scuzzo

got my Litespeed Vortex today, took it out on a bit of a spin.. there is something there.. i should have swapped seats before the ride.. and the bars are 42's , not digging that i ride wide bars.. so those will be swapped... and some other bits, but for a 9 or 10 year old bike.. its amazing.. even the heavy wheel set did not dampen the spirits.. its just a freaking good bike.. best bike i have ever ridden.. except for the fit thing.. i did not get my numbers spot on yet.. i will prob go with a 130mm stem.. but there is something different in the ride between this and steel,, its probly all placebo.. but dang it was fun.. all in i dont think its more then 18 or 19lbs.. to only flaw i found was one a very small hole in one of the top tube decals.. every thing else was just sharp and crisp.. and the sound of the shift... that bell like Ting! freaking awesome.. so yea,, no way in hell would i pay $7000 bucks for any Ti bike.. i could not... its just that simple.. but $1000 to $1100 for a bike that with care baring all those bad thing that can happen.. this may be a life time frame, and It may fail tomrrow at a weld and crack all to pieces.. but right now.. im about as happy as i every have been with a bike.. pictures and New Bike thread.. when i get every thing sorted, clean the white bar tape.. ick.. its hard to quantify these kinda things.. but there is something there..

a77impala

I've had my 2004 LeMond Arivee for a year and as fun to ride today as the day I got it! Enjoy your Titanium!

macd55

I got an 04 Litespeed Classic a few months ago and my Spec Roubaix is getting jealous because it doesn't get ridden as much as the Litespeed.
It is actually 1 lb lighter than the Roubaix. I love the feel of the ride. Yes it may be the placebo affect but I'm liking it.

rmfnla

I've ridden primarily steel and Ti for the last20 years (and steel for the 20 before that) and I find the fit of the bike matters so much more than the frame material.

BTW, that flawed decal would keep me up at night...

92Esquire

I'm Ti-curious. I'm a metallurgist by degree, and while I am awed by the sexy new CF shapes every year, I'm far too much of a curmudgeon to trust CF with my fat backside. So I'm saving my pennies and thinking a Ti frame will be the next bike I have. Mine will probably be a bespoke frame, as I have no kids, work way too many hours, and use cycling to forget work for a while. Having a bike that I am excited to throw a leg over is worth it to me.

scuzzo

thats to cool thing about TI.. you can go used and make out like a bandit.. but its nice to have a custom built.. the very reason i choose TI was to try and get excited about riding again.. im pretty sure i have bought my last bike.. when durace or campy is being shifted by thought patters or the rider or some weird stuf not even thought of yet, .. i will hang that groupo on my bike.. I just got done with the ceremonial stripping of the old bike.Felt F35 (cracked fork!!!). so the Schwinn Peloton is in for a Ultegra 10sp rebuild, treat... and the CAAD 3 gets to go single speed... that will be fun...

im not sure what it is about Titanium Frames.. but im not really scientific.. but there is something... it may just be some intangible quality that just is... there is something i think.

SSRI

Pic ! please.

So what group will grace your new rig.

I am interested to see how the shaped tubing flare on a larger frame.
Mine is a 55.

Doge

I just posted a clip another place this morning showing Shimano's neutral support bike. Moots ti - with DA Di2.

79pmooney

I rode a Merlin MTB ~1989. Took it for a spin down a dirt road about a 1/4 mile, then sprinted back uphill. Knew right away that if built custom road, it would be all I would want. Now, a custom ti back then was $4000. 2006 I got the job where I could justify a $4000 bike and custom ti priced hadn't changed. A local builder had already made me several stems, we had a good relationship and I had heard many good reports of his bikes, so I went with him, TiCycles.

He now has built me 2 ti bikes. No, no, not because there were any issues with the first. I just wanted a fix gear bike as good as my road bike. I love those bikes. They disappear. They do their job. They are a good ride on bad surfaces and I don't feel I throw anything away on the smooth stuff to get that ride. A couple of summers ago, I put 130+ mile days on each of those bikes, felling comfortable the whole time. (Well except on the rough downhill I did on the fix gear in a 42-22! I learned. Flipped the wheel back to the 17 and left it there.)

