Originally Posted by old's'cool

Aaron, I think you over-understate the case a bit. From the perspective of durability, longevity, and ease of care, titanium or stainless win over steel hands down; and make a better showing than aluminum, if we want to make that part of the comparison. If you don't care about esthetics (i.e. maintaining a showroom appearance), the frame itself in these materials [i.e. Ti and SS] is zero maintenance under any normal use, and as has been pointed out, allows a carefree attitude and peace of mind in everyday use. I think this thread has convinced me; if I ever start to lust for a N+1st bike, it will probably be titanium or stainless.

tjspiel, I'm not an economist, but just to address your very narrow point about a used titanium bike [I'm not wading into the larger issue]; it seems to me that by purchasing a used Ti bike and removing it from the market, the remaining demand for Ti bikes, new and used, will tend to promote the manufacture of another new Ti bike. This is just an economic point; I do not have enough knowledge about the issue to have an opinion on the relative cradle to grave environmental impact of titanium vs alternative materials.