[Closed] So, how good are Ti bikes then..............

Do you know a large lad then?

FWIW (nothing), I've resisted spending more than £250 on a frame. So, the concept of a £1000 frame seems daft. I strongly suspect it's a case of diminishing returns - I have an £80 Alu frame that I think is just great (Hadsome Dog XC.01) and I had another similar that I wore out (Merlin Malt 1). Cheap, cheerful. However I like steel (cos Alu's very stiff due to thick tubes). So, On-Ones then. Lots of them. Mostly the stack-em-high varieties - DN6 tubing - Inbreds, 456, Kaff, Pomp. All great. I had all I needed.

Then they did the 853 slidey Inbred with no cable stops. Ah. OK, I want that. And it is fabulous.

Then they did the Ti 465. And I stopped there. Would I have loved it? Will I still get one one day? Hmm. I love the designs (MOOTS) where the sproing of Ti is used to supply pivotless rear sus. But a standard twin triangle hardtail? I would need to not need the money.

I bet I'd love it though.

Cheers, al.

I love mine, have had such fun in the last year. Scare myself to death when I point her downhill ... but we understand each other now 8)

Oh ... and it's a mid-life crisis bike and I ain't justifying it to anyone!

I dunno Ton,

The best frames I've ridden have been Steel (IF) and Alu (Klein and Chameleon) and I've seen waaay more ti frames fail per unit than equivalent ALU/Steel.

I guess you pays your money etc, is it new, with a warranty? if so go for it, nothing to loose.

Incidentally, is it the 20" Ti456 in the classifieds?

[i](ridden: Soda, Hummer, Ti456, D-Jab, Ti29er, Airborne) Still have the last 2.[/i]

What you looking at Ton??

it is a new on one ti 29r......
in a talk with mr richards a while ago, he advised against it.
he never said why.........but you know when you get a urge... 😉

I have to confess (and this isn't going to help) I love my ti29er.

Toe overlap is perilously close though...

If you have big feet, you may want to check it'll be okay.

1. Dont ask solarider, he's biased!
2.Some are great, some are okay, it depends on what you're looking at.
3. Dont buy into its a bike for life myth; Ive got a two piece Litespeed in a cardboard box that says different!
Having said that I've recently bought a Lynskey and its V nice.

I bought a used Litespeed Ocoee frame a few months ago, replacing my Stumpy fsr. I'm 6ft4 and 15 stone, and it's a custom size that fits me really well. It's pretty racy, but so light, strong, fast, and comfortable that I don't miss the rear travel at all. If it was my only bike I'd probably want something a bit more relaxed for more technical (scary) stuff, as the head angle is pretty steep, but for 90% of my riding it's perfect, and the first frame I've had that I can honestly say I think I'll keep till it dies or nothing fits it.

My mate's got a cotic soda which is a bit more "do anything" and even comfier - and prettier - than my gate-sized ocoee, and he reckons that's a keeper too.

It's nice to be able to get scratches out with a bit of wire wool too...

It's an itch you'll need to scratch.....

Great frame, I loved mine but the call of suspension was too much.

Look at these also, big changes this year:[url= http://www.lynskeyperformance.com/a/pages/frames-_-products/mountain/titanium-mountain-bike---houseblend---ridgeline-29.php ]Lynskey Ridgeline[/url]

Another Litespeed Ocoee owner here. Mine's a reasonably lightweight build (22 lb) which works well sometimes and not others. It isn't a do-it-all bike for my wuss riding stylee.

The fit is perfect though, best I've ever had, and I really hope she will be a bike for life.

Edit: probably with a heavier rider the more technical stuff would be better but I've felt as though I've been pogo-ing around when the terrain changes. Changing tyre pressures would probably help too!

CG - Do you have XRC100s on your Ocoee? How're you finding them?

You don't have to pay £1,000 as if you are patient something second-hand always crops up. My Merlin Oreas was £600 - less than an S Works and far far better IMO.
Having owned ti, ally and steel frames of various types, ride wise the ti was fabulous. I won't take into account geometry so purely on ride and comfort the ti wins everytime. They take all the trail sting out but still have that stiffness for quick acceleration too and you push yourself the more you ride it. They really are very very good and I believe worth the extra cost.

Yes I do. Have just had them serviced as well. They were sent to Pace and was very disappointed with the lack of information that came back, compared to, say, TF Tuned. I'm happy with them but can't say that they are worth the extra money over Fox Forx which I've got on two other bikes.

Got a nice paint chip as well 😳

How do you find them? Mine are supple in both senses of the word, they're very compliant and buttery smooth, but they do seem to bend/flex more than my old RCs.

