titanium frames

[burty]

its possible I may have money burning a hole in my pocket and need to spend it before it falls out,
looking at a titanium frame , does anyone have any real world experience riding one .
After a sort of pros and cons list .
so I will either talk myself out of it or go ahead and spend.

[GregMay]

I've a Ti Fargo. I've had zero negatives with it, I'd had a steel one before. The Ti one is nicer to ride, lighter, and in my eyes - looks better.

Also had Ti race hardtails in the past. Mixed batch, but most issues came from fit - not the material.

[JohnClimber]

Love them

I have 3 1/2
Check my signature

2 Travers - 1 x 29er+ used at last weekends WRT and the ford Fiesta and a 29er Monstercross




1/2 is a Bat Fastard the new 5" Titanium Fat Bike from Travers which I'm waiting on a fork which should arrive this time next month


and my Jones 3d Space Frame which can be ran half fat or 29er front and back. It's an amazing trail bike


So, yes I say Titanium bikes are worth the money, they hardly even need cleaning and when they do you just brush the dried on mud off and lube the chain
Bike for Life

[ScotRoutes]

I currently have 3.

The 29er was bought after doing a bit of riding on a steel El Mariachi and looking for something that was lighter and had a bit more "life" to it. Based on my previous experience, I knew that TI would work for this and got Justin Burls to build one to my specification.

No "cons" so far.

[Pat]

Here's my old airborne titanium 26" bike....I've put some 29er wheels on it and cyclocross tyres.....I love the feel of a Ti frame...sort of like a softer, springier steel!

[Ian]

Just for balance:

I had one.


It broke.


Twice.

Titanium is overrated. Custom steel is what all the cool kids are riding now

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Another Travers 29er here; so far it's been pretty good. It certainly has a lot of give in the rear, so much the tyre keeps hitting my seat pack on descents, despite a good 4+ cm clearance when static! Longer legs or shorter cranks might help extend the seat post... They are definitely not all made equal - a friend recently snapped the integrated seat post on his Ti frame - and probably much harder to fix than steel if they need re-welding.

I wouldn't bother on a FS frame, less noticeable benefit from the material properties; Alu just as light and considerably cheaper.

[ianfitz]

Based on my experience a good, well designed, well made titanium frame is good to ride. A good, well designed and well made carbon frame is good to ride.

Same wit' steel or Ali for that matter. There's more to it than the base material.

Plus the weight difference between steel, ti and carbon is about t same as a bottle full of water, (unlikely this will be noticed within a bike build) the fit and ride quality of the frame is worth much more than any weight saving.

All that said, for those of us of a certain age, there is something a bit magical about ti ;-)

[jameso]

After a sort of pros and cons list .

Pros, they're lighter than steel and there's no paint.
Cons, they're expensive, don't generally ride any better than good steel frames and break much more often than good steel. The comfort thing is a myth imo, they're no more or less comfy than a good steel bike if done properly, but there are / were a lot of very whippy, noodly Ti bikes that were seen as comfy. I see those skinny Ti frames as simply noodly after having ridden a couple : ) It's like Al still has a 'harsh' rep that comes from ~10 years or more ago, when they more often were. Same for Ti and comfort, a rep that comes from a lot of very slim tubed Ti MTBs in the past. There can be some sort of 'softer' edge to a Ti frame I'd say, very subtle like a layer of rubber over a spring? I noticed it most on road bikes with 100psi tyres. What I'm getting at is that this mix of stiffness and comfort is imo a little inaccurate, it's either flexy or stiff like any material can be unless there's a lot of tube manipulation going on and that's generally not a good idea in Ti.

I like it, but if I was spending a lot it'd generally be quality custom steel. My Ti Jones is lovely but it's one of the few bikes that uses Ti in a way that can't fully be achieved with steel.

It certainly has a lot of give in the rear, so much the tyre keeps hitting my seat pack on descents, despite a good 4+ cm clearance when static!

That won't be the rear of the frame flexing though, maybe the post bending a little, and the bag shifting. I can feel the Ti spaceframe give a little under landings along it's length but it's 1/2" at the rear axle compared to the headtube maybe, much of the seated ride comfort is geometry and the seat post / cluster flexing. Rear triangles on diamond-frame bikes move vertically less than a mm, the seatpost and main frame tubes will give much more than that.

[slugwash]

I'm not sure about vertical flexing but there's a lot of lateral flex in the rear triangle of my Ti SS when I'm honking up a steep climb & out of the saddle. I've had to fit narrower tyres in the rear to stop them from rubbing against the chain stays. It's an old frame though, so maybe not a problem in more recent frames.

