Originally Posted by
dsaul
One of the local Professional Framebuilders was working on coming up with a full stainless TIG welded frame and decided to go with Titanium instead. Basically the stainless required similar welding procedures to Ti, such as additional weld prep and back purging, with no real benefit over Ti. I did a quick price check and found that Columbus XCR stainless tubes are more expensive than similar sized Dedacciai Titanium tubes.
I'm surprised there's even more than one manufacturer of the primo stainless tubes since stainless steel frames seem like a boutique item. Genesis (UK) makes ~production Reynolds 931 stainless frames for $2,300--931 is a bit cheaper than 953 but supposedly easier to construct. Interestingly, those frames come with carbon forks.
Personally I think 'bare' metal frames look a bit plain but taste varies of course.