Hi Steve,

The Cooper CX would be a great complement to your S-Works, IMO.

As Bengie Boy said, it's great to have a versatile & comfortable bike that can support fenders and larger tires. This bike would be ideal for your plans to bike the Katy trail and would also be a good winter/rain bike. A CX bike like the Cooper would fit that need well.

My “fast” bike is my Planet X/Lynskey Ti Sportive bike, this bike has a 2x10 Ultegra drivetrain and will accept a 700x25 size tire. My Do-it-all bike is a Soma Double Cross that can accept 700x35 tires and fenders. This bike also has a triple to provide the best gearing for steep hills. I enjoy my CX bike as much as my road bike and will load it up with food & supplies for credit-card touring this year. I'll also complete a dirt road century this May on the CX bike.

Consider a Cooper CX with Sram Apex. This will provide the range of a triple. That bike would be a great all-around bike.

Sounds like an excellent plan Steve. If comfort was the factor, then a Ti over the Roubaix wouldn't be a meaningful improvement. The Roubaix and CX will give you two upright bikes with specific purposes. My CX is my winter/weather/mud bike and I even do a lot of single track MTB riding with it which drives my MTB friends crazy on the climbs.

I like your plan and your choice of bikes.

Funny you mentioned this. One day my wife and I were out shopping. We drove by a Chevy dealership and I got the urge to stop. I told here I just wanted to "look." We drove away with a new Corvette that day. I later realized it was that 50 mid-life crisis since it was just a few weeks before turning that age. Also for two or three years, I stuttered when people asked my agre and I said "fift...fifty"

I own two. I own a Habanero Ti, that is now my rain bike. I also own a Indy Fab CJ Ti that is my primary road bike. I went through three carbon fiber frames in a two year period of time, and a total of five since I first started riding carbon. All three broke/snapped at different places. I know all of the talk about how great carbon is, and it does perform well. However, from my perspective when carbon frames fail, you're pretty much screwed. I know many companies have crash replacement programs, but most of them would still have me dropping a good deal of money at the rate I've been breaking them. This is not something that is new for me. I've broken steel frames and forks in my younger years and am just hard on them. But, with the steel frames, when I had one I really liked, I pretty easily got it repaired at a reasonable cost. With both my titanium bikes I have no worries. I've beat the daylights out of the Habanero and it keeps coming back for more. My Indy Fab is custom built for me and comes in at today's current setup at just a bit under 17 lbs. I love the fit and ride; it's on a par with my S-Works Roubaix in terms of comfort, but performs more the the Tarmac. Now that I'm thinking about it, it's very close to the Trek Madone 5.9 that I had for a short time (bottom bracket cracked on that frame.) I don't worry about the Indy Fab frame failing me, and while I still have carbon in my stable, I prefer the titanium.

I've not ridden an Sworks Roubaix so I can't comment with a comparison, but here are the topics/issues that led me to the Sportive.

1. I'm 60 years old with a bad back so position and comfort were prime considerations
2. I'm slow - I don't average anywhere close to 18 mph like some of you guys, so ultimate speed and efficiency weren't critical
3. We have a lot of "chip and seal" roads around my area. They're crummy roads so vibration dampening is a good thing for me
4. I've always ridden performance oriented bikes, even though I'm slow. The Sportive is quite efficient and can turn what little horsepower I can provide into forward motion . . . At 128lbs I don't torque bb's or chainstays . . . I tend to spin around 90 to 95 rpm in low gears. Maybe some of you guys would flex the Sportive, but I sure can't.

I can't praise the bike enough for my use and situation. YMMV.

Just curious NOS88......
 

How big are you? You seem to break a lot of frames. Maybe the Ti bike is just as comfortable to you as the CF since you are so big. I am only 5 10 and weigh 155...so the Ti bike might not seem as comfortable as my S-works Roubaix. Any thoughts?

2007 Moots Compact. :)

Because of my bad back, I had the fitter and my Dr discuss what geometry would allow me to finally ride a road bike longer than 10 minutes without pain. Took 12 weeks to build the frame and another two to have it built up and sent to me but it was all worth it.

