Cheers Brant, so most of its value/cost is in processing.

quite hard to make into tubes. yeeess…

honest question, presuming the tooling already existed, and seeing as the cost of Ti in ingot/scrap/whatever is so much less than its cost as tubing. Could empire build their cast DH frame from Ti?

Becasue that would be unbelievably cool!

Could empire build their cast DH frame from Ti?

Well, presuming they’d use the same molds as the magnesium ones, the frame would weigh about three times as much?

I think the real point here is… just how much money has Lecht got ?

Still curious about the pricing, I came across this quote on Bikeradar:

BikeRadar: How is the titanium 456 so cheap?

Brant Richards: We do it a few ways. Firstly , tiny overheads — my of?ce is a £185 shed in Todmorden. Then, Lynskey can batch-build stuff at their end to reduce costs but keep the same top quality. And we sell it direct to the customers, so there’s no shop or national distributor margin.

but the Ragley is going to distributed via hotlines and LBS….

I’m wanting the Ragley, as it is geometrically, with ISCG and a tapered 1.5″ to 1.125″ HT.
If you’re going to make it super hardcore, then these are the requirements I’d like to see.
I hope you go for the sample, and I can get a shot on it 🙂

I think tapered headtubes are a cop out.

On-One remains committed to customer direct super aggressive pricing , and great design . I think we are now one of , if not the , biggest of Lynskey customers and were nailing it all right down , so in terms of performance and value , its just isnt going to be feasible for a lynskey made bike , with like for like quality , to be sold through a distributor then a dealer at anything like the pricing offered by on-one .

So unless Im very dumb the ti 456 is going to remain the best value US made ti hardtail on the market for a very long time, and still remains the only bike to get clean seep of top marks in What MTB .

Theres life left in us yet , and the ti 456 remains the best rated bike of all time .

The Planet x handbags are out !

Lecht / Brant fwiw between my Riding Kruw we have 3 Dialled Alpens all with ISCG mounts and no-one uses them. 2 rings/bash and never lost a chain. Extra tooling/cost etc for a very small user group IMO.

I have to say that after riding my ti456 for a year the ragley
would have to be something awfully special for me to even consider
one!

On One =

Getting into all this lark in the mid/late 90s, my dream bike has always been a Ti hardtail. I have swallowed the line that they last for ever, have amazing ride quality and really might be the mythical Last Bike You Ever Buy.

That is totally wrong isn’t it? It’s just a swanky prestige metal which is manipulated expensively according to current fashion and whatever you buy is highly likely to go out of style or cease to be compatible with component development.

Not saying these aren’t all great bikes, but how many ti hardtails has the_lecht got through in the last couple of years? 😉

big dummy – i sold my Kobe Ti, I still have my Hummer and I ride my Ti456 more than the Hummer.
The Kobe was a great bike, but I had to get rid for the Hummer.
I love the Hummer, but the 456 is just ‘better’….
therefore you’re right – as ideas come and product is developed, I’ll continue to search for the ultimate ride 🙂
fwiw, i’ve been through more FS frames than Ti HT’s recently.

No handbags out at all , Brant and me are still , and will always remain good mates .

Now we don’t have to work with each other, we’re getting on better than ever 🙂

I’ve known Dave for longer than I’ve known my wife.

<Jeremy Paxman>
Still curious about the pricing
</Jeremy Paxman>

Group Hug!!!!!

Paxman

I just want a ride of one of these 10/10 new fangled geometry bikes…..

so other than jumping on the hype bandwagon why on earth would you want a 1.5″ to 1 1/8″ tapered headtube? surely you would be better off going for a straight 1.5 that way you can can run normal, 1.5 and tapered forks (even Lefty’s if you wanted) plus be able to use various H/A slackeners/adjusters.

fair point. will look a bit silly though

Lefty Furks R like, totally GEY.

I didn’t say I would use one, just that you could if you went a bit soft in the head 😉

As for looking daft, why would it look any sillier than a tapered HT?

Tapered headtubes are the best MTB innovation of this millennium.

Its been a slow millennium.

Tapered headtubes seem good for the Carbon brigade. Might as well go full 1.5″ with alu, or stick with 1.125″ for steel. Not sure about Ti, but Merlin made some 1.5″ headtube bikes to take Cannondale Headshok forks, how did they work out?

Oh, hello Dave. How’s it going stranger?

nah – if i went tapered i’d be using 36’s on it, tbh.
however 36’s on it will slacken it even more……..and it’s slack at 67.5 deg with 32’s……
and the ti456 is so fookn good anyway………….

lol – damned choices 🙂

So Brant why do you think that 'tapered head tubes are a cop out'?

Any chance that you will do a Ti Ragley with a tapered HT soon?