Titanium owners read this>>>>>>
#1
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Titanium owners read this>>>>>>
Greetings fellow asphalt munchers,
I was just wondering amongst the Ti frame owners here - With all the proliferation and marketing hailstorm about how wonderful Carbon is for everything short of a foodstuff :
1) What made you decide on Titanium?
and
2) How much did you pay? ( only interested in frame prices )
also
3) Did you purchase stock or custom?
finally
4) Did you assume the builder knew what the heck they were doing in terms of spec'ing the correct fork with the correct rake?
Answer these vital questions and help one of the little framebuilder type guys with his overt, yet still guerilla market research.
I was just wondering amongst the Ti frame owners here - With all the proliferation and marketing hailstorm about how wonderful Carbon is for everything short of a foodstuff :
1) What made you decide on Titanium?
and
2) How much did you pay? ( only interested in frame prices )
also
3) Did you purchase stock or custom?
finally
4) Did you assume the builder knew what the heck they were doing in terms of spec'ing the correct fork with the correct rake?
Answer these vital questions and help one of the little framebuilder type guys with his overt, yet still guerilla market research.
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Big Ti discussions going on over at www.cyclingplus.co.uk at the minute.
A lot of us are thinking of sourcing straight from China, at this site https://www.xacd.com.cn where the frames are averaging at $420 + shipping, works out at about £280, which is about half normal price. Only problem is reliability.
read here:
https://www.cyclingplus.co.uk/forum/t...TOPIC_ID=16317
www.belfastandbeyond.com
A lot of us are thinking of sourcing straight from China, at this site https://www.xacd.com.cn where the frames are averaging at $420 + shipping, works out at about £280, which is about half normal price. Only problem is reliability.
read here:
https://www.cyclingplus.co.uk/forum/t...TOPIC_ID=16317
www.belfastandbeyond.com
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Originally Posted by Thylacine
1) What made you decide on Titanium?
Originally Posted by Thylacine
2) How much did you pay? ( only interested in frame prices )
Originally Posted by Thylacine
3) Did you purchase stock or custom?
Originally Posted by Thylacine
4) Did you assume the builder knew what the heck they were doing in terms of spec'ing the correct fork with the correct rake?
Good luck with the guerilla, Thylacine.
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Pretty much what Bruco said, except I went Tuscany and bought a whole bike stock w/ Ultegra, so I can't give any frame price info for you. Yes, I assumend Litespeed knew what they were doing.
Ride quality lived up to expectations, longevity will have to wait and see.
Ride quality lived up to expectations, longevity will have to wait and see.
#5
hello
Bought my stock Litespeed Classic FRAME for $1800 (polished) from Colorado cyclist back in 1993. Bought it for steel ride quality, frame longevity, & coolness factor. It is still my primary road bike with an 8-spd Record groupo.
George
George
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Great read on ti in velo news i just got. In short it said its what the pros ride because it has everything you want.
#7
Just ride.
Originally Posted by shokhead
In short it said its what the pros ride
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Originally Posted by Thylacine
Greetings fellow asphalt munchers,
I was just wondering amongst the Ti frame owners here - With all the proliferation and marketing hailstorm about how wonderful Carbon is for everything short of a foodstuff :
1) What made you decide on Titanium?
and
2) How much did you pay? ( only interested in frame prices )
also
3) Did you purchase stock or custom?
finally
4) Did you assume the builder knew what the heck they were doing in terms of spec'ing the correct fork with the correct rake?
Answer these vital questions and help one of the little framebuilder type guys with his overt, yet still guerilla market research.
I was just wondering amongst the Ti frame owners here - With all the proliferation and marketing hailstorm about how wonderful Carbon is for everything short of a foodstuff :
1) What made you decide on Titanium?
and
2) How much did you pay? ( only interested in frame prices )
also
3) Did you purchase stock or custom?
finally
4) Did you assume the builder knew what the heck they were doing in terms of spec'ing the correct fork with the correct rake?
Answer these vital questions and help one of the little framebuilder type guys with his overt, yet still guerilla market research.
1) Longevity..
2) $695 + $200 for custom sizing (Habanero)
3) See #2
4) Yup. My frame is a cross/tourer with a Winwood Muddy carbon.
Thanks for asking.....
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. It's a good start.
Actually my forks are made for me by XACD. I've been happy with the quality ( sort of ) and I'm currently doing some design work for them. It's all a bit sketchy as the Chinese have no respect fo Intellectual Property and you have little legal recourse if something goes haywire. Read: I'm heavily covering my @$$.
A couple of things. First up, I don't and will never use them for my frames. The guy who welds my frames helped pioneer titanium bicycle framebuilding. He has taught many of the head welders at many of the preeminant ti bike houses and he is what I consider to be one of the best. It was a miracle that he decided to take a punt with this little bike company called Thylacine, but I'm sure glad to have him on board.
The frame is the thing with my brand on it, so it's a no compromise deal. The forks on the other hand are good for the money, but no art, and I'm not sure how long I'm going to stock them for.
Keep them Ti justifications commin'
Actually my forks are made for me by XACD. I've been happy with the quality ( sort of ) and I'm currently doing some design work for them. It's all a bit sketchy as the Chinese have no respect fo Intellectual Property and you have little legal recourse if something goes haywire. Read: I'm heavily covering my @$$.
A couple of things. First up, I don't and will never use them for my frames. The guy who welds my frames helped pioneer titanium bicycle framebuilding. He has taught many of the head welders at many of the preeminant ti bike houses and he is what I consider to be one of the best. It was a miracle that he decided to take a punt with this little bike company called Thylacine, but I'm sure glad to have him on board.
