[Closed] Ti road frames.....

indy fab or enigma would get my money

I'd want one to be "special" - not necessarily by a boutique brand, but if getting a "cheap" one, I'd want to make sure it wasn't comprimised (seems P-X aren't).

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=31663

Sunday (sorry, Sabbath now)

Greg is a good guy to deal with and I think they will do custom sizes.

I have a silk road which is nice. Never ridden a bike as much as this one.

My 456 cost £1k.....hard to fault from a performance point of view but not exactly a pretty bike despite the flame graphics. Road bikes have to be pretty though....they just do, and thats going to cost.

Check out Van Nicholas too. Their Mistral and Euros frames are pretty nice looking, and the Mistral got a cracking review in this months Cycling Plus.

Is it just me or does the Lynskey in the link above not look rubbish with those rear dropouts ?

mcboo are you a race-snake or more subtantially built? I've a couple of mates who are big powerful riders who haven't got on with Ti due to flex and have gone back to carbon. Ti is nice to ride but not the ultimate for a ride if you are bigger.

Litespeed - though will set you back a few grand

I'm 85kg, 6'3 so not small. Agreed I def wouldnt be wanting anything too flexy at the back. My On-One is pretty stiff really, just has that nice washy feeling over the bumps, still nice and rigid when I kick. I just like the idea of having a road bike that I can live with for years and years. Am going to start doing Marmotte/Etape type things....might be wrong but Ti just feels like the right way to go for that kind of event.

40 HahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHahaHaha 😉

money no object?

[url] http://www.ifbikes.com/OurBikes/Road/XS/ [/url]

DROOL

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Am going to start doing Marmotte/Etape type things....might be wrong but Ti just feels like the right way to go for that kind of event.

In which case, do what all the Brits do - turn up on something expensive, and then find yourself in the balai.

Be careful you don't buy something that absolutely has to be your "forever" bike. Buy something because it's a great example of what it is and because you are treating yourself for your birthday.

MM has 5yrs on me but doesnt like riding with me at the moment.....have been kicking sand in his face ever since 92kg > 85kg this summer.

8)

have been kicking sand in his face ever since 92kg > 85kg this summer.

that's even more funny than you being 40!

MOOTS

That's what I'd have 🙂

I'd go for a Seven.

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If I had the money I would be looking at Seven, IF, or Serrotta over any if the other American Ti builders

At the other end of the price scale it would be an Enigma - about half their Ti range is now made in the UK and they are also talking about sourcing UK Ti tubing. They are also looking to use 6/4? rather than 3/2.5 or whatever it is which will increase the stiffness.

The price premium for an Enigma over the likes of Sabbath and Van Nicholas is not that great and the workmanship and finish is much higher. Not knocking Sabbath and Van Nicholas but they are quite industrial in their design and finish.

I would also be tempted by the Engima XCR stainless steel jobbie if you want something of timeless beauty.

I agree with GJP

top end - Seven

middle - Enigma

cheap end - VN

Not knocking the cheap stuff though. I've got an Airborne (pre-VN) and I love it. Well made, good design and lovely and supple.

we need some in the flesh pics really, there are a few ti road bike owners on here aren't there?

my vote is for indy fab, love em never owned one. ifrider.com for gratuitous pics

In 2005 I bought a Merlin CR6/4 (only took 5 months to arrive from ordering). I've been doing Marmotte type riding on it as well as Tour of Flanders type riding and its been equally good at both. Its survived an unpleasant crash (on the 07 Ibbo ride) now with new forks & bars, is still comfy and will be doing Tour of Flanders again next Easter.
If its lucky in about a year it might get treated to 11spd Ergos.

im very happy with my sabbath september
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I have ridden a few Ti road bikes. They have all ridden differently.

The Sabbath I rode was a Mondays child and it was really tidy. The welds were really neat on it. It looked pretty much as nice as the fancier ti bikes I have seen. I loved the ride on it. It is a stiff bike but I did not find it in the least bit harsh. Greg was really good to deal with and I was going to buy one but in the end the timing was just a bit wrong.

My bike is a Planet X ti pro road. It has a short head tube which is perfect for me but not everyone. Its very like the Sabbath to ride most of the time but a little less stiff when you go for it. Its my favourite bike maybe just because its the one I have spent the most time on.

I have ridden a Lynskey Helix. This is a totally different bike to the others. Its fast and sharp feeling and it goes round corners somehow better than other bikes I have tried a bit like its on rails. When pootling along it is ok, maybe a bit harsher than the others. When you ride hard it is stiff feeling and rather fun! I dont reckon its finished any better than the sabbath, maybe a little better than the planet x. The welds look the same on all three. All of which looked better than a VN I saw- I have a helix frame waiting to be built up.

This is mine. Not the best picture and also not been ridden for so long now perhaps since summer 08. Looking for an excuse to buy an Enigma but very difficult to justify one.

