aquateen

ugh...definitely disappointed in hearing as i was pretty pumped to go the bare ti look. oh well, can't stay i blame them for making that decision!

Rubo

.
I loved your Titan absolutely sexiest bike I've seen. I put it on PC background.Wow

PhotoJoe 

Moto Ti Di2 Writeup

xtc14

Hi dfischer1

I've read your comment about you 59cm LeChampion Ti you got.
I'm 6'1", 33" inseam or so, very similar to you, my torso is longish than my legs, I'm debating whether I should go with the 59 or the 56cm.
I think the 59cm is doable and would be more comfortable for longer distance riding.
What pointers can you give me..

clichty

Nice zombie BD thread pull!

rpenmanparker 

PM him.

dfischer1

+1 on the nice pull comment!

clichty: From the measurements you describe, 59 would appear to be the right size. If you do have a long-ish torso, the stock stem may even work for you. So now that it's 2014, I can tell you that I'm still loving the bike. Last year I switched out the Ultegra 6700 shifters for 10 speed Campy Chorus and am loving the bike even more now that it shifts faster.

Good luck!

rekmeyata

Don't forget, if you remove the decals off that frame you void your lifetime warranty completely. Read their warranty details more closely, if that doesn't bother you then go at it.

xtc14

Hey akeelor
I received your PM but cannot reply you back since I don't have PM capabilities as of now.
Could you please provide me your contacts details for more info?

Slackerprince

A lot of those BD Ti bikes are only available in xtra or small sizes.

S

RPK79

They make x amount each model year and this time of year all that is left are the small and extra small sizes.

rekmeyata

Except they've been out of the common sizes since September of 2012! I know because I was going to buy one then and kept waiting and waiting and waiting, months go by and they remained out, Lynskey came up for sale so I got that instead, more months go by Bikes Direct is still out because I keep watching to see what the heck is going on, and people on forums keep asking for the best deal on TI bikes. Not much of a good deal if you can't buy one. This isn't a seasonal thing, something happened to their supplier or their contract with the supplier.

megalowmatt

Yeah I bought mine in I think June of 2012 and it seems shortly after that they have been pretty much out of most sizes. I was looking to buy the titanium 29er frame/fork and that has not been available for a long time.

The frame manufacturer is these guys: ORA Engineering

xtc14

I have contacted bikes direct support inquiring about the due date to have the LeChampion TI SL and Chris responded they will be available in Spring, so I'm watching out the newsletter when they replenish the stock.

rekmeyata

I think the guy that e-mailed me was Mike? anyway, he told me twice they were going to get those bikes in, once saying they would arrive in January of 2013, then again they were suppose to come in March of 2013, both of those dates came and went and no bikes. Hopefully You'll get yours in Spring. It's kind of crazy they do things that way, those Ti bikes are the best bikes they offer and they got very high reviews, one would think they would go out of their way to make sure they have stock to meet demand.

xtc14

rekmeyata, that's a real bummer.

I hope certainly in Spring they restock, I was tempted to get a Bianchi Vigorelly but the Le Champion SL is so much feather light and with better components.
In the meantime I would enjoy my new Chromoly Hybrid frame:

akeelor

xtc14 - I won't put my contact info on this message board. Do you have PM capabilities yet?

rekmeyata

I would wait till the time that Chris said those bikes will be in, if they don't show and Chris gives more delays then I would look around. Adrenaline Bikes has all sorts of different brand models of titanium bikes, you just have to search for the sales, and Lynskey also will put direct sales on a particular model, right now Lynskey has either the Silver series Peloton (the one that I have) or the Breakaway (same as mine but with a racing geometry) equipped with 105 for $2,520 through Adrenaline. There's no need to jump on the Bianchi because you might be getting impatient, if you want a ti bike then wait till you find something you can afford.

The cool thing about getting a bike through Adrenalin is you can make changes to the 105 group, wheels and fork to fit your needs and budget and they will credit you the cost of the 105 towards whatever. I had the 105 rear derailleur swapped out for the the Ultegra for just $36 more, and I did other changes like the Lynskey spec'd FSA Orbit headset for the Cane Creek 110, the Lynskey fork for the Enve 2.0 which was the most expensive upgrade but worth it, the wheels were changed from black Shimano RS500 to silver Shimano R501 which had a bit more deeper profile to it over the black.

xtc14

Interesting you mention about the Adrenaline site although I don't think the cost-what you get ratio would be closer than the Motobecanes.
My budget is not that tight but I would prefer to just spend the $2,200 USD on the Moto Ti.
I suppose you would never find a good deal compare to that one.

