Titanium frames & bikes

What are the advantages and disadvantages of titanium frames?

I have never had one or ridden one and I’m curious. 🙂

It doesn’t rust
It is light

It is expensive to repair

It’s a bike for life*

*life of the frame

Doesn’t need painting
Makes a pinging noise when you ping it
If designed and built well it lasts for a long time
Can be quite expensive

Feels strange. You know it’s metal but it doesn’t draw the warmth out of your hand the way metal is supposed to. Takes a bit of getting used to.

The “no paint” thing is handy if you like strapping bags on it for bikepacking. Cleans up well and looks new if you rub it over with a scourer.

Can be light for its weight/strength.

Traditionally more “supple” than steel or (particularly) aluminium but much is to do with tube shape/butting etc.

I currently own 3 Ti frames (well, one of them appears to have been stolen by an ex-STW person but let’s not dwell on that). I consider a Ti fatbike to be in my near future.

Its a beautiful ride but it will crack , I promise you it will crack …maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but it will .

Have ridden two titanium framed road bikes, both hire bikes in Majorca. Definitely a different “feel” to the modern carbon road bike, a bit like the old school steel bike but without the flex. There was a noticeable difference between the two bikes, the better frame (I think it was a Van Nick) felt very nice, the cheaper one (can’t remember the make) was OK but wouldn’t sell Ti to me. Weight wise a bit heavier than carbon but a little bit lighter than aluminium.

I’ve considered replacing my three(!) road oriented bikes with just one titanium bike. Maybe one of the Stooge gravel/road bikes.

I replaced a decent steel hardtail with a Sonder Ti hardtail and the comfort and ride quality (grip) is noticeably better – feels more supple but not noodly on things like rough off camber trails.

I have owned three Ti frames, two of which I still have. The oldest, a 2001 Litespeed hardtail, is still uncracked, has a wonderfully supple ride. The next youngest is a 2005 Litespeed FS which is stunning to look at and is similarly in one piece and also a very smooth ride but does have a reputation for breaking so it may simply be a matter of time….The one I kept for a short time but never got on with was a Ragley Ti which was very dead feeling and uncomfortable. I would agree with the above comment that it depends on construction and geometry as with most other materials

’93 Hei Hei here, that I only retired last year. It’s a high quality Ti frame and I loved the 25 years I spent on it, it always bought a smile to my face, even at stand still. However, if you blindfolded me (and I could still ride) I probably couldn’t detect any magical ‘feel’, although maybe that’s more of a comment on me than the bike.

I can tell you that the welding and construction on a good Ti frame just makes it a joy to own for a certain type of rider (I’m one) and I love that a quick scrub with a scourer and new decals give you a new frame each Spring.

I had a mk1 Ragley (aluminium) and then a Ti version. You could instantly feel the difference. The Ti was much comfier on longer rides.

The finish is so lovely. You can let it get bloody filthy, then take a stainless wipe to it and it comes up like new in minutes.
It NEVER cracks! 😊

Really bright sparks if you take a grinder to it !

I replaced a decent steel hardtail

Is this because modern steel bikes aren’t actually anything like the springy steel bikes that went before and are now pretty **** stiff and lifeless

High stiffness to weight, so light for a metal

High elasticity (not so good if you’re looking for power transfer) but feel more nimble the Aluminium.

Good fatigue properties,

Doesnt oxidise,

It’s tough and resists dink and dents very well

Design can give outstainding properites to the frame.

I’ve had 11 Ti frames, 3/2.5 and 6/4 and have never broken a single one. I have two at the moment.

It’s fundamentally not quite the ideal material on paper, cost vs function vs weight? Composites do make better sense now, while steel and aluminium can deliver almost everything Ti does functionally for less spend…

But it is always going to appeal to some people, it’s cold War, aerospace connections and the luxury price point it comes at just make it alluring if your the sort that likes such things, so why not…

What I like is I can drag it through  gorse, heather, and over rocks and not worry about the paintwork. (I hate getting scratches on a bike).

I reckon a good steel bike can feel better, but once you’re on 2.35″ tyres and above you don’t notice the difference the material makes, it’s down to the design.

I’ve got 2 a Cove Hummer made by Litespeed and a Kona Raijin made by Lynskey. Ones 26″ the other 29″ the Hummer has more Ti “feel” when riding the Raijin more a mile muncher tool for the job. In other words party time on the Hummer bang out the miles efficiently on the 29er. How much of that is frame construction and how much is wheel size is quite subjective I guess?

I’ve always fancied a Ti bike, but never been able to afford one. I’m a bit shallow when it comes to looks and steel just looks nicer than aluminium and carbon to me. Titanium looks even nicer and the whole easy to make it look new again really appeals. Oh and shiny shine

Where to start?!

Ride quality (in the right builder’s hands). Not every bike has that magic carpet quality if it is overbuilt.

Won’t corrode.

Hand made feel vs ‘pop out of the tool’ carbon. Yes, yes, I know that carbon is also hand made.

Greater longevity (in theory). It won’t fatigue as fast as aluminium or steel, but every material breaks if it isn’t built properly (and you do have to be especially careful).

Similar properties to steel with a greater strength to weight property.

No need to paint which also means a quick brush up with scotchbrite has it looking good as new.

Timeless look.

The ability to customise relatively easily.

The ability to repair relatively easily. I have had a top tube replaced with no problems at all.

The ability to modify and future proof relatively easily. I have had one Seven that went from 1 inch to 1, 1/8 inch to 44mm headtube and had another gravel bike that recently went from post mount to flat mount rear end.