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GJP - what size is it ?

my mate is selling his 52cm with 54cm eff tt sabbath september its the one with sram rival on thats £2200 new and he upgraded to brushed ti finish extra £100 and paid extra for reynolds solitude wheelset. also has carbon look sks guards on it hes ridden it once for about half hour and decided he didnt like it on the road ;-( dumbass lol hes looking for around £1200 im going to put it up on classifieds in a few days for him when hes sorted pix out for me if your interested at all (it looks like mine above but his has black graphics rather than the green ones on mine)
cheers mick

merlin merlin merlin merlin merlin

they are just beautiful

[i]the_lecht_rocks - Member
GJP - what size is it ?[/i]

Its a medium -size 55cm. Same geometry as the current Enigma Ti range.

mcboo 6-3 and 85kg isn't too bad. I guess that you'll be looking for a 59-60cm frame. That will be somewhat flexy. With my friends 59cm Litespeed Archon you could hold the bars and move the seat side to side. Litespeed took it back and built him a custom with an O/S top tube, but he still hated the flex and swapped it for a carbon Cannondale. I'd really say try before you buy. If you are a smooth sitting down pedaller you may love a Ti frame.

Depends on how nice you want and the quality of tubing and workmanship, if you want the best, Moots, Kish, Serrotta, IF. Then seven, lightspeed and merlin.

If you want bottom of the pile, enigma, vn, on one etc...

Another vote for Sabbath / Sunday Silk Road.

Be sure you want a Ti frame for its qualities and not just 'cos of the "I'm 40, I need to treat myself to a Ti frame" syndrome.
I used to have a very high end Ti bike and was really proud of it, spending ages getting it perfect, convincing myself that it the nicest bike I'd ridden.
Then one day it broke, and I had to pull my old Cannondale CAAD 5-with parts bin-equipment out of storage, and the 'dale was lighter, stiffer, would corner way better, and actually felt way smoother.
I'm not sure I'd look at a Titanium road bike when there are so many nicer expensive carbon or cheaper aluminium frames out there.
( heresy caps off)

I have a Litespeed ('07 Ardennes - custom builed up)and well recommended. However another brand not yet mentioned and roadie thoroughbred... De Rosa, assuming Ti is still in their range oh and Titus!

...lots of very good suggestions IMO.

Does it have to be Ti? If we are pretending money is no object then what about a Crumpton?

Bike frames are like suits; what looks great this year will look dated and tatty in 5-6-8 years time.

Ti is nice, but is waaaaay over-rated as a frame material. I'd go carbon in the latest up-to-the-minute spec, then review the situation in 4 or 5 years.

Custom....Nah. Unless you are a monkey with extremely out of the ordinary proportions, custom is a very expensive way of riding a bike.

Money no object? Get a Scott carbon with Di2 or whatever the Shimano electric groupset is called.

Money getting a bit tighter? Get a high end carbon Colnago/Scott/Pinarello/insert flash manufacturer with the top of the range Shimano or Campag groupset on it.

Currently contemplating either a Sabbath or an Enigma road bike. I already have a couple of US made Ti frames (Cove Hummer and Ibis Silk Ti) while my missus has an Airborne. To be honest, the Airborne looks and rides just as nicely for a lot less money. I'm about to send back a Cove Hummer as an aluminium insert was used in the frame construction and Litespeed have offered under warranty to reinsert the insert if they can save it or cut out the head tube and charge me for the privilege. Cue one shortened top tube and one very unhappy customer. Frankly, I'd rather have a Taiwanese or Chinese frame builder who turns out a higher volume of frames build my bike than a yank who'll charge me more for the privilege. 😆

A mate has a custom DeSalvo crosser- lovely bike painted up by Spectrum but the clearances for the discs are paper thin.

Of course, if money is no object, there is always Robin Matther if you want a full custom UK made machine. His steel creations are mighty fine. I would expect his Ti ones to be equally as nice.

Cheers

Sanny

Titus makes some very lovely Ti road frames, amongst other the Solera.
Have a look on their website.

And speaking of Titus, if you are lucky enough to fit a 54cm frame, Fattreadbikes have one Solera on sale for £700!!!!!! (down from £2000)
It is the 07 frame, mate built one up and it is superb.
http://www.fattreadbikes.co.uk/offers

And here is a linky to a piccy of a solera
http://www.titusti.com/solera_lg.html

If oyu get it custom built you can specify stiffness etc...At the end of the day a Ti bike could be built to ride like a Carbon or Aluminium bike.

I built up a Planet X / Lynskey Pro Ti thingee earlier this year, the 'race' one, it rides really nicely, very supple but not wibbly when you do put the power down either, really smooths out the Peak roads. I like it a lot. I haven't ridden any of the exotica that folk keep suggesting - I wonder if they have - but for the money, the Planet X frame is absolutely blinding and looks nice too in an understated sort of way.

At the end of last year I spent some time riding a Colnago EPS, which handled and rode pretty much the same as my CR6/4 - although the CR isn't as light.

