OnyxTiger

Who here has any experience with some Ti frames from the Orient?

Considering the reviews I've been seeing on Chinese carbon frames - I myself have some carbon wheels from China... worth every penny imo - I got to wondering if anyone's got a build to share...?

Looking at some websites, there seems to be a lot of different frames to choose from. I'm not in a place where I wouldn't lose sleep over $3K for said frame sitting in my garage at night, seems spending $400 for a "90% of the same quality" (or better) bike is more sane to me.

silversx80

Why do you want a Ti frameset? Carbon fiber is relatively easy to work with and over-engineer to compensate for poor design and manufacturing variances. Titanium is not easy to work with, requires skill and quality in the welds to be decent. Contamination in the process will compromise structural integrity… even something as simple as weld areas not thuroughly cleaned before the weld. Stick with a manufacturer that has experience in Ti.

If if I were you, I'd get a China carbon frame before a no-name Ti frame.

Maelochs

Not to be negative but I agree with silversx80 on this one. The deal with Chinese CF is that once the mold is built and the direction of the cloth layers is determined, building the frame is not that hard. Welding titanium is pretty difficult, from what I hear, and titanium bikes last forever unless they break at the welds.

Not saying that people in China can't weld or weld really well, but as I understand it, part of the Chinese price advantage is that they don't have to pay the really expensive employees---like highly skilled welders.

I'd feel a lot better getting a Bikes Direct titanium bike than a Chinese Ti frame. I don't know which Chinese companies sell Ti but if some of them are well known otherwise, I guess the risk is sort of low, but the frame warranty will be two years at best, and Ti is a lifetime investment. Maybe Nashbar or Performance Bike, with their reliable lifetime warranties?

Or, be the first one on your block with Chinese titanium, and laugh for decades as you enjoy the sweet ride and the naysayers jitter away on carbon. Who knows?

79pmooney

There are high quality ti framesets coming out of Asia; the Hyak frames built for Ti Cycles. They are built to the specs of Dave Levy who receives and inspects every frame. He does the same for frames built for Sage. I haven't looked at the prices and I am guessing they are not bargain basement prices but I have seenframes from both as arrived from Asia. Not shabby. And if problems do arise, you have folks to stand behind them.

Ben

rms13

As an owner of a Chinese carbon frame and Chinese carbon clinchers, I tend to agree with the other posters. Mostly because it's hard to find a better deal in TI than the Bikesdirect completes bikes. You can get full DA Ti bike with Mavic Kysrium wheels for $3000. Full Ultegra with Kysrium for $2200. Partial Ultegra group with hydraulic discs for $2300. And there are several other options with 105, partial groupsets and cross bikes for cheaper prices. Frames are made by ORA in Taiwan who is a respected Ti builder with like 20 years experience and I have also read in reviews that the Motobecane stickers can easily be removed if that bothers you. The only thing that would bother me is the Ritchey Biomax bars but that's easy to change out

CliffordK

Anybody want to have a guess where BikesDirect Titanium frames are made?

There are undoubtedly several companies who are working on developing and marketing quality products out of Asia. Others, not so much.

If you buy the lowest price off of Alibaba, AliExpress, or E-Bay, then you may or may not get quality.

However, you could probably do just as well as BikesDirect by finding a Chinese company & website that seems to be concentrating on product quality, and are putting their name on it.

It may depend a bit on what your goals are from a robust frame to an ultralight frame to a bottom dollar frame.

I'm running a Titanium MTB --> Road conversion. A bit funky, but I'm very happy with it for my commuter/rain bike.... other than being flashy enough to require doubling my lock weight And, being made to MTB specs, it is STURDY.

rms13

Bikesdirect Ti frames are made in Taiwan by ORA

********************|World Renowned Bicycle Frames Builder|Ora Engineering Co., Ltd.|imb2b|

datlas 

My Habanero was made in China but has a USA rep who helps with design and QC. It's a fantastic bike.

You can get good as well as crap frames from anywhere made of anything.

Lazyass

I would get a chinese ti frame before I ever thought about a cheapo carbon. Welding isn't rocket science, and titanium doesn't shatter when it fails.

rpenmanparker 

It is not where it is made, but rather whether it has a reputable organization behind it. OP should have specified "no-name" Ti or some such description. Not that no-name Ti would automatically be bad any more than no-name carbon, but at least the discsussion would make some sense.

datlas 

No name is always going to be a crap shoot.

silversx80

Wickedly bad idea, and a poor assumption. Welding Ti is difficult, and those areas are the stress concentrations of the frame. Carbon does not shatter, but weld area that are not perfect will 100% separate.

Sy Reene

Except that the Hyak is a Steel frame.
That said.. you sure that this frame comes from China? If so, their description is a bit misleading

dr_lha

Can you point us at a website selling Ti frames for $400?

datlas 

Honestly, if you want a Ti frame and you want inexpensive and stock geometry, you would probably do best with bikesdirect.com.

Hiro11

I really like my Ti BD frame. I've had it for three years, it's very comfortable and well made. As others have said, clearly labeled as made in Taiwan by ORA.

Sy Reene

Try googling (as a starting point anyway), "alibaba titanium bike frame".. eg.
Hihg Quality New Fashion 700c Titanium Road Bike Frame - Buy Titaniumroad Bike Frame,700c Road Bike Frame,Titanium Bike Frame Product on Alibaba.com

dr_lha

Yeah, I actually found that one after posting. My initial searches of Alibaba came up blank (or more in the $800 range). What's with the weird shaped tubing on that frame?

EDIT: OK I see maybe they're aping the Lynskey Helix type tubing. Never seen anything like that. None of the photos on that Alibaba page are consistent with one another though, who knows what you'd actually get?

rpenmanparker 

Gotta love that Alibaba. The single most difficult website to negotiate on the planet.

BillyD

WTF . . . the OP wants Ti because he wants Ti. How ridiculous is it for people to immediately pop up to try and talk him into something else? What makes you immediately assume you know better than him? He's not a noob. He's been around the forum for awhile. I would assume he knows what he wants. How do you know better?

Are you guys paid shills for the carbon industry or something?

rpenmanparker 

"Not I," said the duck. Hey, I think Ti is the bomb and Asian sourcing makes excellent sense. . No wait, I don't mean it asplodes.

TimothyH

Ti welds have to be immaculate or they fail. It isn't rocket science but it is way more difficult than welding iron. There is a lot of prep work that goes into it and even Linskey had quality control issues for a while.

That being said, I wonder about warranty service on ChiTi if it fails. Who do you ship it back to?

Lazyass

That's what I said.

OnyxTiger

The stigma with Chinese frames (as of late, at least) is that they're all essentially no name brands to us stateside. The only manufacturers with a somewhat solid name out there is Dengfu and Yoeleo, from what I know. If that makes sense.

OnyxTiger

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