I have a BD Ti bike, a CF bike, a steel bike and several aluminum bikes. I don't race now, but I used to. I ride a fair amount and I like to go reasonably fast.

My opinions:
- this business about Ti "soaking up buzz" and Ti's "magical ride feel" is misleading. This is entirely driven by the stiffness of the frame (and tires being used), not the material of the frame. Generally Ti frames are a bit less stiff than CF frames but that's more driven by frame design than intrinsic properties of the material. That makes an average Ti frame feel different (less stiff) than an average CF frame. I happen to feel the obsession with stiffness in frames is silly and counterproductive, maybe other people also like less stiff frames but don't want to say it that way and so talk about "soaking up buzz" or similar. Regardless tires and tire pressure make a much bigger difference than frame material in "soaking up buzz".

- I like Ti because it always looks new, it's really tough to ding in a crash, I like the unpainted aesthetics and it's easier to work on a Ti frame without having to fret about clamping forces excessively. I really like CF but I put impact resistance, toughness and durability above everything else and in my experience CF simply can't touch steel and Ti in this regard. Note that none of these factors are related to "ride quality". Note that steel has a lot of these same qualities.

- From a practical perspective, for me there's little reason to prefer Ti to steel. Steel is equally tough if not tougher, steel is a lot cheaper, steel is a lot easier to source. I bought Ti because the BD Ti bike is an incredible deal in my opinion (and a frame I've enjoyed very, very much). Every other frame I was looking at was steel. I understand why people buy steel much more frequently than Ti.

- One of my dream bike is a custom anodized Firefly Ti. This has little to do with performance and a lot to do with the aesthetic of their bikes, them being from my home city and that they seem like good guys in interviews. My other dream bike is a Richard Sachs steel because he was really nice to me once when I was a kid and he's rightly very famous. These bikes are both extremely expensive and the RS is basically impossible to get. As the sole wage earner in my family with two kids getting close to college... maybe next year. I'll readily admit that the appeal of these bikes is much more of an emotional decision than a logical decision.