Merckx AX titanium, any good for the missus

I've seen a small EM AX for sale with mostly Record titanium components, I'll be buying blind (£660 posted) but looks to be okay without any damage, bit of wear to the chainrings, scratches to the derailleur but otherwise fine.
I know they are built by Litespeed so frame wise and from reading this should be of no concern but I'm after thoughts on ride comfort/handling. it comes with the original chrome steel forks, would it be better to keep these than go for a carbon fork?
What's the widest tyres that you can fit in, would be wanting 28mm tyres to fit?
It's gonna be for a weekend jolly bike, nothing serious just pootling 40 miles or so with stop off at pub etc.
thanks

Re:

Should be nice and comfy for the better half, I shouldn't get hung up on the tyre width, it's an urban myth that wider is more comfortable, brand and TPI are far more relevant. I have some Vittoria 32's and at the same pressure are not as comfortable as 23mm Conti GP 4000S 2 and obviously nowhere near as fast.
I've had quite a few Titanium frames of different makers, including Litespeed and Merlin and I've always felt they were either too flexy or too harsh (by using OS tubesets) Not many Ti frames were ever used in the Pro peloton, which says a lot.

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Wold Ranger":1ovphdnv said:

I have some Vittoria 32's and at the same pressure are not as comfortable as 23mm Conti GP 4000S 2

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That's because casing tension rises in proportion to tyre width at a given pressure. Fat tyres are only more comfortable because you can run them at lower pressures.

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That is interesting Jim, but it does seem counter intuitive doesn't it; surely the increased air volume and rubber provides more shock absorption and dissipation?

Regarding comfort, well my experience of road tyres is very limited, but I love supple light-touring tyres, and the nicest I've found so far are 26mm Grand Bois Cerf's. They have a lovely 'floaty' feel, grip superbly and seem to last well. They do wider models too, but I've no idea whether they would perform as well or fit.

I'm sure the missus would absolutely love the Merckx, lucky girl!

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The TPI and construction method is also relevant to the with the way a tyre will ride, as is the rim profile of the wheels, the wider the rim, the more forgiving the ride. Generally the more you pay for tyres, the better both the traction in all conditions is and the better the ride.

How racy is the geometry of the frame? Short head tube? Steep head angles? Or pretty neutral, Most Merckx frames are on the race geometry side.

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one-eyed_jim":29xrh48r said:

Wold Ranger":29xrh48r said:

I have some Vittoria 32's and at the same pressure are not as comfortable as 23mm Conti GP 4000S 2

Click to expand...

That's because casing tension rises in proportion to tyre width at a given pressure. Fat tyres are only more comfortable because you can run them at lower pressures.

Click to expand...

TBH, if you are running (for example) 100psi in the 23mm contis, i'd be looking at (probably) 70-75 in the Vittorias, maybe less. That'll give you a similar sort of support. But far more comfortable, and if you are running decent tubes, probably better traction and lower rolling resistance (given that they are actually road slicks and not CX tyres!)

And FWIW, what i can find shows that the frame will probably take 25's if you use "standard" narrow road rims (Open pro type stuff).

You may run out of clearance on bigger 25's if you do any sort of dirt road riding. Those little bits of gravel that stick to the tyre make a right mess of fork crowns and rear calipers........

Edited, just found an old thread with some clearances discussed, 25 is biggest. (which TBF is quite typical for most bikes of that age, both mine will only take 25!)

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Wold Ranger":w2jhbibb said:

The TPI and construction method is also relevant to the way a tyre will ride ...

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I agree, especially when comparing tyres of similar section. But I don't think it makes sense to compare tyres of very different section at the same pressure. Also, the stiffness of the uninflated casing is only a very small fraction of the stiffness of the inflated tyre.

ferrus":w2jhbibb said:

That is interesting Jim, but it does seem counter intuitive doesn't it; surely the increased air volume and rubber provides more shock absorption and dissipation?

Click to expand...

A fat tyre will take bigger hits before bottoming out, so in that sense it does provide more shock absorption. But at a given pressure the combination of increased casing tension and increased rate of change of contact patch area makes a fat tyre feel harder than a slim one.

mattr":w2jhbibb said:

TBH, if you are running (for example) 100psi in the 23mm contis, i'd be looking at (probably) 70-75 in the Vittorias, maybe less.

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Amen.

You may find that the reason it has a steel fork is that there is an unusual front geometry to reduce toe overlap which is not achievable with a stock carbon fork. My 51cm Litespeed has a very slack head tube.

There's a review in French here:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/553 ... 0c6c_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/553 ... b54a_b.jpg

There's no mention of maximum tyre width that I could spot, but adjectives used include "springy", "lively", "nervous", "balanced" and "comfortable". The flexibility is likely to be less pronounced in smaller sizes.