Titanium frames

[ishaw]

Re:

Ive got 6 (hangs head in shame as another on the way). I'm not loaded, in fact far far from it as my 11 year old family car shows.

I do have one that needs a repair, but it's chain suck not cracking.

They tend to last, wear well, ride well and generally look awesome in various guises and finishes.

Not a lot not to like really, aside from repair costs if they do break.

 

[davidj]

Re: Re:

Titanium is always the material I think of when someone says “bike for life”

Where exactly are you looking to find all these broken titanium frames?

Mostly here in the for sale section & eBay.

Perhaps people don't sell them if they aren't broken, or I only notice the broken ones.

In the cold light of day £5k for an Orange Ti seems madness, can it really justify the price increase over steel or aluminium?

 

[d8mok]

Re:

Is it one of the limited edition ones? They are very nice but quite expensive for a hardtail.

I’ve just got a kingdom vendetta and I love it. Worth a look for sure

 

[M-Power]

Re:

Once you try a quality Ti mountainbike bike you will ‘get it’. That being said I tried a few Ti road bikes over the years but they felt a bit too plushy. The material’s natural damping properties suit offroad riding better imo.

 

[davidj]

Re:

Went to my local Orange dealer today, all the Orange stands were empty. Waiting for the new models.

No chance of a test ride on anything titanium, apparently order only as they are produced in such small numbers.

This will take some serious soul searching to splurge that kind of cash, not only unridden but also unseen.

 

[itscervo]

Orange with repaired crack on seat tube
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orange-Vit-t ... ect=mobile

 

[hamster]

I think the cracked ones are disproportionately likely to be up for sale. My suspicion is that later Ti frames are more problematic (especially road) as they tried to compete on weight with carbon fibre. It didn't help that Litespeed's new owners appeared to have less attention to detail than the Lynskeys did.

My own Ti Litespeed road frame is now 24 years old and has no cracks.

 

[ti_pin_man]

I have 4 in my garage, owned 6, and only one ever cracked and to be fair i used it 25 years, 4/5 times a week for most of that time, raced it, crashed it, road the continental divide on it and ... well you get my drift. As i had just loved it so much and it had given me sooo much pleasure it was my mistress and so she went to Steve Potts for repair. I dont ride as much so non of them get hammered these days but i'd agree, by and large ti frame failures are usually poor application of a great frame material.

 

[Woz]

Got to say, never heard of a Moots fail. (would love to own one too)

 

[greencat]

Re:

I've had three.

The Sunn Exact needed a minor repair to a brake pivot due to bad previous owner. Tad too small for me so sold it on after riding it for a couple of years. Would have another in a heart beat although it's quite flexy.

The what is now called Wittson cracked twice - possibly due to it being a tad too small again (although an inch larger) and occasionally towing trailers of firewood. Repaired once - didn't bother again. Was a wonderful ride and got a lot of abuse - even rode it down Snowdon with rigid titanium forks. I bought it secondhand and it lasted just over a year. Would definitely have another at a similar price I bought it secondhand for and baby it, but not at new prices.

The Van Nicholas I still have. It's the least titanium like ride I've had. My least favourite ride out of the others. Possibly it is too big (it's an inch larger again). I don't ride it much now because I could never get a rear disc brake set up right on it and it took a while to find v-brake bosses for it.

I have mixed feelings about buying another titanium. Standards are changing so fast nowadays that the chances of finding good quality new suspension forks, dropper posts or even wheels that fit it in ten years are fairly low I'd have thought. Case in point - my van nicholas from around 2008 takes 26 inch wheels (non boost, of course), non-tapered headset and a 27.2mm seat post.