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Seen a bike i fancy but it is Ti.
Been the owner of a Ti bike i lusted over for years and it broke/killed my desire for expensive bikes.
So a bit unsure.
Has anyone owned a Ti bike that hasn't broke ?
Just curious 🤔
I've had 4, 1 cracked (after about 10 years), the other 3 got sold.
Had 4, broke none. I only weighed bout 70kg though and was a “light” rider (as in I didn’t rely on suspension to get me through stuff)
Had 2 previous Titanium bikes neither of which broke.
One of my current bikes is Titanium and hasn't broken yet
Wife has 3 Titanium bikes and none have broken yet
It's our favourite frame material and I have no cause for concern.
1 year 1000 miles of commuting and my ti on one commuter hasn't cracked yet.
All bike break eventually. If you want it fixed you can get a ti bike fixed. It's probably more expensive to fix than steel, but there are a bunch of folk on here who have broken Steel, carbon and alloy frames.
I've s apples two alloy hardtail frames. One hit a rock hard right in the down tube when I crashed. One I rode down steps loads and the head tube cracked. An unlucky crash and riding outside of what the bike is designed for would kill most frames.
Had a ti456 - fine in the 3 years I owned it
I have an on one ti cross which these days is my commute bike in very regular use. 20 years old this year.
Bought a cracked Kinesis road bike and got it fixed. 5 years of happy use on the fixed frame.
90kg but quite light on my bikes for a semi big lad.
Anything I bought now that was none full Sus (road/touring/gravel/MTB) would probably be steel these days. Just seems the sensible choice.
Only ever had one, a Singular Pegasus, it wasn't broken after about 7 years. No idea now as I sold it.
I had a titanium Saracen Kili Ultra MTB in about 1997, that lasted many years of XC racing before I sold it (still in perfect condition).
Must have had it about 10 years, maybe more.
Great bike, super light.
I have 2 - Chinese/ Taiwan - Charge Cooker had since 2015 and Dawes 3ima since 2016.
The Cooker has had the hardest life including a 120 mm for a few years.
Both still OK.
Kona hei hei stolen didn't break.
Ti Bontrager broke at a weld.
Lite speed road bike chain stays split, repaired by Litespeed and still working.
Litespeed mtb still going strong.
Indy fab still going strong.
Partners van Nicholas split chainstay frame replaced still going strong.
I have also had steel Kona Unit and the frame broke on that but only after 9 years of daily commuting.
I think it's more about the design and quality of the materials and construction rather than which type of metal.
I currently have three that I haven't broken. Two of them are now 16 years old.
I've owned, and sold, another two. One of them is still going but I've no idea of the whereabouts of the other.
Airborne Lucky Strike
Bought it second hand, rode if for a decade, sold it. I know the buyer and he's still riding it.
Cove Hummer never broke despite my best efforts. Thrashed that thing.
Cotic Soda certainly felt like it would’ve if I’d kept it longer than a few months.
And some Van Nicholas thing didn’t break either.
Ive got a ti Reilly Gradient. About 5 yrs old and done lots of big events.
Got a ti Moots cx bike. 11 yrs old and still my fave riding bike.
Mrs B has a ti Moots gravel bike. 7 yrs old and totally brilliant in every way.
Mrs B has a ti Salsa el mariachi. Set up monstercross and about 8+ yrs old.
They all get used properly and are all fine.
Given the service that neilneville has had from Van Nicholas (via Planet X), I'd be giving their products top billing if I was buying Ti today.
I have a Van Nicolas Ti Road bike. I’ve owned it for 5+ years and it’s still going strong :o)
3 Moots, 2 Indie Fabs, 2 Serottas, 10 Sevens, 3 Merlins.
All great bikes and never broke any of them.
I still own 3 of the above (the oldest is 12 years old, the youngest is 8). I know the whereabouts of 6 (the oldest of which is 23 years old) and they are still going strong.
Buy right, buy once.
I've got two titanium bikes.
1993 M-Trax (very rarely ridden now but was ridden a lot back in the day) They had a reputation for breaking (bonded tubes popping out of the lugs) but mine is fine.
2013 (I think) Salsa El Mariachi. My XC race bike, ridden infrequently but hard, I'm a 24hr singlespeed racer.
I've broken one steel frame, three aluminium and three carbon, and stripped a BB thread on a magnesium one. (Marin's warranty is excellent, would definitely have another. Yeti's really isn't, never getting one again) If I had the money all my bikes would be titanium
Owned 3 broken 2
Lynskey 456 owner, bought it on eBay, has a dent or two but not broken. It's my sons commuter now. I won't let him do anything gnarly on it but that's more about the fork than the frame.
