Backroads (Airborne) Titanium bicycle. Anyone ridden?
10-26-09, 06:15 PM
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Backroads (Airborne) Titanium bicycle. Anyone ridden?
Now that Backroads are starting to sell off some of their titanium touring bicycles, I am interested.
Just curious if anyone here has ridden one? How did it ride? Can you compare it to another bike?
Just curious if anyone here has ridden one? How did it ride? Can you compare it to another bike?
10-26-09, 06:44 PM
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02-08-10, 09:45 PM
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Bikes: Seven Axiom SL
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Yes. I've ridden on two backroads trips with the Ti bikes and -- in fact -- have recently bought one.
The short answer is that they are solid bikes, and a great deal.
I'll break the long answer into frame quality, geometry, and components.
The frame quality is much higher than I'd expect on a Chinese-made frame. The welds are really smooth, not like Moots or anything, but almost comparable to a Seven in terms of appearance. (Obviously I'm not comparing the frame to a Seven, please don't flame me.) I can send you close-ups of the frame I've bought if you're interested -- really nice finish IMHO.
The geometry is definitely more for touring than racing. The head tube is pretty tall, and the sitting position upright, but not ridiculously so. Good for nice long rides. I am accustomed to a very aggressive geometry (my road bike has a very low racing position) but I didn't feel like I was up in the wind. I see this is the 'Touring' forum so I'm guessing it will be great for you.
The components are a mixed bag. Backroads likes to mix and match flat bars and drop, as well as use as many common components as possible between their mountain bikes and road bikes. So you wind up with XT rear derailleurs, some giant cassette cogs, and a triple crankset resulting in an insanely wide gear range. My guess is that you will wind up putting some more standard road components on there. Although they were used, I should say that the components were in pretty good shape. Wheels were 105's with Mavic rims, pretty decent.
Overall, the frame is well worth the $800 price tag. And the fact that it comes with passable components makes it a great deal. So far I'm really happy with the one I bought (though I should point out I bought it for my wife!)
The short answer is that they are solid bikes, and a great deal.
I'll break the long answer into frame quality, geometry, and components.
The frame quality is much higher than I'd expect on a Chinese-made frame. The welds are really smooth, not like Moots or anything, but almost comparable to a Seven in terms of appearance. (Obviously I'm not comparing the frame to a Seven, please don't flame me.) I can send you close-ups of the frame I've bought if you're interested -- really nice finish IMHO.
The geometry is definitely more for touring than racing. The head tube is pretty tall, and the sitting position upright, but not ridiculously so. Good for nice long rides. I am accustomed to a very aggressive geometry (my road bike has a very low racing position) but I didn't feel like I was up in the wind. I see this is the 'Touring' forum so I'm guessing it will be great for you.
The components are a mixed bag. Backroads likes to mix and match flat bars and drop, as well as use as many common components as possible between their mountain bikes and road bikes. So you wind up with XT rear derailleurs, some giant cassette cogs, and a triple crankset resulting in an insanely wide gear range. My guess is that you will wind up putting some more standard road components on there. Although they were used, I should say that the components were in pretty good shape. Wheels were 105's with Mavic rims, pretty decent.
Overall, the frame is well worth the $800 price tag. And the fact that it comes with passable components makes it a great deal. So far I'm really happy with the one I bought (though I should point out I bought it for my wife!)
