Titanium vs Aluminium (road vs cross)

kleinstroker

I'm very impulsive, and after deciding I wanted a new commuter to replace by flat bar fast Ali hybrid, I bought a new frame Ritte Crossberg frame to build as my new commuter with 2x11 drivetrain, discs and 32mm tyres. Something fast and comfortable for Londons roads and if good enough something for long days out on.
So far so good.
But then pops up a Kinesis Racelight Granfondo Ti frame in my size ( non-disc) on flea bay for a very reasonable £400!
So bought that too.
Now in a quandary as to which one to build for commuting, SWMBO will only let me keep one to replace the hybrid, so which one? Not bad as problems go, but having trouble reasoning it out logically as I want both of them.
Only just thought about things such as max tyre size after buying the Kinesis, always wanted a Ti framed bike and also always wanted a Ritte as love their paint jobs

The Rookie

You may find that despite being the right size (nominal) the Kineses frame is too short for flat bars, when I bought a dropped bar frame to use as a Hybrid I had to go up a size to get the ETT anywhere near long enough.

kleinstroker

I think I will be going std road bars on this bike as although I love flatbar for commuting, I would like to also use bike for big rides over the summer as well, and flatbar not quite so good then

Wheelspinner

Realise the brake systems are different but can you not build them both up with otherwise common parts and see which rides best? Will the wife give you that much time?

kleinstroker

Wheelspinner wrote:

Realise the brake systems are different but can you not build them both up with otherwise common parts and see which rides best? Will the wife give you that much time?

She'd love that! 4 bikes in the house on various states of being built!
I can always hide one frame though! I have my ways

gbsahne001

The Rookie wrote:

You may find that despite being the right size (nominal) the Kineses frame is too short for flat bars, when I bought a dropped bar frame to use as a Hybrid I had to go up a size to get the ETT anywhere near long enough.

That explains why I have had to use a very long stem on my Kinesis

The Rookie

Yup, look at the ETT for dropped barred frames and it will often be about 40mm shorter than for the same nominal sized flat barred frame, obvious really as the handhold positions on dropped bars are all in front of the stem clamp (for the bars) awhile flat bar grips are level with or just behind the clamp.

I went up a frame size (adding 20mm) and up a stem length (another 20mm - to 120mm so not extreme) when going from my Gryphon frame to me PX LR frame.

cjcp

As much as I love my Kinesis CX bike, the lack of disc brakes makes it harder to take it on long road rides, particularly in the wet; I tend to just stick to off-road.

A carbon or Ti CX bike with discs would be great, pretty much everything I'd need in one bike.

So, I'd say sell both and buy Ti with discs?

kleinstroker

cjcp wrote:

As much as I love my Kinesis CX bike, the lack of disc brakes makes it harder to take it on long road rides, particularly in the wet; I tend to just stick to off-road.

A carbon or Ti CX bike with discs would be great, pretty much everything I'd need in one bike.

So, I'd say sell both and buy Ti with discs?

Yes that would also be the ideal solution, but try and find one.

I've decided to build both bikes to see which one I like best. I will have to build them one after the other though, starting with the Ritte. I've got most parts for that sorted already so just need to find some time to get it going.

For the Kinesis, I'm after a decent set of commute wheels tough enough for London roads, anyone have any recommendations? Was thinking Shimano RS type as they're pretty cheap, but I'm not a fan of the hubs they use.

cjcp

kleinstroker wrote:

cjcp wrote:

As much as I love my Kinesis CX bike, the lack of disc brakes makes it harder to take it on long road rides, particularly in the wet; I tend to just stick to off-road.

A carbon or Ti CX bike with discs would be great, pretty much everything I'd need in one bike.

So, I'd say sell both and buy Ti with discs?

Yes that would also be the ideal solution, but try and find one.

I've decided to build both bikes to see which one I like best. I will have to build them one after the other though, starting with the Ritte. I've got most parts for that sorted already so just need to find some time to get it going.

For the Kinesis, I'm after a decent set of commute wheels tough enough for London roads, anyone have any recommendations? Was thinking Shimano RS type as they're pretty cheap, but I'm not a fan of the hubs they use.

The Ritte is very nice, and discs give it an edge, but I see zero downside to building up both bikes

For wheels, I've only used clinchers (only ever had canti brakes), and used a variety of wheels from Planet X (all under £140), but always managed to warp the rims on off-road rides, so have never been convinced of their strength for off-road/racing. For commuting from SW London, they were fine.

But my favourite so far are the Campag Sciroccos I'm currently using. They're a road wheelset, but they've a reputation for being tough, so have put Mud2s on them and have performed well. I used them to race on last weekend on a flat, fast, but bumpy/rutted course without incident.

For discs, I couldn't say, but TGOTB on the Commuting Chat section also races CX and rides and races on discs, so well worth dropping him a line; he posts in the CX section of the forum, and first class at finding VFM deals.

I think there's a thread on wheels over there as well, so check that.

Tyres are something you'll need to think about. I've got nobblies, but they obviously wear out quickly, so I'd probably go with Marathon Pluses if I had to buy durable slicks to commute on.

cjcp

Further thought: for discs, check which wheelset the Canyon Inflite and CAADX come with.

kleinstroker

Thanks. I bought a set of DT Swiss Axis 4.0 SCS disc wheels. I like the axis series, they're a bit heavy but for commuting are pretty bomb proof. Bit worried by the whole SCS thing though as putting them on using normal derailleur so hope there's enough play at either end to sync gears ok.

For tyres I've got a set of S-Ones from Schwalbe and a set of Michelin Pro4 Endurance, both in 28c. One set for each bike.

kleinstroker

One down one to go. Have been out for a couple of rides and I really like it but on edge of being too small for me, seat is right back and need 130 stem. The other problem is I was hoping to be able to just lock it up outside in Shoreditch and not worry about it being nicked, not sure I feel ok doing that now it's done.