The frame is the thing with my brand on it, so it's a no compromise deal. The forks on the other hand are good for the money, but no art, and I'm not sure how long I'm going to stock them for.
Keep them Ti justifications commin'
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Well, good luck with your venture! If I didn't love my bike so much, I'd offer to be a guinea pic for one of your prototype frames!
#11
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I about chocked at the price of my TI Litespeed arenberg, (don't know frame price) but as a mechanical engineer I knew its advantages and disadvantages (did my homework). But bottom line, once I road it the decision was made. After 1000 miles, absolutely no regrets. Thylacine - I fully understand the comment on Intellectual Property. Watch your self very very close.
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[QUOTE=roadbuzz]...I assume you mean for training. In competition, they seem to favor carbon and Al... whatever's lightest.[/QUOT
The sponsor will decide what they ride,not what they want to ride. I think it said if given the choice,it would be ti.
The sponsor will decide what they ride,not what they want to ride. I think it said if given the choice,it would be ti.
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Originally Posted by skiahh
Well, good luck with your venture! If I didn't love my bike so much, I'd offer to be a guinea pig for one of your prototype frames!
That may change.
This is my attempt to see what people think and to get a better feel for the Titanium market, find out what people like about them, how much they think is a fair price etc. In the interim I might get him to weld up a frame for me and see what I think.
Keep those responses commin.
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Originally Posted by shokhead
The sponsor will decide what they ride,not what they want to ride. I think it said if given the choice,it would be ti.
that sure as hell isn't a lemond.
not to mention how lance armstrong rode a litespeed for a while that was painted as a trek.
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Originally Posted by Thylacine
Oh, they'll only be prototypes because they'll be my tubing spec and geometry, and have Thylacine decals on them. My welder has done hundreds of titanium frames....just not under the Thylacine banner.
That may change.
This is my attempt to see what people think and to get a better feel for the Titanium market, find out what people like about them, how much they think is a fair price etc. In the interim I might get him to weld up a frame for me and see what I think.
Keep those responses commin.
That may change.
This is my attempt to see what people think and to get a better feel for the Titanium market, find out what people like about them, how much they think is a fair price etc. In the interim I might get him to weld up a frame for me and see what I think.
Keep those responses commin.
I hope that the fact that your company is named after a now extinct animal isn't a foreshadowing.
-mark
#16
Just ride.
Originally Posted by shokhead
The sponsor will decide what they ride,not what they want to ride. I think it said if given the choice,it would be ti.
the vast majority of pro racers today are seen on hyper-light aluminum or full-carbon rigs. Tellingly, however, many racers who get to pick or have to purchase their own equipment still choose titanium.
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Originally Posted by geneman
I hope that the fact that your company is named after a now extinct animal isn't a foreshadowing. -mark
Intersting slant on the 'What would sponsors ride if they could ride anything' question. One thing thats hidden from the buying public is how many frames and components sponsored riders go through. That certainly would be telling, but the Velonews article does shed some light on what the pros think, especially if they were voting with their own dollar.
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I have two Ti bikes. One of them is a cross/touring bike. I bought the frame used for about $550. The other is also a cross bike that I also bought used and use for a singlespeed commuter.
I like that there's no paint to chip, and that the metal will never corrode. Cleaning usually involves wiping down with a cloth -- and then it looks as good as new, no exaggeration. Any painted bike will get harder and harder to keep clean as the paint gets nicked and chipped over time.
On the commuter, I sanded off the logos to keep it inconspicuous. Try doing that with any other material! With any other material, if you don't like the way it looks, you have keep the original paintjob or pay lots of money to get it stripped and repainted.
All that said, just because a bike is titanium doesn't mean that it'll last forever. It could fatigue and crack. See https://www.damonrinard.com/EFBe/frame_fatigue_test.htm. In this fatigue test, Al and carbon frames tended to hold up better than Ti and steel. These results are not inherent to the material, but rather the design of the frame. After all, Al has the worst fatigue life of any common bike-building metal -- but some Al frames survived this test because they were well designed. The tests were run in '97, so maybe frames are better designed in general now.... Also, you probably won't have a fatigue failure on any bike unless you ride the bike for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of miles.
I like that there's no paint to chip, and that the metal will never corrode. Cleaning usually involves wiping down with a cloth -- and then it looks as good as new, no exaggeration. Any painted bike will get harder and harder to keep clean as the paint gets nicked and chipped over time.
On the commuter, I sanded off the logos to keep it inconspicuous. Try doing that with any other material! With any other material, if you don't like the way it looks, you have keep the original paintjob or pay lots of money to get it stripped and repainted.
All that said, just because a bike is titanium doesn't mean that it'll last forever. It could fatigue and crack. See https://www.damonrinard.com/EFBe/frame_fatigue_test.htm. In this fatigue test, Al and carbon frames tended to hold up better than Ti and steel. These results are not inherent to the material, but rather the design of the frame. After all, Al has the worst fatigue life of any common bike-building metal -- but some Al frames survived this test because they were well designed. The tests were run in '97, so maybe frames are better designed in general now.... Also, you probably won't have a fatigue failure on any bike unless you ride the bike for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of miles.
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I bought titanium because of the quality of the ride and the lifetime guarantee of the frame. Mine is a Seven (custom) so I knew these guys knew what they were doing. The fit and the ride is beyond my wildest expections. My bike with Campy record was around 6K. If I had it to do all over again, I would buy the same bike - Love It!