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Thinking about one to replace my ageing trek hybrid/tourer. Like the look of the steel Croix, but the Ti one seems so nice. Has anyone on here had a Ti version? Any thoughts/long term analysis of one? And has anyone put a flat bar on one? I'm not a drop bar fan.
Thanks.
Unbeleivable. A thread about actual bikes gets no response, yet one about a politician get over 10,000. 😆
In the forlorn hope that anyone else is even mildly interested, I'll bump this again. My original thread about trying to find a bike got very little response as well, so I'm not expecting much tbh.
Croix de Fer seems to tick a lot of boxes for a suitable frame. The Ti version seems almost perfect. There's a few frame bargains around at the moment, so thought it worth checking out.
You can put a flat bar on almost anything - I am still trying to wean myself on to drops but have toured on an equilibrium with flats on with no issues. Cdf and tdf both tick alot of boxes for me too, not sure I would bother with ti for a touring bike designed to carry heavy loads though
Yay! A response! 😀
"You can put a flat bar on almost anything"
Well, you can, but it would lead to shit handling on a road frame with a short ETT, for example. The CdF has a decent ETT length, so a flat bar would be ok.
"not sure I would bother with ti for a touring bike designed to carry heavy loads though"
Why not? Not that I probably will use it for very heavy loads, but I don't get your doubts. I want the frame/bike to be very lightweight, so Ti will offer a decent weight saving over steel (the Ti frameset is over 1.5kg less than the steel version).
I have a Ti Tourer, marketed as a "light" Tourer?! I think as the front fork has no rack mounts. Have cross / Gravel (shudders) tyres on it and it is fab. Commuting, road riding, canal paths, old railway lines, fire roads etc. Do not use a rear rack (use ruck sack) but it has the option to do so. It is not the Genesis Ti model but very similar ilk.
Should mention before I get picked up on it! Similar in that it is double butted Ti with carbon fork 22 speed Shimano Groupset etc
I would imagine a lightweight ti frame might be too flexible with heavy loads and if you were carrying heavy loads a lightweight frame wouldn't make so much difference - but as you say you're not going heavy laden & weight is important to you so crack on with ti 🙂
I've not had one but they look lovely. Also if you want a medium then 18 bikes have a frame to clear at a bargain price.
What bike is that, Genesiscore?
I spotted that one in 18 Bikes the other day. Just before their own Monsal steel frame caught my eye. And I bet that reduced bright yellow Longitude frame could be built up to something fun.....
"I would imagine a lightweight ti frame might be too flexible with heavy loads"
Why would you imagine this?
^^ Other than wheels it is all excellent. Wheels are good just a little heavy. But then strong enough for rougher surfaces etc.
I was out riding my bike at the weekend so didn't see your post until now!!Unbeleivable. A thread about actual bikes gets no response,
I have a 725 Croix de Fer, the frame itself isn't [i]actually[/i] that heavy - it's the wheels/tyres mainly on the stock builds. Having read this previously I had the shop put decent wheels & light tyres on it from the off and over time upgraded to carbon bars, seatpost and fork. Made a massive difference & is sprightly enough for fast road riding IMO.
Having said that I did have a spin round a car park on a Ti one recently when the Madison guys & girls came down to a local bike show. It was lovely, very light even with the stock build. And it looks awesome in the flesh!
I had said to myself I'd pick one up if I saw one reduced... hmmm... hadn't seen the 18bikes before now...
That said there are a couple of other nice looking options now like the Tripster.
"I was out riding my bike at the weekend so didn't see your post until now!!"
As was I! Unlike quite a number on here, who cannot possibly have any time at all for actual biking! 😆
(As a distraction; a quick tot up of numbers of posts on threads on the front page of the forum, at a particular moment, revealed 1,454 'bike' related, and 15,963 non-bike! 😯 Allowing for taking off the largest ones, this left 307 vs 568, with an average of 11 vs 24.7 posts per thread. It seems people really do talk less about bikes than they do about other subjects on this forum! )
Glad you like the Ti Croix. It is a very nice looking bike. Still looking around at a few other options, but the Croix has a good rear disc placement if using a rack, and clearance for up to 42c tyres if required. Other numbers are not far off my current frame. Will be wanting to build up with some nice components, so looking around £3k for a full build which I believe will be better than the stock option.
That Dawes is nice, but very limited stock. 🙁
The Charge Ti Plug looks very nice. Again have a Cooker Ti and it is fab. In budget.
That Dawes looks ace. Just what I'm after. Not mad keen on Dawes though. Any info?
why would you imagine this
Different bikes I know but I do have a Genesis altitude ti and it's quite bendy, which for load carrying isn't such a great thing, but as you say you won't be carrying much weight & have set your heart on a ti frame so crack on
So you have a very different frame, 'similar' only in the brand stickers on it, and you make this assumption? I know several who use Ti frames for touring, with varying loads, and none have complained about excessive flex. Certainly nothing that is detrimental to how the bikes perform.
I am after a lightweight frame to help keep the overall bike weight down. This is obviously a bonus for performance, but also when transporting the bike on airlines. The 1.5+kg weight difference of the Ti over the steel frameset could be significant. I would also consider Aluminium if there was anything suitable available, although I'm less keen as Alu has a lower material life expectancy. Steel is an ideal material of course, in terms of function, but without going full custom, it'll be impossible to find anything even approaching the lighter weight of Ti. I'm not 'set' on any particular material, I just want a bike that fits my specific requirements, and Ti frames seem to do that better than other materials.
I hadn't seen the Charge bikes; are the Plug and Grater frame sets available separately, or only as complete bikes?
I would also consider Aluminium if there was anything suitable available
Genesis CdA surely? mind you if I were going for a flat bar bike I'd opt for a Tour de Fer frameset in the first place and not fuss about the weight, but as you say weight is an important factor to you & you are prepared to pay the premium price for it.
TdF has less clearance at the rear, for bigger tyres. Very nice though, I was looking at one in a shop the other day. Fantastic bike for the money. TdF is just 3mm longer in the ETT. CdA isn't available as a frameset.
I'd love a CdF Ti as my cheap steel one is my favourite bike. I've also been looking at the [url= https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/sonder-camino-ti-frame-and-fork ]Alpkit Sonder Camino[/url].
Interesting. I'm assuming it's plain gauge Ti tubing, as it would surely say otherwise? The Genesis looks like a nicer frame to me.
I wouldn't flat bar a CdF
I did it out of necessity to mine for a short tour and it was too short. As I expected though.
What the OP needs is a TOUR de Fer. Designed for flat bars see? Problem is I don't think there's any left at Madison.
I agree that the Genesis looks like a nicer frame, I'm just not sure it's £800 nicer for me (obviously very subjective). The new Genesis range is announced tomorrow IIRC, who knows if that might mean some slightly cheaper sale stock (although I'm not sure how/why they'd revise this frame).
"What the OP needs is a TOUR de Fer. Designed for flat bars see?"
See my post above: [i]"TdF is just 3mm longer in the ETT"[/i]
Plus: "[i]TdF has less clearance at the rear, for bigger tyres"[/i]
Read the thread properly. 😉
CdF is more or less identical in numbers to my current bike. Hence it would offer a very similar ride in terms of fit. As I'm happy with my current bike in this regard, the CdF would be ideal.
"The new Genesis range is announced tomorrow IIRC, who knows if that might mean some slightly cheaper sale stock "
Very interesting! 😀
Looks like the 2017 frame is very similar (identical?) to 2016 although the full bike build is slightly different (but no price increase).