roadraccer

Lately a lot has been talked about when titanium is mentioned on Lynskey frames. Has Serotta, Seven, or Moots dropped off or even in consideration these days when we're talk about titanium? Aside from Lynskey being more affordable if money wasn't an issue how do these three or any other titanium builders rank? I know that Seven still ranks up there very high with the ti guys as their probably at the top of the echelon, but you don't hear much on Serotta these days. What's the deal on the other builders which has been very reputable in the past not getting any love when we're talking titanium? What other great titanium builders are out ther that aren't even being considered?

LOGICK ONE

They're all solid. Don't forget to add Firefly and Eriksen to the Ti makers list.

Grambo

Moots, Steve Potts, Independent Fabrications and Eriksen would be at the top of my list.

AngryScientist 

Serotta is THE name in Ti, IMO, the Ti Legend is, well, legendary.

That said there exist a very large number of other bicycle builders who work in ti, a few of who are mentioned above. There actually is a fairly large resurgence of steel and ti bikes being built and ridden, though its much more of a niche thing than mainstream, by far actually. point being that if someone has decided that they want a titanium bike, built to the highest standards, it is certainly something that can be obtained, quite readily.

Serotta Legend, the greatest Ti. bike, ever (according to my opinion)

eofelis 

My SO got an Eriksen last year. Beautiful bike, and Kent is a great guy.

eofelis 

Bill Holland.

Grambo

Serotta makes a nice frame but their customer service stinks. Try calling them with a question or getting them to respond to an Email and you will see what I mean. Moots / Lynskey on the other hand have very good customer service and if you call them someone will actually answer the phone. Jon C is on their Moots Forum everyday and answers questions promptly and when I had a question on my Lynskey CX bike I actually got an answer from David Lynskey and they also answer the phone / have live chat etc.

I have a very nice Serotta CDA frame (now for sale in the road bike marketplace) that is top notch in terms of quality / craftsmanship but I would not buy another Serotta due to their poor customer service. I reuqested a copy of the build sheet for my frame and the flat out said no .... just an absurd approach to dealing with a customer ... complete turn off. I also know of a LBS owner who no longer deals with Serotta for this same reason ... Serotta is difficult to deal with. Just my 2 cents.

c0lnago

https://www.baumcycles.com/

Mike F

I saw a Guru Ti at my LBS the other day that looked sweet.

dmcdam

This - I've been salivating over their ridiculously gorgeous bikes and trying to figure out how closely my wife watches the bank acct. Their paint jobs are top notch.

garciawork

I love my Lynskey R230... but if I had the dough, I'd get a Seven Axiom SL.

mikeetow

Moots has never and will never drop off.

ivan_yulaev

Habanero has been around for a while. They are a bit lower end than Seven/Moots/Serotta but they make a good bike and can do custom geometry for a very reasonable price. They also do mountain bikes, cross/touring, and even tandems.

Hadn't heard of Baum before. I like what I see.

datlas 

+1 for Habanero.

Not boutique. Not made in USA.

It doesn't matter. I am very happy with mine, custom geometry and affordable.

Shimagnolo

There are also:
- Dean (Boulder)
- Zinn (Boulder)
- Black Sheep (Fort Collins)

datlas 

Also I should add Tom Kellogg...but last I checked he had someone else do his Ti welding.

eippo1

Tom still does some welding, but has his hands full with running the operations and painting everything. He's not a one man shop and his stuff is top notch.

Also top notch is Hampsten.
https://www.hampsten.com/bikes/gran-paradiso

pacifico

+1 on Hampsten. They weld ti in-house as well as contracting with Kent Eriksen on request.

BillyD

Now why would you want to jinx this great brand like that?

datlas 

I agree Tom's reputation is excellent. When I got my Habanero I would have preferred to get a Kellogg but cost was an issue.

However, his website says they get their Ti from Merlin Metalworks (whose status is totally in limbo) and then the welding is done by Seven. (This is for Ti, they do their own Steel frames in house)

BillyD

The S & Ms were always at the top of my list: Seven, Serotta, Merlin and Moots.

deyendznyr

Dean bikes are great. Their new Animas looks amazing.
However, their customer service has been known to be slightly lacking. You can google it and see the comments in other forums.
Personally if I had the money, I would get a Lynskey Helix OS and call it a day.

c0lnago

If I didn't already have a Moots I'd go for a Baum...great attention to detail. I love the simple finish of my Moots though...

Flak

We're (were) a Serotta dealer (shop owner worked there previously for 7 years), and they're suffering some troubles recently (again). If you know anything about them, then you'll know that Kelly Bedford is the man behind much of their greatness. He has since left and is now making his own frames under his own name. We moved with him.

Check him out - https://kbedfordcustoms.com/ - Serotta quality without the bull****.

Bob Ross

Any thread on top-of-the-line titanium frames would be incomplete without mention of Carl Strong.

If I were buying Ti it'd be really difficult for me to decide between a Strong, an Ericksen, a Spectrum (Tom Kellog), or a Moots. Nice to have choices where none of them are bad!