Thinking of Ti...
 

I've been wanting to try out a ti bike for a while and I really like the 2014 Lynskey Helix, should I be looking at any other models? (in the same price range) $3,000 frame.

My good friend and most frequent riding buddy has one from about two years ago. Very fine in every respect. In that price range, I would look no further. If you want to consider something a bit less pricey, I can recommend the Everti Falcon, available from Adrenaline Bikes. See them also at www.evertibikes.com . About $1,000 less. I love mine. They are specified in Canada by Kurt Knott and built for him in Asia. Very up-to-date design. Stiff, comfortable, attractive, light, what else is there to say?

Love my Lynskey, and wouldn't hesitate to buy another!

Take into consideration what your intended use is. Maybe even call and talk to them about what frame would best suit your needs. I haven't ridden a Helix, but Lynskey describes it as an aggressive bike for racing. That makes me wonder about comfort (if that's important to you) for long rides.

Also, the Helix is a $4000 frame. Lynskey quality and service is top notch!

I'm not big on paying premiums for popular brand names and for that sort of money would go custom with a smaller but experienced builder.

Dan Nelson (of the eponymous Nelson Titanium Products) builds custom titanium frames in San Francisco starting at $1800. Scott Quiring (Quiring Cycles) starts at $2700 in Michigan.

Thanks for the info on the other builders I will have a look.

The price is stated as list price, which is their financed price. I'm a little worried about comfort but I just love those twisted tubes.

For that kind of money, I would look at custom builders. Carl Strong will build you one of custom blend titanium frames for $3K. You might have to wait a few weeks for delivery, but that is part of the custom experience; you can also use that wait time to source the rest of the parts for the build.

Good luck.

I really love my Lynskey. I've never ridden a different Ti frame so I have nothing to compare it to, but mine is a dream to ride. Best bike ever.

If you have never ridden a Ti frame, how about buying a used one for ~1K? You can ride the crap out of it for 6mo and not take much of a hit financially should you find it isn't for you (or if you want to step up to a custom Ti frame). Like any frame, the tubeset can have a huge impact on comfort. My 2002 Lemond Tete De Course with its fairly traditional tube shapes rode nothing like my 2004 Litespeed Tuscany with its oversized downtube and curved seatstays.

Good luck!

This is also not a bad idea; Titanium is one of those materials where you don't have to worry too much about the frame's history and you can find really good deals on used frames / bikes. This is actually what I did for myself; I was thinking of custom Ti but then came across this(Seven Elium Race with Campy Record 10-speed) for $1,500 locally (minus the wheels, it came with some basic Mavic wheels):

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psc67ba78f.jpg

I really like Moots.

http://imageshack.us/a/img585/767/img4518bt.jpg
Holland Cycles. Not cheap but Bill Holland is a very well respected frame maker.

That's what I did as well. I scored a 2013 Lynskey R340 with full Dura Ace 9000 on craigslist for $1200. I was astounded, I even had the SN run to make sure it wasn't stolen.

whoa. that seems like an incredible deal.

New GT Ti roady is sweet $2K for frame..

I almost didn't believe it. Here in Honolulu, you can't call the PD to run the SN, they will send a patrolman out to run it. I guess that way they can confiscate it on the spot. This guy was totally cool with it, said he had been wanting to move in with his GF in Japan, and she had been saying no for a long time. Suddenly out of the blue told him she wanted him there. He sold everything he owned in 2 days, bought a ticket and vamoosed.

Bike didn't look like it had been ridden 100 miles.

Smoking deals on those bikes. Thanks for all the feedback so far, I need to do more research.

Just bide your time. In 2012 I picked up the aforementioned Litespeed Tuscany with 1st-gen SRAM force, Thomson and Easton EC70 bits, brand new Aksiums (clearly take-offs from the seller's new ride) for $1000 even. Sold it 6mo later for $1300 and been regretting it ever since....

Heck, a quick check of ebay shows there's a 59cm Tuscany that someone has "customized" with a bad black powdercoat and new stickers for $600 BIN shipped. A couple hours with some Aircraft Remover and it'll be good as new.

Depending on your expectation of the ti frame, and the current frame you are riding, I would be very careful spending that kind of money. Getting a used ti bike is a great suggestion to get your toes wet. Nothing against ti, but my personal experience hasn't been that great when comparing them to modern carbon frames. FWIW, I am just a club rider but likes to go fast (relatively speaking) and climbing.

