Road Bike Racing - Ti or aluminum

Are most pros riding Ti bikes or aluminum? It seems that the trend is aluminum with carbon rear stays.. Is there a reason for the choice. I am looking to get a new frameset and not sure whether to go Al or Ti? I am a small rider, I ride a 52cm yet I am pretty powerful in leg strength... Let me know what you guys think

Let's see... as far as I can tell from the coverage...

Credit Agricole, Kelme and CSC-Tiscali ride carbon Looks; Rabobank and Mapei ride carbon Colnagos; USPS ride carbon Treks; Telekom, Banesto and Fassa Bortolo will be riding carbon Pinarellos this year. Alessio and Tacconi Sport ride aluminum De Rosas. Domo Farm-Frites, Cofidis, ONCE, Acqua e Sapone, Saeco, LAmpre and most of the others ride aluminum.

This year, Lotto-Adecco will be riding titanium Litespeeds. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that a pro team has ridden ti frames [i]known to be ti frames...

Keep in mind the pros have bikes given to them. A team of nine guys can go through over 50 frames in a season. I would say go with Ti as it's far tougher.

NOTE: Most racers ride Steel for their training bikes and most Racers who have to buy their own frames also ride steel, ( at the Masters Nationals last year the vast majority of riders where on steel).

Ride Tough
Pat

Most of the riders I see at the local crits ride aluminum, actually. Most of them are either Marinonis or Specialized.

Yes, the majority of the people I see ride aluminum. Usually they have carbon forks on though, to make the ride less harsh.

I'm not exactly small (5'8"), but I'm light (135 lbs.) so aluminum makes for a very harsh ride.

I'd recommend saving your money and do like most light and/or small riders; buy an aluminum bike with a carbon fork. If you have the extra money, go with carbon stays, too. That will help the feel even more.

Velo... you'd be small if you were a guy.

I'm 5'8" and I ride a 50 cm frame [it's a Marinoni, so it's actually more of a 51 cm]. Short legs. Of course, I have a 120mm stem, so that says something about how I'm built. :mad:

Originally posted by velocipedio
Velo... you'd be small if you were a guy.

I'm 5'8" and I ride a 50 cm frame [it's a Marinoni, so it's actually more of a 51 cm]. Short legs. Of course, I have a 120mm stem, so that says something about how I'm built. :mad:

Yeah, I didn't look at it that way. I ride a 53 cm though, because I have looong legs (for a female, of course) and less than a 100mm (not sure exactly) stem, so that says something about how I'm built.

At an average, teams opt for aluminum frames (double or triple butted). Many also ride Scandium frames. This is the basic set up teams opt for. From there they may pick other materials for specific events, but as the workhorse nowdays it is aluminum.

Why? Light and the newer multi shaped, butted tubes are excellent.

Titanium you will pretty much never see as it tends to be a bit flexy and not as durable as many may think.