but due to design and aesthetics, carbon frames will date far quicker than Ti.

Yeah because ti frames already look dated :twisted:

teagar

Cheers guys.

I'm planning to start racing for the first time next spring.

I also do a big 5 day touring holiday each year through various mountain ranges, (with van support).

Are the performance differences between carbon and titanium (at that price) that big?

I was considering TI because,

a) it's supposed to be a comfier ride for little sacrfice in performance (as I understand it)

and

b) if you do smash it up it's less likely to be a write-off (which I imagine will eventually happen, given that i'm about to start out racing).

Lunar Tick

The performance differences between carbon and Ti aren't that great; the biggest difference is weight - at any given price point, carbon frames tend to be a little lighter than their Ti equivalents, which can help with performance.

However, in reality the actual performance difference will depend to a large extent on the design of the frame rather than frame material. I have a Sabbath Monday's Child (titanium) and it's a very stiff, responsive and fast ride. Makes some of the so-called 'performance' carbon frames out there seem rather wooden and unresponsive in comparison. However, there are some exceptionally responsive carbon frames out there too.

One thing that is beyond dispute is that Ti (when done right) can give a magical ride quality - lively and zingy yet somehow smooth and forgiving (adjectives that you wouldn't normally put together!). As you've guessed it, I'm a died in the wool Ti fan - I race on my Monday's Child and have a Silk Road as my winter/training bike