3/365 - Offham Chalkpit by Richard Lowerson, on Flickr

[firedfromthecircus]

I have one.
I like it.
If you have the money and the hankering, go get one.
Just remember that not all Ti frames are the same. Quality generally does cost more in Ti just as in any other material. The other point to note is if you are spending serious cash on a quality frame a Ti one won't be appreciably 'better' than a steel one. 'Different' maybe, but not 'better'.

[GregMay]

Just for balance:

I had one.


It broke.


Twice.

Titanium is overrated. Custom steel is what all the cool kids are riding now

Maybe you just had a sub standard frame.

I've broke maybe 5 alu. frames (road and MTB) over the years, and two steel frames (MTB). Still never broken a Ti or carbon one.

Yet.

[paramart]

burty buy the stooge and sell your steel one

[mountainbaker]

Ian, don't a lot of singular frames just break anyway, regardless of material? Cheap production? Were the Ti ones made by XACD?

Anyway, I'm on my 3rd custom Ti frame from Triton in Moscow, Dmitry is a top bloke, and great to deal with. Every frame has been a winner so far. The latest couldn't really be any better.

[burty]

some nice looking bikes there ,
I was looking at the stooge frame with a carbon fork mart.
I think I will see what it is like when andys built it up and tested it .
I was just worried about ti frames having flex in the rear end,
I may play the waiting game

[Dave Barter]

Gabe, how much was that build? It looks bloody lovely and I am a massive Ti fan. My custom Omega road bike is by far the best iron horse in the stable.

[jameso]

Were the Ti ones made by XACD?

No, Italian-made I think. Not a cheap source. The steel ones come from a good place in TW, not heard of those failing.

[Ian]

Yeah, Nevi.

Most of the Singular Peg's died
I think. Mark Goldie's was the first, which Nevi refused to repair and so he got a Mawis built as a replacement off Sam. By all accounts it was as stiff as hell, kinda overcompensation for the flexy/comfy/noodly version Nevi produced.

From what I've seen and read, the Russians are where to go to get Ti welded, so Triton would be worth a serious look.

I hear the Ti Stooge is 4.5lbs with EBB. 1.25lbs lighter than the steel, but only half a pound lighter than my Shand, for example, so there's not a lot in it. You pays your money etc...

[Zippy]

Haven't got time right now to write a long reply, but in a nutshell frame material is only one part of the whole design, and does not necessarily define the bike. You can design the use of any material for strength, deflection, mass etc. coupled with all the other things that make up a bike like the geo etc. etc. etc. - The Ti bit of the equation is only part of the story.

That said, I still like Ti but doesn't mean I can't appreciate other materials too, At the moment the bikes I ride include ones made of Ti, Steel, Carbon Fibre and Alu

[Mart]

Ive got a NEW Singular Pegasus - NOT a Nevi one. This frame i got off Sam is a prototype of the new design (which I dont think is available yet)
Not quite sure where its made but its not Italian made. I prefer it over my Swift, lighter, smoother and just nice to ride

Pics here : https://picasaweb.google.com/1008627414 ... 3691/Peggy

Frame paired up with a Travers prong. Currently 29+ on the front
Its had a few tweaks since these were taken : Carbon Loops, Brooks Cambium saddle, Ass Saver, and will have a Ti seatpost soon
Just got to get them Pesky Kids off it

[mountainbaker]

What Ian said about russians is true. The welding on all 3 of my tritons is just insanely good. Ti is hard to work with. I saw some photos of Ted's Ti Charge he rushed out for bespoked, the welds looked pretty snotty and uneven, then you see some of tritons... They are also now CNCing their own frame parts like the new BB yoke for 29ers.

Here's another Tour Divide racer's frame (Megan from Canmore) Super tidy.


here's a raw weld before polish/bead blast

[mountainbaker]

Only real word against Triton is the lead time, the most recent frame took 8 months. They are busy, and they do things well, and these things take time, I'm happy to wait, but you need to be aware of this before you invest I think.

[jameso]

Not quite sure where its made but its not Italian made.

I recognise the BB serial number layout - it's from a good 'un. ime that doesn't fully guarantee anything but they are well-regarded and respected.

[Richard G]

Quite possibly the freakiest front end on a bike I've ever seen.

[mountainbaker]

Quite possibly the freakiest front end on a bike I've ever seen.

Stepped on a rake, then ran into the back of a bus.