titanium bikes
Discussion
following on from a thread yesterday about steel bikes being mandatory, a couple of comments came back about titanium which got me thinking. i now need one to complete the line up of all materials in the fleet. the default choice as far as i am concerned is enigma. does anyone have experience of them? lots of models to choose from but the esprit seems the most appropriate.
let's not get hung up on budget for the time being.
any thoughts / experiences welcome - specifically if you can compare titanium to steel. steel is my new best friend after all!
let's not get hung up on budget for the time being.
any thoughts / experiences welcome - specifically if you can compare titanium to steel. steel is my new best friend after all!
default is Lynskey surely? not much more than the Enigma in terms of cost and hand built in Tennessee not Taiwan. I know that doesnt matter that much, that Taiwan has some superb craftsman and that Enigma are a Briitsh brand but....
I was close to getting a Lynskey Cooper before I bought the last bike but I wanted carbon and thought the Ti thing could wait till I could afford to do it properly. The shop had an R230 with Sram Force and a nice AC wheelset awaiting collection which looked stunning and the attention to detail was incredible. There is probably a good reason why second hand Lynskeys are so rare...
I was close to getting a Lynskey Cooper before I bought the last bike but I wanted carbon and thought the Ti thing could wait till I could afford to do it properly. The shop had an R230 with Sram Force and a nice AC wheelset awaiting collection which looked stunning and the attention to detail was incredible. There is probably a good reason why second hand Lynskeys are so rare...
(and that's said as a Merlin owner)Ti for the win in my opinion!
Over the years I have owned steel, aluminium and carbon and the Ti has the best spread of abilities ( IMHO ).
You can build it light without it becoming overly flexi, it has a similarly smooth ride to steel and well, with the right geo it just looks so darn good!
I wish I still had mine - snapped the down tube last year, preferred it to the carbon replacement and will certainly replace it with another when I get a chance, most likely a Lynskey R430
Over the years I have owned steel, aluminium and carbon and the Ti has the best spread of abilities ( IMHO ).
You can build it light without it becoming overly flexi, it has a similarly smooth ride to steel and well, with the right geo it just looks so darn good!
I wish I still had mine - snapped the down tube last year, preferred it to the carbon replacement and will certainly replace it with another when I get a chance, most likely a Lynskey R430
I think I may have mentioned before (many times - some would say I bang on about it far too much and often) that I was in the very privileged position of having my wife INSIST on buying me a Ti road bike for my 40th Birthday last year.
I did a lot of research, reading, visited many bike shops, rode a few and finally decided upon the Dedacciai K19. I have to admit that I was really keen on the Enigma's and had quite a lot of contact with the guys down there in Sussex but in the end I could not get down for a test ride, and my wife wanted to pull the trigger on the bike.
I had an interesting chat with a couple of people from local bike shops who had previously been dealers for Engima, as re-sellers they didn't have many good things to say about them mainly due to supply issues - bikes taking 3 - 6 months to arrive against 4-6 week estimates, although I don't believe it is the case if you buy direct. The only thing that did worry me was that both bike shops said their build quality was inconsistent, the majority of their bikes were well finished but the odd one would come through and not be great. In both cases the shops had returned frames in the past due to seatposts not sitting correctly, or cracks around the BB welds after 6 months to a year. That said if you trawl the net you will only find good things written about them.
I was quite keen on the Lynkseys and rode a Helix, but it felt as stiff and unforgiving as my Alu bike - quite how they had managed to build a Ti bike to ride like a cross between Alu/Carbon is beyond me! I wanted to ride others in the range but at the time I was looking could not find any demo bikes in my size, so eventually gave up on the idea.
I also very much liked the look of some of the Van Nicholas frames, again I could not find a dealer with a Chinook in my size so gave up eventually as hwmbo was applying pressure to buy a bike by my birthday. The other thing that put me off the Van Nic was the cost, when I specc'd it up against the Deda it was about £1.2k more expensive.
The other bike that got my interest was the Spin, looked good and quite 'quirky' but while I was looking quite a few reviews appeared in the cycling press that were not so favorable describing them as harsh over a long distance and skittish on fast descents - so I quickly discounted them.
I probably did not need to test ride any of the other Ti bikes, as within the first couple of miles of my test ride of the K19 I was totally smitten. It was very lightweight (even with heavy wheels), exceptionally comfortable by comparison to my Alu bike and a couple of carbons I had test ridden, but overall felt 'alive'! I have only clocked up about 600 miles so far as I got the bike in November and it is my 'best' bike, but those 600 odd miles were VERY comfy, quick and enjoyable! I know I could ride it this time of the year without fear of damaging the frame, but I don't want to shag all of the components out with the crap from the road - I have a winter bike for that!
The shop weighed it on the day I picked it up, it tipped the scales at just over 7.5 kgs with the following build;
Deda Zero 100 finishing kit
SRAM Force groupo with Red crankset
Mavic Ksyrium Equipe S wheels (for upgrade this summer) with Mich pro3 tyres
I cannot wait for the warm weather and to start munching the miles on it, the ride that Ti delivers is like nothing else I have ever ridden, steel is nice and comfy but somehow Ti adds a 'zing' to the ride! I found the carbon bikes I rode (all in the £2.5-4k band) were very lightweight, very stiff but somehow felt 'dead' by comparison to Ti.
