Titanium Frame Choice

Bordersroadie

Justin Burls uniquely gives you a choice of maker - Russia or China - and sends his drawings to whichever the customer chooses. The main differentiator is the size of operation (Russia small, China large, not surprisingly) and the fact that the Russian outfit is bike-frame specific in business model/knowledge/experience/history whereas the Chinese is not.

Burls offers a 4 year guarantee, so in line with his frame prices (bespoke frame £1050+) it's half way between Waltly (0 years, low cost) and Van Nic, Kinesis etc (lifetime or 10 years, high cost). If a structural issue is going to arise, assuming the frame gets decent mileage use, I feel that it's going to occur in the first four years.

The Russian maker (ex-Colnago subcontractor) is used by only one other brand so, as far as I can tell, all other Ti "big brands" contract their frame making to China with a few exceptions in the USA. And of course the new UK-built brand which showed some sadly poor welding in their recent PR shots, and disproportionately high retail prices.

mikenetic

Another option is Pretorius bikes in London, who specialise in Ti bikes. They design their own models, and also offer very good bike fitting services.

http://pretoriusbikes.com/the-shop/fram ... outeniqua/

Scrumple

I drilled my helix for di2 so my lifetime guarantee is shot anyway

I just like not having to worry about scratches. Ever. I am clumsy.

boborange

I bought a lynskey cooper last year and was a little underwhelmed with it as I did not get that plush feel people say you get with ti, it was a bit harsh and did not feel much different from my aluminium synapse!

Anyway the rear chain stays were out and the shop i bought it from agreed and eventually after a hassle with lynskey they took the frame back. After dropping £1500 on the frame you expect it to be right and if it isnt you should not expect them to be trying to wriggle out of it.

After that i had lost confidence in lynskey and really put me off them so I did what i should of done in the first place and saved up a bit more and upgraded the frame to an IF.

While I was waiting I was fortunate to be given a demo Moots for about a month which was miles ahead in terms of ride and handling and was very good indeed.

Ive done about 400 miles on the IF and its great, very similar to the Moots and both are leagues ahead of lynskey in terms of frame quality and ive only heard good things about customer service too. So have a look at Moots and IF

jamie4759

I am going through the same thing at the moment for a winter bike. I am looking at Seven at the moment. I like the custom option for the same money as a stock frame from Moots. Moots, no doubt, are up there with the top end builders (IMO), and I like IF, I just wasn't keen on the blasted finish of the IF titanium or the satin finish on Moots, so I am opting for the brushed finish on the Sevens. The US manufacturers seem to have the edge over everyone else (IMO). No doubt that the steel brigade will soon be on. I have ridden steel, both high end Reynolds 853 and mid range Deda steel, and I personally prefer the feel of TI - when it's done right of course.

Monty Dog

I have three titanium bikes - 2 custom frames direct from China and a Colnago (welded in Russia), I like it as a material as when done properly it really is a great material for bike frames - I also like that it was built by someone with skill rather than simply stick'n'glue (I also have 2 carbon frames). There's nothing wrong with Chinese builders, Xiamen has more skilled titanium welders than anywhere else but I do get tired of the hype from some 'builders' who charge in excess of £2k for a frame that left the factory for a less than £500. The UK-made frame on here the other week had terrible welding, with dwell-spots which can create stress-raisers. I'm looking to replace my Colnago probably with some nice top-end titanium in the next year - this next one will likely see me through to retirement and beyond.

Scrumple

So where would you look for your top end retirement bike?

(Oh, and how do you tell a dwell spot?)

Bordersroadie

Hey, Monty Dog, I agree with your comments about craftsmanship. As a cabinetmaker it was a big reason why I was drawn to Ti. And the fact that I can be cack-handed and not worry about it, unlike with a carbon frame.

I didn't know you had a Ti Colnago. Made (in 2000/2001?) by the same guys in Russia that built my Burls. What's your view on it compared to other Ti frames? Has it been used regularly for the last 12 years or so?

I agree there's some extremely good Chinese Ti out there. The prejudice about Chinese manufacture is mystery to me, especially when you see what a mess a novice Ti frame builder (like that new UK outfit) can make of it.

MattC59

Geniunely interested, who is this new UK Ti outfit being mentioned ?

WacPo

Having picked up a new Lynskey Sportive only yesterday, I can say that the 1st problem you are going to run into is finding a dealer that has a Ti bike/frame is stock for you to have a look at!

I was torn between a Kinesis and a Lynskey (Burls would have been in there as well but unfortunately he's about 5hrs away) but trying to find one to look at was almost impossible. The best Kinesis could do was name a dealer who had one on order! Two dealers didn't even reply to my email.

Then I was lucky to strike gold and hit upon Psyclewerx, a fairly local small dealer in Bristol, who got a frame in and built the bike in 2 weeks.

I don't want to rubbish anyone else's views on make/material but this bike has exceeded my expectation and the workmanship on the frame is top notch. It's not the fastest climber in the world but thats more down to the spec and the rider(my first ride on it was this morning - 25miles, 720ft climb)!

This is my "forever" bike, I've wanted a Lynskey (Litespeed) for years and I am not disappointed.

hypster

MattC59 wrote:

Geniunely interested, who is this new UK Ti outfit being mentioned ?

I presume as they were being discussed earlier in the thread:

http://ridefullgas.com/

Scrumple

Nt built yet, hence no bar tape, wires everywhere and no extras

Scrumple

This is my current ti. Different graphics to my sig link.
May have to go as I have too many bikes, but I love it. Not sure I could let it go despite having 3 road bikes now and not one takes mudguards!

tomisitt

hypster wrote:

MattC59 wrote:

Geniunely interested, who is this new UK Ti outfit being mentioned ?

I presume as they were being discussed earlier in the thread:

http://ridefullgas.com/

I doubt it...the welding on Spins is very good (and they're made in the far-east). I assumed he meant the Mosaic Ti bike that was doing the rounds a few weeks ago, but could be wrong.

Scrumple

Wrong. It's in another thread on ti. Just use the search and it's there.

earth

I saw a Lynskey Helix a couple of weeks ago in that Psyclewerx shop in Clifton, Bristol that WacPo mentioned.

Personally I thought the spiral tubes looked like an ostentatious gimmick. I can imagine what it would be like trying to explain to cycling buddies what the benefit is. Very difficult as there is probably very little benefit.

cattytown

The benefit? It's a conversation starter :-)

Paul.

Scrumple

Same benefit as colnagos lugs or pinas wobbly forks.
Who cares.
As for ostentatious, naked ti is hardly that. It's far from the bling of modern carbon.