I've tried a few and there's often a big difference between the 'feel' of the different ti bikes (more design/gemometry maybe). Ti FWIW seems to come alive at speed / hacking it, no difference with steel / ali frames at low speed.

My ti softail seems to make sense of the frame material more so than the hardtail.

But they often look beautiful, and can be 'justifed' as 'for life' (albeit ineveitably they're sold/swapped/changed at some point)! And daftly, makes me feel good owning 'ti'.

Ton, just do it. If only to make me jealous until Dave@PX gets some 18" ones in!
At least the lynskey/on-one frames have fat down tubes, so are about as stiff in the BB area as any Ti frame could be.

When will you realise that you will only be able to properly ride about a dozen OTP bikes total (and you've probably owned them already)? Look at yourself - you don't fit the 'normal' crowd. You're on the edge of cycling reason.
You are in at least the 95th percentile for height. Thats taller than 95% of the people on the planet. You are probably there for weight too. Manufacturers (of nearly anything) don't design for much more than the 80th percentile. Bikes are not made with you in mind. If Brant gave me advice on a bike, I'd follow it. He knows bikes, especially those he has had a hand in designing.
Get a custom Ti frame. You've spunked several custom frames worth in the last year. Call a maker, tell them you want big tubes, strong welds etc. It will be light (for its build), strong like bull and right for you. You can obsess on the design all you want. If you haven't got the cohones for that, get a custom steel first, but just get a custom.

Buy a custom Indy Fab

I had a Ti frame went back to steel, the Ti was numb when ridden slow but alive when ridden hard, mean't that if you weren't on it for a particular day if felt utter rubbish, never felt awesome and certainly no better than a good steel frame, I've had more fun riding the Dialleds than I ever did on a ti.

To answer your question So, how good are Ti bikes then....... no better than a good steel bike.

I had a litespeed kitsuma ti, it was better nay different ride to steel, it was fab but so was the dialled bikes PA similiar and a hell of a lot cheaper. Some of the cheaper ti are no better than a steel or some alu frames, at the risk of being flamed as with all things you get what you pay for, so go for a company that knows what it is doing and is not in the process of change like litespeed were a few years ago. When i owned the litespeed i weighed between 14 and 15.5 stones it was fine but it was the bike that spawned a lot of hardcore frames.
Personally I would stick with a dialled bikes or a ragley steel, or go very customed ti but you will have a frame for a long time give your almost unique build.

>They were sent to Pace and was very disappointed with the lack of information that came back, compared to, say, TF Tuned.

Use Fork English, very good service and will chat on the phone about setup etc. Cheaper than Pace also and no huge lead times even in summer.

it is a new on one ti 29r......

They are ideal for taller riders no? But....not heavy tall riders.

Ton- I think for the weight saving compared to 5-fold etc on prices its bollocks as you can affect your frame with tyre psi adjustments as well.

Why pay £1000 when the same frame in steel or alu isnt that far off? Madness.

I reckon try out a normal 29'er first before making the ti plunge?

I've had 2 ti bikes and kept neither for more than 6 weeks. Being a bit of a tight-fisted git, I was trying to do it on the cheap. 1st was a GT Lightning - waste of good ti. The second was a Rock Lobster ti which again wasn't well designed for the material used - and ugly and had weird geometry (aside from that it was fine!)
but it all goes to show, that it's not about the material so much as design and fit; suitability for the riders requirements.
On the flip side I've ridden plenty of lovely ti bikes, Fat Chance, Merlin and Litespeed which ride like magic carpets - but beyond my budget!

it is a new on one ti 29r......
in a talk with mr richards a while ago, he advised against it.
he never said why.........

I just think that your mass, the longer chainstays of a 29er, the long dropouts, the longer downtube of a 29er, all would lead to quite a lot of BB flex going on as you're quite "out of the normal design range".

Nowt wrong with the 29er - I loved it, really loved it, on the short ride I had on it before it went to Rob Mason.

I could hand-hold you on a custom Lynskey build, and it needn't be SUPER SUPER expensive - but it would be nearer 4lb than 3.5lb, and would have to have some design features to tame BB flex.

Ti FWIW seems to come alive at speed / hacking it, no difference with steel / ali frames at low speed

vs.

the Ti was numb when ridden slow but alive when ridden hard, mean't that if you weren't on it for a particular day if felt utter rubbish

yeah, but when you're on it, you're ON IT!

I've owned a hummer and now have a ti456. Both on the stiffer side of things, but still give a floaty ride when you're belting along - i'm 11 stone. For a bigger lad though, I'd certainly think about going custom...and if you've got brant as frame mentor then you'd be daft not to.