The elusive titanium loveliness.

The only Ti frame that I’ve ever owned has been my Ti Hummingbird. Is it any nicer a ride than the steel ones? -personally I don’t think so but it’s nice not to have to bother about paintwork, same as any other “raw” frame really.
I admit that part of the pleasure of owning it is the “nicheness” – like having a custom built frame that’s not a custom built frame, if you see what I mean.

Ride of steel with weight of aluminium. The ride is due to the tube diameter. If the geometry is poor it will still be light but handle badly! Newer steels will give as good a ride and are almost as light.

The finish usb great, especially the laser etched flowers on my sadly stolen Merlin Cyrene. I now have a Charge Freezer cross bike that needs the stickers removed.

you can tell people your bike is made from titanium and they give you that look of disbelief like you’ve just told them you own some sort of spaceship.

In framebuilding world the material brings a certain level of quality.

The people who fabricate it in the custom world are pretty **** good, Baum Firefly etc….any **** can make a shitty quality steel bike paint it candyflake and market themselves well enough to have people drooling over it by the time it’s displayed at one of the shill shows. The bar is set pretty low in terms of requirements, someone will point out this is one of steels loveable traits….its low technessness

The titanium ribble mentioned here is gorgeous:

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/randoms-london-bike-show.html

Disadvantages – I’ve not noticed any.

Advantages – A combination of ride quality, light weight, durability and classic looks.

What I will say though from my research it’s vital that you choose a decent company for a Ti bike. I own an Enigma Excel and it’s a different class.

I loved how my two (a Ragley and an older properly bendy Soda) rode. Sort of leaf sprung and damped, I always thought, not “springy” like my Soul was.

But also I loved how it looked, when the Ragley arrived and I was cleaning it up I just fell in love. It really hit a sweet spot that bike, it was incredibly practical, did everything for me from 7 hour xc races to uplifts to enduro racing. and yet it was also tarty as ****. Perfection.

I’ll own another titanium bike I’m sure.

No pics means this thread is lacking Ti goodness!

All talk and no play 🤓

This is 5 years old and still an absolute joy to ride – out for 5 hours on it today.

I have 4 titanium bikes – road, CX, 29+ and fat – the latter three custom-built to my requirements direct from a factory in China. The notion that someone with a beard builds better ti is bollocks – it’s down to process and investment in the right kit and the fact is that in places like Xiamen, it has the biggest ti fabrication capability in the world supporting the global aerospace sector. My only concern with some of the cheaper ti frames is avoiding stuff like dimpled chain stays, manipulated tubes, joining thick-to-thin and plate drop-outs – saves money but also creates stress-raisers.

This is my ‘bling’ bike – approaching 20 years old and still gives a magic carpet feel – I’ve raced on lighter, stiffer carbon framed bikes but found that on our rough roads, for me having too stiff a bike means that when you really push-it the wheels start skipping and you’re wasting energy which isn’t what you want on an uphill sprint at the end of a race.

Back in the day they had a lovely floaty ride, I suspect as bikes have become stiffer this will have abated.

They don’t all crack.

not so good if you’re looking for power transfer

The folk that win races on them might disagree…

That Ribble is lovely (almost as nice as the Sick, further down in the article).

I’ve had my Merlin CR6/4 for 14 years. Amusingly a few years ago I was in Italy with the guys from de Rosa and they couldn’t keep their hands off it. Which confirms that it was actually an American built de Rosa (with a Tom
Kellogg label).

My ti456 was an eBay bargain and I love it. Got a dent in the seatstay but no cracks. I’m thinking of replacing it but only because it needs new forks, wheels are getting on a bit and the drivetrain needs replacing. And it can feel a little sketchy on steeper stuff. But for most of the riding I do it’s perfect, it’s an absolute blast. Before it I had a steel 456 which was good but a bit of a tank or a Scandal SS which was so fast on less tech stuff. I’d get ready for a ride and think, that bike will be more fun for today’s ride. But with the ti456 the Scandal doesn’t get a look in. It doesn’t help that I’ve gotten used to riding with flat pedals and a dropper since getting the ti456.

Have a Lynskey Cooper which I like and is trouble-free.
Any experience of Travers – good or bad?

https://www.ibiscycles.com/support/technical_articles/metallurgy_for_cyclists/the_titanium_advantage/

There’s a few errors in the strength-weight-stiffness stuff on this thread. Read this classic article by Scott Nicol (and the rest of the series) if you want a good sum-up of the basics.

Feels strange. You know it’s metal but it doesn’t draw the warmth out of your hand the way metal is supposed to.

This, plus they look very shiny.

I have had three titanium bikes – a Van Nicholas Euros road bike, a Cotic Soda hardtail and a Stanton Switchback hardtail.

All of them have had a smoother ride feel than similar steel or aluminium bikes. The Soda in particular was very capable at absorbing and flexing over the bumps and ruts of a typical trail.

Some of the above is due to design but a lot is due to the inherent properties of the material. Titanium can flex more than steel or aluminium without fatigue and a good design takes advantage of that.

Yes, the universal ‘bike for life’ adage for titanium bikes is a bit of a fallacy. However, a conservatively built titanium bike can definitely last for ever, a super light titanium bike less so… In my experience Titanium also shrugs off rock impacts and looks new indefinitely.

As you can tell, I love the wonder metal and would consider it every time. In fact I may look for a titanium FS bike next time – more for the durability than ride feel though! So obviously, I think titanium is worth it – good quality titanium that is.