I did a lot of research, reading, visited many bike shops, rode a few and finally decided upon the Dedacciai K19. I have to admit that I was really keen on the Enigma's and had quite a lot of contact with the guys down there in Sussex but in the end I could not get down for a test ride, and my wife wanted to pull the trigger on the bike.
I had an interesting chat with a couple of people from local bike shops who had previously been dealers for Engima, as re-sellers they didn't have many good things to say about them mainly due to supply issues - bikes taking 3 - 6 months to arrive against 4-6 week estimates, although I don't believe it is the case if you buy direct. The only thing that did worry me was that both bike shops said their build quality was inconsistent, the majority of their bikes were well finished but the odd one would come through and not be great. In both cases the shops had returned frames in the past due to seatposts not sitting correctly, or cracks around the BB welds after 6 months to a year. That said if you trawl the net you will only find good things written about them.
I was quite keen on the Lynkseys and rode a Helix, but it felt as stiff and unforgiving as my Alu bike - quite how they had managed to build a Ti bike to ride like a cross between Alu/Carbon is beyond me! I wanted to ride others in the range but at the time I was looking could not find any demo bikes in my size, so eventually gave up on the idea.
I also very much liked the look of some of the Van Nicholas frames, again I could not find a dealer with a Chinook in my size so gave up eventually as hwmbo was applying pressure to buy a bike by my birthday. The other thing that put me off the Van Nic was the cost, when I specc'd it up against the Deda it was about £1.2k more expensive.
The other bike that got my interest was the Spin, looked good and quite 'quirky' but while I was looking quite a few reviews appeared in the cycling press that were not so favorable describing them as harsh over a long distance and skittish on fast descents - so I quickly discounted them.
I probably did not need to test ride any of the other Ti bikes, as within the first couple of miles of my test ride of the K19 I was totally smitten. It was very lightweight (even with heavy wheels), exceptionally comfortable by comparison to my Alu bike and a couple of carbons I had test ridden, but overall felt 'alive'! I have only clocked up about 600 miles so far as I got the bike in November and it is my 'best' bike, but those 600 odd miles were VERY comfy, quick and enjoyable! I know I could ride it this time of the year without fear of damaging the frame, but I don't want to shag all of the components out with the crap from the road - I have a winter bike for that!
The shop weighed it on the day I picked it up, it tipped the scales at just over 7.5 kgs with the following build;
Deda Zero 100 finishing kit
SRAM Force groupo with Red crankset
Mavic Ksyrium Equipe S wheels (for upgrade this summer) with Mich pro3 tyres
I cannot wait for the warm weather and to start munching the miles on it, the ride that Ti delivers is like nothing else I have ever ridden, steel is nice and comfy but somehow Ti adds a 'zing' to the ride! I found the carbon bikes I rode (all in the £2.5-4k band) were very lightweight, very stiff but somehow felt 'dead' by comparison to Ti.
thanks for all the replies. lots to think about and some useful ideas.
Mad dad - I've not heard of Dedacciai before but will investigate. DNA (and 7Hundred) are local to me so will pop in there and have a peruse. Also it seems you are very local to me as I found through a google search of Dedacciai a post you put up last year on the bike together with your first route on it. Are you around the Bisham area by chance?
Mad dad - I've not heard of Dedacciai before but will investigate. DNA (and 7Hundred) are local to me so will pop in there and have a peruse. Also it seems you are very local to me as I found through a google search of Dedacciai a post you put up last year on the bike together with your first route on it. Are you around the Bisham area by chance?
Rob_T said:
thanks for all the replies. lots to think about and some useful ideas.
Mad dad - I've not heard of Dedacciai before but will investigate. DNA (and 7Hundred) are local to me so will pop in there and have a peruse. Also it seems you are very local to me as I found through a google search of Dedacciai a post you put up last year on the bike together with your first route on it. Are you around the Bisham area by chance?
Go and have a chat with Dave at 7Hundred, that is where I bought the Dedacciai from!! I am in Binfield but ride through Bisham and around the Chilterns frequently - last ride through on Wednesday wearing me P/H jersey! Mad dad - I've not heard of Dedacciai before but will investigate. DNA (and 7Hundred) are local to me so will pop in there and have a peruse. Also it seems you are very local to me as I found through a google search of Dedacciai a post you put up last year on the bike together with your first route on it. Are you around the Bisham area by chance?
Edited by MadDad on Wednesday 27th February 16:52
The Walrus said:
Their cheapest frame is £2800, do you think it's twice as good as a Lynskey for double the price?I've got a litespeed ardennes that i use for sportives and i find very comfortable.
Also use it for the bike leg on team triathlons.
Its been re-built to full dura ace, carbon easton aero rims and various other carbon goodies including aero bars and is coming in at 16 lbs for a large size. Its got a lovely absorbing ride and feels stiff enough for me and build quality is very good.
For what ita worth i also have 2 mountain bikes - an early steel Yeti Ultimate and a steel Custom made Roberts Dogs Bolx. Neither are as comfortable on the road as the Litespeed despite running off road tyres
Also use it for the bike leg on team triathlons.
Its been re-built to full dura ace, carbon easton aero rims and various other carbon goodies including aero bars and is coming in at 16 lbs for a large size. Its got a lovely absorbing ride and feels stiff enough for me and build quality is very good.
For what ita worth i also have 2 mountain bikes - an early steel Yeti Ultimate and a steel Custom made Roberts Dogs Bolx. Neither are as comfortable on the road as the Litespeed despite running off road tyres
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