Serotta = money no option

Glider Tupelo Ti, from cyclefit in London is ti frame made by Serotta but Glider badged. Still not cheap though, and more of a trad, rather than compact frame design.

www.cyclefit.co.uk

I got three things at once - custom fit, ti frame (mtb) and custom orthotics (insoles) in decent shoes. Going from my old shoes/insoles and my too-small-for-me Inbred it was a massive improvement, though impossible to single out which had the most effect. Though the shoes/insoles also feel awesome on my other bikes (knee trouble in the past). Possibly would have got most of the benefit on a custom steel frame, but that wasn't what I really wanted.

Eye-wateringly expensive, but probably the best value things I've ever bought since I now want to, and am able to cycle loads more than I used to.

Serotta frame and orthotics from Physio4Life.

A work colleague of mine had an off the peg Van Nicholas until recently, He did like it but being 6’2”-ish and having a longer legged/shorter torso build than "normal" I think he wanted something a bit more specific geometry wise, shorter top tube and taller HT/ST than his Large off the peg frame, he wound up selling it and that just about covered the cost of a heavier steel Dave Yates custom frameset… which I think he's much happier with...

Fit is king with road bikes, light, spangly Ti is all well and good, but if you’re grinding out the miles on a bike that doesn’t fit properly then it’s wasted money, you need to try before you buy, as it’s a lot of cash even for an off the peg one, on what should be a long term “keeper” frame…

All the Seven fanboys may be interested to read [url= http://www.bikemagic.com/forum/forummessages/mps/dt/1/UTN/98021/V/6/SP/ ]this[/url].

On top of that, when he ordered, they screwed up the order, geometry wasn't even close to being right for him.

Put me right off having one.

I'm intrigued about crikey putting a Scott in the 'money no object' pile then suggesting Pinarello as a cheaper option.

What's a Prince frameset these days? £3300? Not exactly cheap. I really want to like the Addict, but it's just boring and uninspiring!

Incidentally that's where my money would go, I'm 5'10 and when I was about 67kg I tried several high end ti bikes (Litespeed Ghisallo, Merlin Extralite etc) and found them really flexy and unpleasant, I'd never buy one.

Glad someone else mentioned Robin Mather as I wouldn't want to appear biased (although if you want his PDF on Ti frames mail me 😉 ).

I would also have a look at a 953 frameset, as they look lovely, although never ridden one. The IF SSR springs to mind...

That Titus Solera is a peach.....

I've now emailed different chaps at Sabbath twice with queries regarding getting one of their bikes on C2w scheme. Maybe they think I'm taking the pss but had nothing back at all. Have to call I guess.

Ask them for one of these:

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I would love a Ti race or sportive frame next year.

Have you chosen one yet Mcboo? (sorry if I missed it on one the replies above)

I love that new Sabbath, in a strange 'it's ugly but I like it' way

Those Sabbath stays remind me of Hetchins for some reason...

[url= http://www.baumcycles.com/ ]baum...[/url]

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LBS owner has one... absolutely gorgeous. The paint on this one is a bit ...meh... IMHO, but one of the steel ones on there has a luscious Racing Green paintjob which looks amazing to me.

Why not go to Rourkes and get a custome built 953 frame, just as nice as a Ti but made to suit you.

In no particular order (money no object of course)

Moots (I ride a 2008 Compact and love it!)
Kent Eriksen
Independent Fabrication
Steve Potts
BlackSheep Cycles
Jim Kish
Seven
Serotta

Custom ? - depends how out of proportion you are, no doubting you can get the BEST if you go custom including angles and even specific tubing depending on riding type etc but for overall stock is generally fine IMHO (mine's a 53.5cm stock Compact BTW)

I'll be perfectly honest and say that the best bike I've ever owned was carbon - a Serotta Meivici - but my current ride is ti; a Lynskey R330 (with all EC90 components de-labelled). Picture taken in current winter mode with 'orrible looking mudguards:

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Its the first titanium frame I've ever owned and I completely don't regret it. Might sound daft but as amazing as the Serotta was to ride (and it was amazing) I didn't want to use it in anything less than perfect conditions so it was a bit impractical. However, it taught me just how comfortable a top end road bike can be (without sacrificing stiffness / handling) and I really got into riding century rides / sportives this year (something that was bloody torture on my old Six13 and even my old 595 was too aggressive for really long rides). I decided that - like the Serotta - I wanted something discreet and comfortable. I don't race so don't want to look like a race rep and would rather do long ride than a short blast these days so ti seemed just the ticket. And it is - with a few caveats; ti carries a weight penalty compared to carbon - even the best to frames won't be below 1250g where you can take at least 400g off that for a lot of top carbon frames - and (careful you get what you wish for!) it just doesn't have that racer-ish snap of out and out carbon race bikes. That said, I can do 100 mile on my Lynskey comfortably, I love the springy feel of the ride, I love the fact that being titanium it feels like it will last forever and I don't have to freak out about it being hammered in the rain for ages and I love the fact its quite subtle. Dare I say its a 'mature' choice...

If you want to go crazy for your 40th how about a Passoni:

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