Titanium bikes

Are these popular? I've never actually seen one in the flesh.
When I was last into road cycling (circa 2003), these were being touted as a good buy. I guess carbon was in its infancy then, so didn't take all of the limelight.
I have noticed that Litespeed are still selling them. Are they actually any good?
When I was last into road cycling (circa 2003), these were being touted as a good buy. I guess carbon was in its infancy then, so didn't take all of the limelight.
I have noticed that Litespeed are still selling them. Are they actually any good?
0
Posts
I do worry about buying one though. Timeless looks and elegance (IMO) but I'd worry about it cracking, perhaps needlessly, but they're a lot of money to buy.
One day maybe I'll put my hand in my pocket and build my ideal bike from a titanium frame.
Would you REALLY want your bike to last forever anyway ? You'd never need to upgrade it ! Think carefully....
They make a great choice as a bad weather bike if they have clearance for mudguards especially. That's what I use mine for, I have a Kinesis Tripster and it's superb.
It'd be interesting to go back now and compare it to a modern hi end carbon race bike.
I'm a keen photographer and when I went back to the photographs I took as I was building it up from brand new, sure enough some of the cracks were already there hiding amongst the weld-folds!
My current one is at 5,400 miles, so I've still got 12,600 to go, about 18 months of my commuting.
And yes, it does ring like a bell when riding over bumps, the rear brake-cable.
But I still love it.
Ridley Noah FAST 2013
Bottecchia/Campagnolo 1990
Carrera Parva Hybrid 2016
Hoy Sa Calobra 002 2014 [off duty]
Storck Absolutist 2011 [off duty]
http://www.slidingseat.net/cycling/cycling.html
Not really. Titanium bike tubing has always been a relatively expensive product because it's difficult to machine and turn the raw material into the end product. It's also trickier to weld than steel and I read an interview once with Dario Pegoretti who cited that as one of the main reasons he didn't switch to making titanium frames when they first came into use in pro cycling. Mamils if that's what you insist on calling them are also into high end carbon and steel frames and as I said earlier, a quick scan on Ribble and Planet X shows that a ti framed bike with full Ultegra can be had for under 2k.
As for the Mamil debate, perhaps it deserves it's own thread but as you brought it up, why is there so much inverted snobbery in cycling? If it annoys some people so much that fat rich blokes can afford better kit than they have, can't they just content themselves in the smug glow of sailing past them on something costing a fraction of the price? Why all the hate?
Not particularly stiff in my experience, they're nice, easy to keep looking great for a very very long time, but stiff wouldn't be something I would use to describe them.
I think there's a lot of misconceptions about the "stiffness" of different frame materials. I don't know who said "There are no wrong materials for building bicycle frames, just wrong applications" but they had a point. My own titanium bike is every bit as "stiff" as any carbon of aluminium bike I've ever owned or ridden in the sense that it doesn't flex around the bottom bracket or wobble around corners at the merest sight of a bump, but that lateral stiffness doesn't come at the expense of a harsh ride. Titanium got it's reputation for whippyness when the early bikes were built with similar diameter tubes to the steel bikes of the day. However, due to it's lightness relative to steel, frame builders soon realised that it is possible to use larger diameter tubes which don't give that whippy feel whilst still retaining a weight advantage. Maybe some of the more modern carbon frames with massively over engineered bottom brackets can boast that they are stiffer and have better power transfer than steel or titanium bikes, but we're not all putting out the same power as the pros so it's horses for courses. I think it's great that there's so much choice so we can all get a bike that fits our needs.
Sadly it seems to be the way of the world these days. I do a few motorcycle track days each year. I use a 1997 Laverda 750. It's old and slow (much like me) but I've never seen another on a track day I've attended. I am almost pitied in the garages or paddock when they see such an old bike. I guess among the nearly new BMWs and Ducati Paginales it is, but I'm of an age where IDGAF what others opinions of me are. I do get more people coming to chat about the bike than I ever did with the R6 or other more modern bikes I took on track.
Same with cycling. I'd like a Ti bike cos I like the look of them. My days of being trendy have long gone, if they ever existed.
Mine isn't particulary light nor is it stiff and I still like it.
China made and still perfect after 4 years.
They're not as light as carbon, but more durable it seems. They can take a bit of rough and tumble. You don't have to be so precious with it. At least that's what I've found with mine (Van Nicholas Yukon). They last apparently. They don't rust. So: excellent winter bikes I reckon. Presumably good for mountain bikes as well I'd have thought but don't know about that.
https://youtu.be/xreZdUBqpJs?t=300
People are often a bit precious with their carbon bikes (certainly I know I am) but I've broken frames made of every common material except for titanium - I'd speculate the only reason I've never broken a titanium bike is because I've never owned one.
Eg the way you have to be careful about any kind of clamping. Seems to me they're strong in some ways but not so strong in others.
retired 9.6kg Carrera Kraken
The Carrera Hardtail combined thread - come on all you Carrera's!
The Sons Scott Genius RC20 build
www.philwinterbourne.co.uk
I had a litespeed. Pretty meh.
I'd rather have a good steel bike.
However as a cruising winter bike Ti makes an awful lot of sense.
Strava - Alex Taylor (sportstest.co.uk)
ABCC Cycling Coach
Not true mine was mediocre and flexy - I don't think you buy Ti for stiffness