Mine is still going strong. Can’t claim it’s proven to be worth the money over a steel one… it probably hasn’t been, but it wears its scrapes and scratches well and has had no cracks.
Had one (ti 456) broke one.... as you may have recently seen px /van Nicholas have been superb so a Titus Goldrush is on its way at very little cost to me.
Broke 2 aluminium frames (marin wolfridge and kinesis max light Pro) had one warranty replacement, anda discount offered on a replacement for the other. So my experience is, if you are the original owner, warranties are honoured.
I've an Enigma Etape with 15k miles on it that hasn't broken - yet.
Had my Laverack 3 years and 5k (winter) miles and I've not broken it yet at 85kg
Owned 17 (I think), broke none.
My ragley td-1 (Lynskey built) hasn't broken. It should have. I've broken headset cups . Smashed up pace rigid forks.
'Had my Laverack 3 years and 5k (winter)
miles and I’ve not broken it yet at
85kg'
Yeah those Laverack's are a bit chunky but at lead to they don't break... 🙃
I think every single Ti bike in my riding group has now broken except one of the kinesis and the Dialled back in the day.
Must be into double figures now, not cheap bikes and all ridden hard.
I wouldn't go near the stuff.
I have a Kingdom Vendetta hard tail and a Hex full susser. Both going strong after several years.
3 in our house, 2 not broken.
OG Cotic Soda. Spanked that for well over a decade, inc jumps & drops.
Missus has a Van Nic Euros roadie. 11 years old now, not had the hardest life, but not babied either.
the one that did break was a sample gravel frame that cracked on its second Dirty Reiver due to a slightly undersized seat post. Repaired by the local moto exhaust factory and has been fine these last 6 years, inc another 4 Reivers.
They’re not “forever” bikes, but look after them and they can last and are fixable when they do break. Just like steel, or within limits, carbon.
I still ride my 22 year old Airborne Lancaster. Although it started off life as a 26inch mountain bike, it now serves as a flat bar gravel bike with 650b wheels and 47mm gravel tyres and an eXotic rigid carbon fork. As another example of longevity, it also has the original Chris King headset including bearings. Do I have the oldest Ti bike still being used regularly?
Just found a crack on mine. 10 years old, probably 40,000 miles on it.
Ti Waltlys x 3
Broken Ti Waltlys x 0
Custom's probably your best bet anyway if you're going ti, tell them you want whatever and it's for a 130kg rider and let them figure it out.
116 kg
Owned 10 years
Only bike for everything (middle aged, sans gnar)
Salsa Fargo
Looks pretty much the same as I bought it (Charlie recommendation - remember the one about how many good days on your bike you had left)
a walty for 3 years and a Titan cycles since 2
no issues, and I'm 100+kg
only used for bike packing though
Only bike for everything (middle aged, sans gnar)
Salsa Fargo
that is what broke for me. 3 years old.
Anyone owned Ti bike and NOT broke it YET.
There... fixed the title for you.
Leading question?
This needs a poll.
Frames you have owned that have broken:
Steel
Many owned, one crash damaged frame (fair enough).
Aluminium
Owned a couple, one warranty replacement weld crack.
Titanium
Owned one (8 years), no break
Carbon
One carbon swing arm, broke it.
I think that pretty much sums up all bikes. Ride them enough and eventually it's going to break. Most people on here ride a lot and break frames and components. What separates the better frames is they last better and the manufacturers stand by the warranty.
BTW, I asked planet x what I should do with the 456 frame today, expecting to send it back. They said normally VN would give them a credit note and for that they wound require it back. However as they don't currently use VN for anything I could hang it on my wall. Ie, it's px themselves picking up this cost, so in my book px are as good as VN, or better.
My Planet X Tempest had done 7000+ miles in two years
No signs of any cracks when I checked it over before selling it, all the stories about Ti cracking did make me wary about keeping it any longer than 2 years
Gone back to Carbon now and have had a carbon bike before that I’d done 18’000 miles on and was still in good condition when I sold it
out of the small amount of bikes i have owned, i have only had 3 failures.
1 specialized sirius. cracked chainstay.
1 orange sub zero. snapped seat tube.
1 Ti fargo. cracked dropout weld.
Ribble CRG Ti..... Four years, daily commuting for two... Decent (proper) usage the last two years. No dramas.
Mk1 DB Alpine.... Steel is real and all that.... 20+ Transalp tours plus lots of private bashing. Washed it once and discovered a crack in the steerer/downtube interface. According to DB only the second one to fail. Fixed for 20€ and a couple of joints at the local frame builder.