A lot of sources claim that it offers a unique riding experience and that once you ride a titanium bike, you don't wanna go back to steel or carbon. How has your experience with a titanium frame been?

i had a custom ti frame made back in '95. rode it for years and for thousands of miles. today, with a couple of aluminums, CF's, and vintage steel's, i have found it less attractive. OTOH, i think it's age is probably contributing to that. newer designs and tube shapes and dimensions have probably improved things quite a bit since mine was built.

i have a friend that i see all the time. he has a recent model Pinarello, De Rosa, and Ti Moots. i rarely see him on anything but the Moots. when asked he said something to the effect that "it just rides better". i don't doubt him. be aware though, when buying a Ti bike, you may never have a legitimate reason to buy another bike frame, ever. you'll have to make up a reason.

Any material bike can ride like crap or ride like perfection. I've had them all. Worst riding bike I had was a Trek aluminum and the best riding bike I had was a Specialized aluminum. Go figure. My Moots titanium rides great, but I also have 700x32 tires and it has a rear suspension system. Thing I've always found with the various titanium bikes I've had is that they all had a very snappy feel to the ride. Accelerated very quickly. I had an Eddy Merckx TiAx that felt like it would shoot out from under you when you stomped on the pedals. Didn't fit right so was uncomfortable on long rides. Before investing in something based off what you hear or read, do yourself a favor and test ride it and put 30-50 miles on it. I knew what I wanted when I got my Moots but that's a price tag you don't want to take the hit on if you don't absolutely know what you're getting into.

You will get opinions all over the place.

Agree that you can have a wonderful or crappy frame made of: Steel/Ti/CF/Aluminum/etc.

In general, other things being equal, a Ti frame is likely to be more durable than its CF cousin. Also, the CF technology, while maturing, is still evolving while Ti is pretty static.

So if you are buying a bike that you plan to keep/ride for more than say, 5-6 years, you probably want Ti. If you are going to be getting something new every 3-6 years you are probably better off with CF.

Personally, I chose a Ti frame specifically because I have a body that has funny dimensions and do best with custom geometry. A custom CF frame is prohibitively expensive compared to a custom Ti frame. (price difference is several thousand dollars)

They are made of the same material as the Six Million Dollar Man's bionics. What more could you want?

1. Ti looks bad ass, and is the least common bike frame material.
2. Lowest maintenance because it is extremely corrosion resistant. Ti > Carbon > Alum > Steel in this regard
3. More resilient to normal wear and tear (scratches/nicks) than carbon.
4. More dent resistant than super high-end steel frames of similar weight. Much more dent resistant than high-end alum frames.
5. Less harsh than most modern oversize tubing alum frames. Ride feel is very similar to steel.

Based on your location, I have to ask if you went with an Engin from Wissahickon. Drew is building me one. Should be ready in about 1.5 months. Like you, I have funny dimensions. My CrMo IF is nearing the end of its useful life thanks to corrosion issues.

I tried to get a local builder, Harry Havnoonian, but he was having issues with his Ti welder at the time (this was 6 years ago btw) and being on a budget I ended up with my Habanero.

Does Drew do Ti??

I see Ti as the ultimate custom frame in terms of the best balance between ride quality, durability & performance. Sure, a more rider tuned Cf frame can be found but it won't have the resilience to minor/typical impacts that Ti has...Lack of corrosion is another, others have mentioned many of the same reasons already. As others have said, ride and narrow things down to knowing what you're looking for before making a long term investment.

(Gratuitous De Rosa porn...):

Nothing more to say about advantages that has not already been said. I like my Ti a lot, but no more or less than my CF or steel. Great bikes ride great no matter what material. One disadvantage Ti has is its rarity for test riding.

Let's just be honest, ti frames are just for vanity. It offer nothing over CF or steel.

I have never owned or rode a Ti frame but from everything I've read, they are a gimmick.

What's gimmicky about a light, durable material?

Durable, yes. Light, no. Flexy and pricy, you bet.

At this day and age, there is no more rational reason for ti frame other than you just want one.

Because you can get as good a ride or better for less on a modern steel or carbon frame.

Obvious troll is obvious. But, what the hell.. I'll play too.

If carbon fiber didn't exist, every pro rider would be on Titanium. If the economy of scale didn't make it such that cheap Asian labor could crank out assembly line frames to then be sold for 10X their production cost, Non pros would be riding... Well, I'm not even sure what.

Up until 2 months ago, Ti was the only frame material I'd never owned. Over the last 25 years I've had several steel frames, several carbons (including one of the first ever Kestrel Monocoque) and an aluminum.

As has been stated, every material can be made into a frame that sucks, or a frame that is awesome. Anyone saying Tiatium is "flexy" probably tried an old 90's Litespeed and nothing since. Anyone saying it's "heavy" is talking about less than a pound, and is likely a poser who couldn't get any bike to 5/10 of it's performance limit. You could give them a helium filled frame that weighed negative 2 pounds and they'd still be slow.

That said, the Ti advantages / differences (some of which also apply to steel) are:

1) Won't rust or corrode
2) Will survive impacts that will send carbon frames to the dumpster (and I don't mean nonsense like falling over in the garage). The first time you damage a carbon frame is the exact moment the price difference argument goes out the window.
3) Simple, understated beauty
4) Will look like new pretty much forever
5) Won't fail catastrophically.
6) Other riders will go out of their way to ask you about it, because everyone else is on the same Spesh / Trek / Big Corp carbon billboard looking rig.

Disadvantages

1) Your bike may be up to 14 ounces heavier than an identically equipped carbon bike.
2) More expensive *at first*. But unlikely to need replacing due to impact damage.

I owned both my current Ti frame and a 2013 Specialized Roubaix Carbon simultaneously, planning on keeping only one. For all the reasons above, plus what my body was telling me was a better quality of ride, I kept the Ti.

I got the frame used for less than $1000, btw. I wouldn't be so confident about the longevity / dependability of a used carbon frame from an unknown person, I can tell you that much.

You can also spend $5000+ on many different Carbon frames. So, what's your point exactly?

There's no paint to chip. My titanium frame looks much better after 18 years than my previous steel frame did 10. It looks nice in an understated way.

It's unlikely to fail catastrophically.

Some day I'll be able to add travel couplers which I couldn't do with carbon.

Calfee will do a CF frame with couplers. Not cheap mind you, but it's been done.

How does paint on a titanium frame hold up? If I were to get a titanium frame, I would have part of it painted and leave some of the bare metal exposed.

What a weird thing to say.

Replace "Ti frame" with any make of car, any kind of TV or absolutely anything of any kind that cost more than the first gen, reasonably modern model of the same item and it's still true.

"At this day and age, there is no more rational reason for Porsche 911 other than you just want one. "
"At this day and age, there is no more rational reason for 52" TV other than you just want one. "
"At this day and age, there is no more rational reason for 6 bedroom / 4 bathroom house other than you just want one. "
"At this day and age, there is no more rational reason for Breitling Watch other than you just want one. "

You can even say that about every carbon frame since roughly 2005. You're not going any faster on any of them since then, sorry to tell you.

Bwahahahahahahahaaa.... Bwahahahahaaaaa... Hahahahahahahaha...

Ikr

apples and oranges in all your examples with the exception of Breitling

CF is very easy for experienced people to fix. It's also relatively inexpensive to repair compared to other materials.

Ti has quite a record for catastrophic failures from bad welds.