Originally Posted by merlinextraligh

I'll preface this with the comment that there's more to it than frame material. A Lynskey Helix rides very differently from a Litespeed ghisallo, and a Cervelo S5 rides very differently from a Trek Domane.

That said, IMHO CF has passed Ti by as a building material, with the possible exception of longevity.

I've owned a number of steel bikes, two ti bikes, two aluminum bikes, and 3 CF bikes.

You can make a CF frame substantially lighter than a comparably stiff Ti frame. You can also make a stiffer frame with CF, than typical Ti frames. More importantly, you can dial in stiffness and flex where you want it and in the degree you want with CF composite frame, moreso than with a Ti frame.

I like my Merlinextralight, and still use it for travel (adding S&S Couplers) but it doesn't begin to compare to my Wilier Trestina Zero 7. The Wilier is almost 3 lbs lighter. ( about 1.5 lbs of that is the frame difference.) The Wilier is stiffer in both the BB and the front end, with the latter inspiring more confident handling.

And with the SEI film in the composite layup, the Wilier is as comfortable to ride as the Merlin. The SEI film also allegedly increases resistance to impact damage, which blunts some of the Merlin's advantage there.

For me, the case left for Ti is durability. A Ti frame is arguably less likely be damaged from impacts in crashes, due to its springiness. Although as stated above, modern composite layups are making progress in that regard. Cf is prone to damage from abrasion, whereas, it doesn't much matter if you scratch an unpainted Ti frame, so there'sa bit of an advantage there. In fact, that's the reason my Merlin is the travel bike. I can throw it in an S&S case and not worry about scratching it up. (in fact all I bother to cover in the case with pipe insulation foam is the CF fork.)