Ton, ^^^^^^that is an offer you would be crazy to turn down, I think you may find the holy grail!

First dibs for whatever you get when it goes on the classifieds 😀

Ton I've said this to you before along with a few others.

[b]You need a custom built frame[/b]

Be it Ti or steel.

You're not the average mountain biker and there's nothing designed with you in mind.

You've tried loads of different frames. You should have an idea of what you want so it should be relativley easy to tell a custom builder what you want it to do.

Also as you've said before you enjoy building new bikes up this is just the next step up with that kind of fun.

Ton, get a custom Lynskey. Although it will be expensive, it won't be as dear as the number of "standard" frames you'll buy over the next few years....

I'm loving my 456ti but as someone above pointed out, dull (but perfectly OK) when not "giving it some" but when you are going for it, it's lovely.

There IS something about the material .I've had Ti (Airborne now Hummer ) for over 8 years .Even now i occasionally have to check my back tyre isn't soft 'cause of the give on the back end .Not to be confused with FLEX !!!
Even with previous chainsuck issues and even though the Hummer has new chainstays and EVEN though i still worry about it i still can't bring myself to sell it .Though my sensible head tells me to !

Having said that if Kona could make the Score (like a hardcore Hei Hei / Kahuna ) not stupid money i'd be sorely tempted !Their Ti hardtails were just gorgeous .

I don't get his "dull" thing when being ridden - that's not the bloody frames fault! I know as a rider you can't always be "on the pace" but remember - the bike/frame isn't a variable therefore how it's steers, rides and handles will always be the same so to judge it that way isn't right. I had the Intense 5.5 and I found that somedays it didn't give me the enjoyment on some rides but I know that's down to me and not the bike.
A good ti frame will always be better than any steel frame in every department regarding materials and is worth the extra cost. One from a builder who understands just what ti can give you is even better and so that's the route I would go down every day.

I love my Ti on-one cx bike.

Hadge i know what you mean .Hummer will stay docile when i'm not up for it (ie mellow riding ) (ie a lot of the time for me ) as soon as i want to get a bit "loony tunes " yee har !

Hadge the frame is a variable a ti frame can feel different depending on the situation it's in and how it's been ridden. It really was awful (dull/numb) ridden slowly but fast was amazing and that is on a day when, as you put it I was "on the pace"

It's also a personal opinion of my own experience in having a ti frame which was the OP's orginal question, and what I wrote is how it felt if you don't get it then that is fine but those are the facts.

It's great that you found fault in yourself and not the bike, much easier to change that than a frame and swap all the bits over. 🙂

I've been riding my Ti framed bike for several years and it still delights me.

Certainly suitable for the larger gentleman.

Ton, I have a Ti456 and a custom 853 Curtis SS, FWIW I bought the Ti after owning the 853, both ride fantastic, but for your stature I would truly recommend going custom, you want the best, so get the best of what you want put into your frame design.

ton - you only have one body and one life so don't take a chance. If you are prepared to spend a shedload of money on a frame then surely getting something that is up to the job is your priority. Custom made.

FWIW I am amazed at the speed I can descend on mine, the pickup is incredible and she holds a line without waivering. Same trails I have ridden on my full suss are just so much slower. I rode her today and still enjoy her even though she is just over a year old. The novelty has not worn off. 8)

daffy - I don't know what buttery smooth and compliant mean. They just seem to be on a par with my Fox's. Of course they are the nearest I will get to a carbon bike and they do look good!

Everyone seems to be screaming the same thing...

Ton - If i were you, and in height and weight i am, i would be talking to custom frame builders to find out what ideas they have for what you want to use the bike for.

In short - Take Brant up on his offer. He knows what your like 😉

[Edit] If you don't like it you can always sell it to me [/Edit] 😆

Ton, so basically you will end up with a reinforced (heavier) ti29 frame? Why?!

They are as good as the rider.

Ton, so basically you will end up with a reinforced (heavier) ti29 frame? Why?!

He won't.

[evil mode on] Go on Ton...you know it makes sense //[Evil mode off]

hora - Member

Ton, so basically you will end up with a reinforced (heavier) ti29 frame? Why?!

He'll end up with something best suited to him - which is what custom is at best isn't it? Other than trolling, I don't understand your post.

father - Member
I've been riding my Ti framed bike for several years and it still delights me.

Certainly suitable for the larger gentleman.

More: [url] http://www.flickr.com/photos/allankelly/sets/72157604918078600/ [/url]

Cheers, al.