Ok this scares me, I'm currently riding a 2013 SL4 Roubaix Expert but here lately I find myself admiring ti bikes and being that I see so few here in town makes me want to get one. Can you share your experience when comparing ti with modern frames. Btw I'm also just a club rider.

I've been wanting to try one out too and finding a Ti frameset that was EPS compatible for less than $2k was almost non-existent. Lynskey has the Roleur frameset starting at $1599 from their silver series lineup but no available Di2/EPS option. Their sportive and pro framesets all had Di2/EPS options but more than what I want to spend right now. I emailed several US based retailers/builders and framesets were priced similarly to Lynskey and obviously some even more expensive.

I found Falco Bicycles online and on another forum. The stock geometry on their Eleonora frameset is close enought to my current bikes and I decided to send an email. So far, I've been in touch with Binny from Falco for the last two weeks; I plan on ordering an Eleonora sometime next week. A specific mod I had requested was to make the frameset EPS compatible-only which would involve not having any mechanical cable guides and was told that wouldn't be a problem with a turn around time of 2-3 weeks.

I have 3 different Lynskey bikes, and live in Lawrence, 35 miles west of KC. If you want to look at one up close, pm me.

I'm beginning to think you kinda like EPS... Sounds like a great deal and it has a tapered fork and pf30. Can't wait to see what you think of it.

Wow thanks

be careful.. when he comes to his senses he'll probably be back and want his bike too. i'm surprised the Honolulu PD didn't take him for observation or a 10 day cooling off period :).

I disagree with that guy. Ti bikes rides just as well (better, IMO) as any carbon (I owned a Tarmac SL3 and a Giant TCR Advanced). Ti is maybe 1/2 lb heavier, that's all.

You better believe I registered that bad boy in my name the next morning!

Like any frame material, Ti ride varies widely based on geometry, tube shape and wall thickness. It's impossible to say what a frame will be like without riding it. Personally, I wouldn't buy a $3k frame unless I had ridden it previously.

There is no way to argue with the wisdom of that statement. The practicality of it is another thing. Considering that almost all Ti brands are esoteric or at least sold nearly exclusively by the builder these days, it can be almost impossible to find one to test ride. Even in the rare cases that a shop will order a certain brand Ti bike for you, it is unlikely the shop has any in stock for you to test ride. Unless you have a friend or riding companion who has one in your size, you live near the builder, how would you test ride a Motobecane from Bikes Direct, a Lynskey, an Everti, Moots, Holland, Baum, etc? I happen to live only a couple of blocks away from a Seven dealer, but she only keeps one or two around for show. There is no coverage of model types and sizes for me to test ride and choose from.

That leaves us with the important question: IF YOU CAN'T TEST RIDE A TI BIKE, how do you decide it is likely right for you? I ask this not to suggest it is impossible, but in hopes of getting some good suggestions. This is an issue many of us face and could use some help with.

I can start out with a couple of thoughts. Online mega dealers like Adrenaline offer a wide range of Ti brands. I don't know for sure, but would bet they would take back a like-new bike that you didn't like the ride of, at least for "store credit". This could be agreed upon in advance (or not) I suppose.

And the situation with custom builders is a bit different, because you work so closely with the builder to achieve your goals of fit and feel. Whether a guy like Holland guarantees the buyer's satisfaction, I don't know.

Any other ideas?

EPS or bust. :p
I've got it on both bikes and look forward to building up another bike with EPS. I'm actually planning to remove the EPS V1 battery and V1 interface from the Ridley and use that on the Falco Ti frameset. The Ridley will get the new slimmer V2 battery & interface which I'll be able to mount inside the Ridley's ISP.

I'll definitely write a review as there really isn't anything out there about this particular frameset. I'm not expecting it to ride like the higher end models offered from Lynskey, Moots, Firefly, etc. but I'll feel really good if the Falco rides just as nice and smooth as the De Rosa which was a surprise itself since I bought the De Rosa without being able to even ride one prior to buying it.

Engin in Philadelphia:

http://engincycles.com/

There is a wait. $3,200 for the base Ti frame. Having toured the shop, which is amazing, and met the builder,my next frame will probably be one of his. The guy has a great aesthetic. I have never seen a boring or ugly Engin.