Buying dilemma Ti...which one....or Carbon

mzm70

I swore I'd never open a 'what bike' post but I've hit the 'which one' wall.

Yes I have read the other threads so my apologies in advance for asking this.

I have a £1500 cyclescheme voucher burning a hole in my pocket and desperate to get rid of it, I'm happy to add more of my own, probably £700 and maybe up to £1k. I understand the intricacies of the CTW scheme and HP etc.

1. I have a Titanium itch to scratch, no particular reason apart from I like the look and the slight exclusivity, I haven't ridden one but intend to. The contenders are:
VN Euros/Chinook/Zephyr
Enigna Echo/Eclipse

and then.......

The Planet-X Pro Carbon Elite SRAM RED or DA (doubt I will get to test drive it)

The latter seems such a good bike for the money, the former(s) do look very tempting.

I doubt I'll be doing much in the way of racing more the longer (I hate the term) Sportive 3-8 hours, maybe the Alps some day.

So, help me out here please and I'll promise to comment on future 'what bike' threads

TIA

Anonymous

Get the Planet X with the Sram Red/DA this year. Then on next year's scheme get a Ti frame and move all the Red/DA stuff on to that.

Evil Laugh

Ti planet x?

maddog 2

Both the ti frames you mention are sound candidates.

For sportiving I'd say itch that ti scratch

I have a carbon and a ti bike. The carbon is lighter and faster but the ti is a nicer ride, so it all comes down to how important my ride times are basically.

chris281192

i'm in the same boat, i'd decided on a ridley excalibur, but i can get a Ti planet x for about the same price. i love ti, but also do racing (mainly climbing), so am in a bit of a pickle. sorry if i hijack the thread. . .

pontarlier_pete

Check out Enigma's clearance section, some fantastic Ti bargains to be had there.

mzm70

Thanks for the replies, some interesting views especially the P-X and strip it next year from NAPD.
.....hijacking from fellow suffers welcome

Keep them coming as you are only serving to deepen my dilemma

Road Red

Had the same problem over the last few months. Got lots of good advice on a thread.

Went and tested a Pearson carbon (very nice), Enigma Echo Ti and Enigma steel Elite (gorgeous looking bike). The carbon was certainly the fastest, stiffest of the three and really felt the power was transferred very efficiently. Rode the steel then, liked it, comfy, stiffer than I expected. Then went on the Ti, not as stiff as the others but more comfortable. As a reasonably novice cyclist I didnt notice any great drop off in performance. Went back on the steel straight away to confirm my views.

I was surprised, based on comments on the thread, that the steel didnt feel more comfortable thant he Ti. I'm more interested in sportive riding at modest pace rather than speed so the Echo is on order, picking it up next week.

Happy days!

willbevan

not ridden a TI myself, but will add what was disucssed when I was in a bike shop (that I rate very highly)

One of my riding mates needs/wants to replace his 2003 Carbon TCR, and was interested in buying a Ti. He is bigger build than I am and was complaining that the older TCR does flex a bit compared to his alu Cervelo TT frame that is rock solid, add in the fact he wants a comfortable ride from Ti...

What it boiled down to was:

If he wanted something very stiff as well as confortable he would need to go for a more expensive Ti frame, if he didn't and went for a cheaper one it would potentially still flex a bit and he may be disapointed. Depending on budget he may be better to go for a Carbon frame.



Personally I am not a great fan of Planet X carbon frames, don't get me wrong they are great value for money and I have almost bought one myself! What put me off was seeing one being used in a km sprint and the back end just wipping round, obviously flexing. Again i've not ridden one so a pinch of salt... have wridden a claud carbon which is the same price point and it was a bit wippy with any power compared to say a trek maddone, I 'presume' it would be the same.

mzm70

Well just an update on what I bought. I did indeed scratch the Ti itch. I was interested in buying British having spoken to Enigma but it turns out their low end Ti frame are from the Far East. Having been sent an email by PX about their new website and launch of the nanolite frames I started digging a bit further. As some of you know they have a smallish stock of Lynskey made frames as they prepare to switch to VN for Ti. The web site advertised a Road Pro, full DA for £2k, given the groupset was approx £1k and the wheels £500 it seemed mad not to go for a frame of that quality. So I'm now the proud owner of a PX Ti Road pro.
Not long after I placed the order the bike went up £500 so I consider I got a bargain.

The only down side is they didn't set the bike up properly, it wouldn't shift into the large chainring.

maddog 2

Nice one.

Just keep an eye on metal-to-metal interfaces, such as dropouts and where the BB cups screw into the BB shell. In my experience, with ti frames, they are susceptible to creaking, so you need to keep them nicely greased.