I love the solid yet compliant way it feels - the bike is one with me. It moves with my body I usually ride it on MUP or around town, so it's more of a luxury casual fun ride for me. The unpainted frame marks up easily from the oils of my skin but I know it will never rust. It sure holds heat, though. I've burned my thighs on it before.

Beautiful welds, and excellent craftsmanship equals pride of ownership.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...crow/seat1.jpg

Getting to this thread late; seems like everything I would have said has already been said; but just for my 2 cents: My Ti bike was made by GT in Longmont, CO in '98 so it's very old technology / Ti construction techniques but it works well, has never failed me and its my go-to bike for normal club rides (though I did ride three doubles on it last year).

Compared to my CF bikes (old Calfee Tetra, new GURU Proton) the Ti GT is not quite as comfortable or efficeint as either of the CF bikes, but it is a good fit, and I think of it as indestructable . . . so I don't worry about it as much or care for it as diligently as I do my CF bikes.

Looking at my stats from 2010, I rode the Ti GT on 146 rides, whereas I only rode the CF bikes on (combined) 43 rides. So yeah, it's a keeper.

Rick / OCRR

I have two, one is my dedicated roadie and one is my commuter/travel roadie, they were both made by Seven. What I like most about them is that they were made to fit me exactly and they were engineered to provide the type of "ride" that I wanted. The rides of both are almost identical despite a rather large difference in frame geometry (the commuter has S&S couplings, a longer fork and sliding dropouts which make the rear triangle shorter).

I like the feeling that the bike is winding up (like a watch spring) and then releasing forward. I like the precise cornering without any twitchiness. I like the bump absorption but no power is lost between the pedals and the tire. The alum framed bikes I've ridden felt harsh, the carbon bikes I've ridden felt dead, I did like the ride of steel bikes but Ti is noticeably lighter and for bumps it seems springier. I have ridden Ti bikes I didn't like, they felt bouncy and like I was loosing power through the frame, I think good engineering is the key to the right Ti ride.

During the time period in which I was breaking frames my weight ranged between 165 to 195.

2010 Bianchi S-9 matta. Love it and the Kestrel gathers dust.

Do you know why the carbon fibre frames broke? Did they all break due to the same cause? Or, were there a variety of causes?

What do you mean when you say you beat the daylights out of your bikes?

There have been a variety of causes. There was one where a stick got caught in the spokes, tore off the rear dérailleur and snapped the chain stay (that was a scary one). There was another where the glued in bottom bracket just started spinning around and couldn't be removed to replace it (according the the company's regional rep, the frame was a wash). There was another where the head tube developed a crack running from the bottom of the tube about and inch up toward the top. As you can see, it's been a variety of things. I recognize that most people don't have that many problems with CF, but it seems I do. So, I'm not gonna fight it, and that's a major reason I moved into titanium to begin with, which I do not regret in the least.

When I say that I "beat the daylights out of my bikes", what I mean is that I think bikes are meant to be ridden. So, I don't avoid riding on streets like the one below, or in bad weather (also below). I'll ride my "best" road bike over packed dirt/gravel roads as close to the same speeds as on smooth asphalt as I can. I have no problem riding off the berm of the road onto or into a field if I need to avoid a tractor trailer truck coming up behind me too close. I just know that my bikes generally get ridden pretty hard. I do keep them in good running shape and do not neglect the maintenance stuff. To me that would be foolish. But using kid gloves when riding them makes no sense to me. For example, I've never understood the mentality of those who buy a pickup truck, but then refuse to haul anything in it that will get it dirty. I feel the same way about bikes. Well.... that is except for my Colnago Master XL. This one I do pamper and it spends a good deal of time hanging on a wall just so I can look at it. When it does get ridden, I tend to be much more careful with it. In large part I bought it because I think there are some bikes that really are as much art as transportation/sport.

