Originally Posted by
Smorgasbord42
Typically, people choose titanium because they want a custom sized and custom tuned frame and titanium as a material is very suitable for that kind of production. Would you spec your frame for stiffness or for comfort? Would you be using double-butted tubing to keep the weight down? How would you effectively communicate the bike's handling characteristics to propsective on-line buyers? Habanero has a custom geometry option for about $250 more - would you have a similar option?
Incorrect. They choose titanium for other reason, then get it custom sized because at the typically high price-point it makes sense - and often doesn't affect the cost.
Why is everyone insistent upon comparing them to habanero? There's hundreds of custom steel builders in this country, but you wouldn't give them a hard time for selling (which they do) a PRODUCTION, factory-made, steel bike. There's room for more than one cheaper Ti frame...
Think of it this way... strip a BD carbon bike, put the frame on ebay with no reserve and think about how much it will sell for - next to nothing.
Strip a Ti bike and put the frame on ebay and it will get at least $500. That makes the added cost worthwhile to me.
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Then again, it all depends on the specs. You've got people in here wanting anything from Tiagra to Record, S&S couplers to pump pegs and disc brakes. Hardly a consensus.