Originally Posted by
Kylerk
After visiting their web site I came away more intrigued with their Stainless Steel frames. I always thought about the concept of using SS tubing but thought it would be way too costly. They priced their SS frame about the same as their TI.
Just some food for thought...in mid-October of last year, I was toying with the idea of a SS bike as I always loved the ride quality of steel. I contacted Hampsten Cycles and after several dialogues between A. Hampsten, S. Hampsten, and myself, I came away with the following conclusion:
SS rides like steel and is more springy than Ti and is more forgiving over small bumps. Over bigger bumps, Ti is more forgiving than XCr, a similar Ti frame will be lighter and stronger in the event of a crash or ding than XCr. I thought that XCr would be a more durable frame but S. Hampsten set me straight by saying, "if I'm going to pay ti-like prices then I want the ti, dammit."
A. Hampsten concurred, so I ended up going Ti--couldn't be happier with the ride quality--bike is way stiffer than my steel bikes but so forgiving after 6+ hours in the saddle--always feel like I want to ride more.
As for Firefly, not a fan of all the internal routing but the welds look really clean! The head-badge looks really cheesy. For $3900 I would want something a little more refined, even it it were a decal IMO.