Yeah, that's $8000 for two bikes. But both are keepers. And I figure my body has earned them.

Ben

scuzzo

well i bought the biggest ship litespeed makes in the vortex 61cm ,, the tubing flare looks pretty cool, ha who am i kidding, IT LOOKS FREAKING AMAZING!! hah... , not a huge fan of the newer decal style, i will probly pop for some of the old school decal set.. some time.. the bike came with a very sturdy DTSWISS 585 wheel set,, its not pigish but its not light weight.. and it rolls so smooth and feels like a premium hand made wheel set... happy with them
the bike group was all Ultegra 10 and DA brakes, all that is going to the schwinn. the Vortex will get. new bars (45's) new DA 10 STI shifters, a very solid DA 10 rear der.. No slop and a my fav saddle.... and probly black bar tape.. and black burn steel cages..

the felt will be retired.. she did me well for many years.. and the Easton wheels will be my light weight wheel set.. i dont think i will post photos yet... the vortex is just not quite how i want it... its good enough to ride... but i want to make all those component changes... perhaps i will put up a shop photo of all the carnage.. and the CAAD 3.. will become my single speed, i think,, although it would be nice to have an old school campy 8s with down tube shifters... and when do we get to see the Galisheo.... man thats spelled wrong...

CafeVelo

How is the perceived stiffness compared to your felt and CAAD3?

Inpd

Good for you that your enjoying your money.

I like my steel bike since its pretty much indestructible. Even if I do something catastrophic like bend the RD hanger I understand it can be bent back. Is Ti the same?

jamesdak 

Welcome to the club, I love my Ti too!

scuzzo

oh, with out a doubt the dale was SUPER STIFF,,, big ole down tube size of a cannon... the felt less so.. it has a carbon stay.. im not sure if it dose any thing or if its marketing.. i liked the felt a lot. but when i looked at that carbon steer tube... just could not do it any more... that crack will propagate.. the dale is just a rocket ship.. but it also lacks compliance... at least thats how it seemed to me...

CafeVelo

And your Ti bike compares favorably? I'm looking into getting Ti or Stainless sometime, and it's hard to find anyone talking about stiffness in larger sizes

StanSeven

When I bought my Seven, I had a wide choice of stiffness. Seven, and many other Ti builders, change stiffness through use of varying tubeset thickness. So it's possible to get a frame as stiff as you want if you're willing to pay.

79pmooney

Ti isn't as forgiving. My bike has a replaceable hanger. I think that is pretty common. (It also saves tapping a ti hole. Doable but not fun.)

Ben

79pmooney

If you want a stiff ti bike you might want to talk to TiCycles. They are known for making stiff bikes in both ti and steel. (TiCycles is not locked into "well, we do it this way". If challenged to make the stiffest ti bike in the world, that is a challenge they will rise to.)

Ben

Ben

CafeVelo

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into them

scuzzo

still in the honey moon phase, i juist got done cleaning the bike in 7 min include chain and lube, with the alum, it was wash dry wax.. ick.. that alone is worth it... i have not noticed any flex.. although it did come with cheap tires, so there was a lot of squish that i was not happy about,,, when i put the GP4000s on then i will know more on the BB, but i will say,, it rides like an alum bike if it was steel,, or kinda,, it feels like it acclerates like my dale did.. just stamp and GO! not loss on energy like my steel bike did.. but it has the compliance of the steel bike,, or just about.. filters the road feedback with out deading it too much.. thats about the best ai can describe it... im sure one i get my bike fit numbers all sorted out i will be able to really find out what is going on..

rpenmanparker 

How does the titanium bike clean up faster than any other type? I have never observed such a thing. Ti, Al, steel, CF, no difference.

SSRI

no paint to worry about.

rpenmanparker 

What does that mean? I wipe all frames with a soft cloth and Windex or spray frame cleaner. Paint or not, it is all the same.

SSRI

bare metal, no paint to polish or wax.

if you just do a wipe down it will make no difference to you.

CafeVelo

That is what I like about good alloy, and carbon for that matter. The bike just feels so snappy when you apply power. Plus those materials won't rust in the rain.