I would think those Ti's should be restocked at least this year, so I would rather wait than then be dissapointed that I got a less bang for the buck

rekmeyata

I understand completely. I had a budget, I originally wanted the Moto Ti Champ SL with Ultegra for 2,199, but the Lynskey on sale only cost me about $400 more and it was made in America and I could upgrade now instead of waiting for something to fail and I wanted a stiffer stronger fork. I have a friend who owns the Moto Champ Team with Dura Ace, and another who owns a Serrota TI bike, and the fork I got was much more positive feeling in handling then either of those two and after they rode my bike they all remarked the same thing. So for me having the ability to upgrade before purchase and get swap money to do so was worth it instead of buying it all later without the swap money. Plus, which I'm sort of big on this, the frame, fork, headset, and pedals was made in America. Prior to the Lynskey sale and introducing the Silver series I would be waiting with you to get the Moto Ti because I would have had to spend another $1500 for a Lynskey, and still not get the upgrades which I just wasn't going to do.

coasting 

if you have a lynskey and know people with the motobecane, can you test ride their moto and let us know how big the difference is with lynsky?

rekmeyata

I know only one with the Moto and one with Serotta Legend. There isn't a big difference between any of them and the Serotta cost my friend somewhere around $7500! The Moto or the Serotta doesn't feel as aggressive as I mentioned earlier, some of that is probably frame geometry and maybe tube design, and some it, if not a lot of it, is the fork. The Moto is about a 1/2 pound heavier than the Lynskey I got (and that's with Dura Ace vs 105 that I got!), and I found out from my friend that the Moto (with Dura Ace) weighs about 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound more than advertised, the Serotta was about 1 1/2 pounds lighter than my bike but that bike is either double or triple butted I can't recall and it has Campy Record and , and the Moto and the Lynskey are straight gauge. The Moto or the Serotta didn't feel quite as aggressive as Lynskey but that could all be due to the fork because the Enve 2.0 fork is a very stout fork and maybe the Cane Creek 110 headset. All 3 have nice welds, the Serotta however had a polish finish to it that if scratched will take more work to get out but with a clear coat over it would make it impossible without removing the clear coat, the Moto and the Lynskey have a brushed finish and all one needs to do get a scratch out is to use a Scotchbrite pad and polish it out in the direction of the brush finish (with the grain not against), and neither use a clear coat which I preferred in case of a scratch.

Without taking off the fork and wheels and using the same fork wheels on all 3 bikes it difficult to tell how much the fork and maybe the wheels is putting into the equation. For the money you can't go wrong with the Moto, it use to be built in Taiwan which has much higher quality control standards than China (not to mention less political problems), not sure once Bikes Direct gets their new TI bikes in if they will still be made in Taiwan or will cost drive them to China and that's why it's taking so long for BD to get bikes in? I would never buy a Moots or a Serotta, or one of those expensive TI bikes, there isn't any difference between the Lynskey and the Serotta that I test rode to make it worth while, in fact all 3 of us felt the Lynskey felt more surefooted in turns then either the Moto or the Serotta...again that could be the fork, my friend with the Serotta commented that if he wanted to race one of the ti bikes he would use my Lynskey because of the way it felt in turns. The Serotta seemed to have a tad less vibration in the seat area then either bike which could be due to the curved stays, and mine seemed to have a bit more vibration in the bars then either bike which is probably due to the stiffer fork, in the seat area I couldn't feel any difference between the Moto and the Lynskey. (we did make sure we used the same psi in the tires that we normally would ride our own bikes with). Probably on really long rides the Serotta would be more comfortable, but I've taken mine on a 100 mile ride and didn't have an issue with comfort.

I'm trying to recall from last summer the differences, I hope I covered them, if something else pops up I'll repost. I know I was glad I was able to spec my bike with the Enve 2.0, it did cost about $250 more but from my experiences with riding the others and them riding mine, and the fact it's rated for a 350 pound rider even though I only weigh 164 gave me some assurances that the fork will stand up to the abuse of road riding better than other forks rated for lower rider weights with only about 65 gram penalty.

Here's an interesting take on titanium bikes that may help to explain differences between Ti and other materials: https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/...um-dream-bikes

coasting 

thanks rekmeyata. very interesting. it sounds to me that differences are subtle and all of them are good. i have a no brand ti frame from pbk which i think is suspiciously like the moto so probably the same builder. i like it a lot.

dd123

I am also interested in a TI bike but can't afford 4K bike from Lynskey and others...., so Looks like MoTO is the way to go esp with full on Ultegra 6800 kit assuming the Frame is good for average joe like me.

EnsitMike

What's up with the bar angle?