Carbon vs. Aluminum vs. Titanium - Video
 

I realize that this is not the same type of force that a MTB will go through, but still pretty amazing. Anyone have any pics of a Ti frame failing? Aside from welds? On this forum I have seen a number of unusual failures I'd never seen before.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...62681682291899

completely pointless and irrelevant
a bike frame isnt designed to withstand a crushing force like that. And the "untreated" ti tube means it wasnt butted yet like any finished tube, so it was thicker through out.

Yeah it's not exactly relevant to the forces involved in cycling, but it was still interesting. I wish he'd tried a chromoly tube as well, just out of curiosity.

As is your reply. Please see first sentence of original post. :)

Chromoly is quite a bit weaker.

A list of yield strengths (amount of force the metal will take before bending permanently)

6061 Aluminum: 40,000psi
7075 Aluminum: 70,000psi
4130 Chromoly: 60,000psi
6Al-4V Titanium: 125,000psi

I thought it was slick. Did you notice that the Ti tube rolled backwards smoothly after it was run over. Had it been dented, it wouldn't have rolled at all. I might have to reconsider by loyalty to steel. Thanks for letting us see it.

Tim

Next time I buy a bike frame to run over with a truck I'll keep this video in mind.

A bike frame made with tubes that can hold up to that abuse would be overly heavy. I don't see that as a good sales pitch at all for that guy's bikes. He's basically saying "hey look, our bikes are too heavy, but you could run them over with a truck if you wanted to".

As far as I know, titanium is very light.

It's actually 60% heavier than aluminum but it's also more than twice as strong; so you can build thiner / lighter frames with it. It's also a pain in the butt to work with, but doesn't suffer from fracture cracks like aluminum does (ie you can bend it as you please without loosing to much structural integrity).

Biggest problem though, it's expensive!

Not a problem for many riders.

I have always understood that frames made with TI are 'whippy', that it's not as stiff as aluminum.

It's the old riddle, what's heavier: a ton of feathers or a ton of lead. Build a bike out of solid titanium (or solid carbon or solid aluminum) and it'll be heavy. A bike made to support the weight of a truck will be heavier than it needs to be to support the weight of a human.

I stand corrected :)

I just want to try a titanium bike for once.