how does modern high-end steel (953, XCR) compare to Ti?

neeb

Just curious as I have no experience of Reynolds 953 or Columbus XCR. These steels seem to be similar to Ti on paper, lighter and/or stiffer than traditional steel, and corrosion resistant (?)

What are the theoretical differences as materials for making a bike frame, and does anyone have extensive practical experience of riding both Ti and either XCR or 953, where the frames are modern and made for the same purpose?

Monty Dog

Both 953 and XCR are stiffer than titanium (material properties), so it really depends on the tubing diameters / butting and the design of the frame. They are indeed stainless and therefore corrosion resistant. Price and weight wise they are both pretty similar to titanium too - but expect you'd have to pay top-end titanium prices to get a similar degree of frame stiffness.

neeb

Enigma do an XCR frame as well as Ti ones (I have a Ti Enigma myself), so it would be interesting to hear from someone who had ridden both, as the design / geometry would be likely to be similar.

Enigma's XCR frame is a little heavier than their pure Ti offerings, so I wonder how that pans out in terms if stiffness vs. weight. I read somewhere that 953 is 2x as strong but only 1.5x as heavy as Ti - XCR may be different I suppose.

eh

Apparently XCR isn't the lightest Columbus pipe, I think it is Spirit which is lightest.

Both 953 and XCR should be corrosion resistant in that they won't rust, and are labelled as having high resistance to stress corrosion cracking, but if you really wanted to be on the safe side, then I'd recommend getting it painted. Or just get Ti which definitly shouldn't corrode in the conditions a bike frame would ever be expected to see.

calvjones

eh wrote:

Apparently XCR isn't the lightest Columbus pipe, I think it is Spirit which is lightest.

Both 953 and XCR should be corrosion resistant in that they won't rust, and are labelled as having high resistance to stress corrosion cracking, but if you really wanted to be on the safe side, then I'd recommend getting it painted. Or just get Ti which definitly shouldn't corrode in the conditions a bike frame would ever be expected to see.

I have a Scapin built from Spirit, which they then zinc-coat inside and out (must have learned this from FIAT!) to ensure corrosion resistance. Probably negates the XCR weight saving but its a a darn sight cheaper than an XCR tubeset!