Originally Posted by
Mr. Beanz
I myself have no experience with either (other than partial carbon no, no problems) but from what I gather Reading on the forums, the ti bike would depend highly on design and model.
Years back when Litespeed was real big, they offered the low end ti ($2400 model) and the high end ($4500). That was back in the late 90's /early 2000's.
They say the low end bike was really flexy and not good for heavier rider. I looked into the low end model but my friend that managed the LBS talked me out of it saying low end ti models were too flexy and noodly under my 230 lb body.
But other posters made claims (back then) that the
high end designs were very stiff due to tube shape and design that was different from the low end model.
Like I said, no first hand experience but might be something you would like to investigate!
Believe me, I've come across those exact same sentiments during my research! To some degree they also get said about carbon fiber too. I'm not a racer but I am heavy and I do like to ride aggressively. At the same time, a lot of my more serious rides are long events like metrics and centurys.
To clue you guys in, my commuter bike got stolen over the weekend. I have renters insurance and it should be covered. Ultimately, I think I want to use the money to buy a nicer roadie and then sell my existing roadie to finance the new commuter bike. I'm a big bikes direct fan so I'm considering their Le Champion Carbon Fiber and the Le Champ Titanium heat. Also, If I'm really disappointed in the frame itself, I can take the components off of it, sell it and then either purchase the other frame or go with another vendors frame.
Both bikes are about $1600 I'm leaning towards the carbon fiber because they have one in a blue color scheme that will match both of my existing sets of wheels.
I'm also considering a carbon fiber Kestral that is $300 more but it comes with better wheels (ksyrium equipe) that I should easily be able to sell for that price difference. My set of handbuilt wheels are 125 grams lighter and have 32 spokes. I'd rather ride on them then the low spoke ksyriums