Originally Posted by Beerman
$500 seems really cheap, but it's probably a good deal. Now that I think about, ti frames are a lot less than $1000; I was thinking of that $1350 Airborne complete at the time. Although I do believe that that European ti freestyle frame did cost around $1000, but that probably included S&H to the US.
The Ti Ares you mentioned runs in the neighborhood of $1100, and I've seen other 20" Ti frames in that price point, so it's not too far off. Ti road frames are usually well into the $2-3k price range...go take a look at Litespeed or Seven next time you're bored. I seem to recall Expatriate's an importer, was it? So he probably has a hookup or two. Like carbon, I would warn that any Ti component is only as good as its maker. It's a difficult material to work with and requires plenty of skill and experience to do it right.