General Cycling Discussion - Thinking Titianium Pros and Cons

Ok can someone sell me on the idea of titainium.....I am on a '06 Six13 that I love but it is a race set up. I like the idea of titainium and have heard great things. But not any feedback on the down side. any help would be wonderful.

Cheers

Ti is more flexy than alu or steel. Light but expensive, a different ride.

Ti requires anti-sieze compound on pretty much any bolt (not just grease, true anti-sieze stuff.) Ti also requires you to be precise with a torque wrench. However, other than that, you can't go wrong with the material, all things being equal.

Ti is more flexy than alu or steel. *sigh* Depending, of course, of thickness of the tubing and tubeset diameter.

*sigh* Depending, of course, of thickness of the tubing and tubeset diameter.


Well, of course! :) I understand seamless (Moots -- http://www.moots.com/) is always better!

The major drawback of ti frames is that they're very expensive. And if you're really into ultra lighweight stuff, carbon fiber and higher end aluminum frames tend to be a little lighter. It's a really good frame material because it can give comparable ride quality to a good steel frame, and yet it's lighter than steel, nearly as light as aluminum-

People will mistake you for a retired cyclo-tourist.

Well, of course! :) I understand seamless (Moots -- http://www.moots.com/) is always better!


Either you have an admirably subtle sense of humor/facetiousness...or an almost naive propensity for spouting generalizations.

I've recently sold a TI LeMond Arrivee for a Alu/Carbon Masi Gran Criterium S. I thought the LeMond was an excellent bike but a little "twitchy" on good down hills. The Masi seems rock solid. Since this is always an issue when it comes to materials and physics, let me add that I am 5'10" and 185 lbs.

bruce19

This is only anecdotal, and I don't know if it's saying something about titanium or Colnago, but I know 3 guys with ti Colnagos that they paid a fortune for; they've all been cracked and repaired (small cracks), and they all say they're too flexy to race on.

Then again, Robbie McEwen had no trouble riding a million miles an hour on his Litespeeds a few years ago.

i tend not to see the point of titanium unless you want a comfy, steel-like ride that won't rust, but will cost a lot more and won't be that much lighter. Ti ain't very super-light, ain't cheap, and usually ain't stiff

I've previously owned steel frames and then an alum frame but not carbon, I would probably get around to owning a carbon frame but I can't imagine ever parting with my Seven Ti frame so I guess I will stop my experimenting right here. It fits like a glove, is flexi in a way I like and stiff in a way I like, just perfect.

Either you have an admirably subtle sense of humor/facetiousness...or an almost naive propensity for spouting generalizations.


I guess you don't know me... (I'm a bunch of fun sometimes) *Tee hee!* :p

or in a lot of instances some people just dunt know what they're spouting off about:eek:

Either you have an admirably subtle sense of humor/facetiousness...or an almost naive propensity for spouting generalizations.

Someone once told me; "write to express and not to impress . . ."

If I've learnt anythin from these here xperts here on bikforum, its this:

Ti won't rust to ruins in a couple years lik a steel frame. Besides, steel bikes are all heavy.

Ti wont rattle yer teeth like all aluminum frames will do. Plus yer sweat will korrode it bad.

And last but not least, a carbon fiber frame WILL suffer CATESTROPHIC FAILURE WITHOUT WARNING. Their design life is 10,000 miles or less.

Why would any edukated person ride anything but Ti?

:rolleyes:

Thisunless you want a comfy, steel-like ride that won't rust

Bingo, plus it won't dent like super thin steel tubes.

Pros: Last forever.
Cons: Last forever.

I just pulled the trigger on a Moots compact. It's definitely racing geometry and I plan on racing it for another few years and then just having a nice bike that will last for ever 'in theory'. I was actually looking for a steel bike then started learning more about TI and ended up getting a really good deal on this frame. The thing I liked about TI was that it's easy to maintain so for example if you don't feel like washing your bike after riding on winterly salted roads then it's not the end of the world. With steel you need to maintain it more. My last bike was inmo a disposable bike. AL with a carbon rear triangle. It was definitely a nice bike and handled great but I wore a hole in the chain stay from chain suck and think I can see micro fractures in the AL around the BB welds. Thats after 3 years racing and lots of miles. So I just wanted to get something that will last the long haul.

I know this has zero to do with anything bicycle-related, but wasn't there a vid of Ti tubing surviving being run over with a Ford F-150 while the CF tube crunched, and the aluminum tube flattened?

I'll base my decision for a bike just on that... (yeah, right...)