ti Merckx
 

I've got a ti Eddy Merckx AX, which was made by Litespeed to Merckx specs. I bought it used about 5-6 years ago and have probably put 20,000 miles on it, so who knows how many miles it's been ridden. (I'm the 3rd owner of the frame.) I was slow to warm up to it because I was never crazy about the bare ti finish (I like colors), but it is now my favorite bike for long rides. I also own a steel Merckx Corsa 01 in the same size and geometry, and the two bikes handle nearly identical but the ti frame is a little smoother riding, probably due to the carbon fork. The real plus to a ti frame is that it is nearly maintenance free. You never have to worry about rust or scratching and chipping the paint. The ti finish grows on you, and I've grown very fond of the frame and it would probably be the last bike I would sell in my collection (5 total).

NOS88

Your description doesn't sound to me like you are beating your bikes. It sounds more like you are using them as transportation and fun; just as they were intended to be used. I don't have cobblestones to ride on. But I do have frame rattling chip coat, cracks wide enough to swallow tires, frost heaves, curbs, etc. I ride them with as much vigor as my mind and body will allow. As a matter of fact, that is how I ended up with my first carbon fibre bike; it was most comfortable on the road.

Were these failures in the early days of carbon fibre bikes? Or, were they just a matter of bad luck, I wonder?

Oh, I think I've just got bad luck when it comes to carbon. The earliest carbon failure was on a 2006 S-Works Roubaix, followed by a 2007 S-Works Roubaix and the most recent just last year on a 2009 Madone. Many people tell me that I shouldn't give up on carbon. I guess I'm not really giving up yet. I'm just waiting until the price of good frames drop to the level of being disposable (at least in terms of my income). I guess this might happen long after my ultimate demise. In the meantime, I'm quite happy with the custom built Indy Fab Ti CJ. It works for me. Every time I ride it I find myself grinning.

^^^
At least failure mode is more forgiving w/ Ti vs CF. Just be glad you don't have one of those original Windsors w/ the Al forks....

Trek Madone with 25c tires and fenders
http://img300.imageshack.us/f/stb2103ro6.jpg/
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/9431/stb2103ro6.jpg

Ti bikes are a 1993 Litespeed Ultimate and 2001 Litespeed Tsali.

With the curved seat tube, the Ultimate fits me like a custom but at a catalog price.

Indy Fab Ti Crown Jewel.

Light, stiff, really comfortable, pretty, hot babes dig it. What else is there........

Van Nicholas Astraeus - excellent ride, has given me a lot of confidence in crit racing at my level anyway for a 55yo rider. Loved previous bike which now use as a commuter (Lemond Chambery)

My bikes in order - have been:

1. Steel Raleigh

2. Aluminum Raleigh

3. Trek (early) carbon fiber

4. Litespeed Ti (Classic)

5. Lynskey Ti

As you can see, this is my first repeat. Combination of stiffness, comfort and reliability is hard for me to beat.

I have an IF and a Serotta. They are good examples of what is possible with Ti as the IF is pretty stiff and responsive but not as smooth on rough roads. The Serotta is very smooth at the cost of being a little bit less responsive. However, the funny thing is that the best times I have had on any route have been on the Serotta. I can't think of any downside of Ti for day-in-day-out riding. Sure there are lighter frame materials out there but none match up for the combination of light, durable and low maintenance; and I think because of that, the overall cost of Ti is in the long run economical. After Ti it is hard to beat the new steels. Now for an all out race bike... I'd get carbon or aluminum.

I have a custom built seven Axiom sg, one of the best bikes of the hundreds I've ridden in over 35 yrs of riding ( and close to 10 yrs working in shops) it's setup to take tires up to 28c with a little more trail than std race bikes but not what would be called a "Sport" bike and has fat tubes and chain stays for less flex in the BB . I don't know how much it weighs nor do I care and I also don't know how much it cost cuz my sweetie got it 4 me. I chose Ti cause it's toughest and has a smooth ride

Congrats for making that work; I am not sure I would try that on a current-model Madone, though I've seen people try.