Titanium, a mystic dark art must have or a lot of hype?

[mattr]

I was "given" a couple of Torii (Ok. Paid a couple of hundred each) in the late 90s as team bikes.
Really really nice to ride, some cracked. Not mine.

No point selling them as even as 2 year old ex team bikes they were worth pennies.

So i still have them both.

 

[Mike Muz]

Never had a full Titanium frame, ive had a Raleigh Dyna-tech Diablo with a couple of ti main tubes bonded to some other stuff but I don't think that counts, either way it didn't feel different to a steel frame tbh.
I'd love an Orange Vitamin T, but so many seem to crack, and repair is either impossible or rather expensive.
I'll have to try one someday, but I fear I may be a little disappointed after all the hype.

Me too, and I think it's the only bike I don't regret selling. Just didn't do anything for me.

A Ti frame would be nice at some point. Gerard brought a lovely Raleigh one to Mayhem this year. Not sure what model it was though.

Mike

 

[Gerard]

Never had a full Titanium frame, ive had a Raleigh Dyna-tech Diablo with a couple of ti main tubes bonded to some other stuff but I don't think that counts, either way it didn't feel different to a steel frame tbh.
I'd love an Orange Vitamin T, but so many seem to crack, and repair is either impossible or rather expensive.
I'll have to try one someday, but I fear I may be a little disappointed after all the hype.

Me too, and I think it's the only bike I don't regret selling. Just didn't do anything for me.

A Ti frame would be nice at some point. Gerard brought a lovely Raleigh one to Mayhem this year. Not sure what model it was though.

Mike

Thanks for kind words Mike. It is the Torus type frame which RSP made over the years. Very subtle changes over a 7-8 year production run (disc brake thingy etc).
IMHO rides like a dream. Not particularly relaxing, but point it and it goes. Has the Ti forgiveness which I prefer over Aluminium.
I also had my Orange Vit T which I rode on the Friday night recon ride. Different geometry and therefore different personality. A faster bike, and not so twitchy.
If I compared them to skis, the Raleigh is a slalom (tight fast turns) and the Orange a GS (Grand Slalom-long wide turns, almost all mountain ski).

Generally I'm a Ti fan. I don't have steel bike to compare anymore, so may be I'm missing something, but my memory is the Ti just has the edge on forgiveness with the benefits of weight. (I was sorely tempted by the Bonty Priviteer at Mayhem!). Alu had the benefit of weight, but none of the forgiveness of either.

 

[tintin40]

Isn't it like steel just lighter? Love Ti for all bits that go on to a frame. Can't beat Ti hex bolts. I had Ti forks and gave a very smooth ride. But beware of cheap poorly made Far East Ti cracks and breaks far to easy.

 

[M-Power]

Re:

Lively well built Steel and Ti tubes bikes for me everytime. Never been a massive fan of the feel of Alu or Carbon. That being said i have never ridden a modern high end carbon frame, only some of the first prod variants and they were usually a bit iffy with joint failures etc.

 

[The History Man]

Could you make a metaphorical comparison using pork based products? What would gas pipe, decent steel, aluminium, carbon and titanium frames be?

Tough one I know, but worth the effort. Not had a carbon or ti frame so keen to know.

 

[Gaddmeister]

Re:

What have pigs got to do with it?

 

[The History Man]

Well I've not been on skis for over 30 years, but I had bacon for breakfast yesterday.

Something I can better relate to. I once described the ride of one of my bikes as having your trousers set on fire and them being put out by a clown with a soda syphon.

And I thought you were going all Tina turner there for a minute.

A simile would suffice.

Gas pipe is like a cheap pork pie; solid, bland but does the job.

531 = bacon; more forgiving if you over do it and much more character and flavour.......

Aluminium is very like good bacon but you find it's that veggie stuff that breaks up really easily in the pan and is remarkably bland.

See, I can do those but never had carbon or ti.

 

[Woz]

Re:

Ti would be wild boar pork from the black forest. Doesn't demand attention, tough, and generally not on the shelves in supermarkets for common folk. An acquired taste all on it's own with little need for processing too.

 

[Splatter Paint]

Re:

As with all materials, ti is only as good as the design and tubeset. I've had good ti, bad ti and just 'meh' ti. I like it, but I'm not sure it justifies the extra expense and really, it isn't a frame for life as it cracks. If you buy one do so in the knowledge it probably will fail at some point.

As an analogue, whilst you can pay a lot for a steak, if you're in the mood for a burger, eat a burger and you'll be satisfied. There is good steak and bad steak and if you cook it badly irrespective how good it is it'll taste bad. If you can't afford steak, have a burger they're also nice and if you're vegetarian and don't eat steak or beef burgers there are lots of alternatives which are delicious too.

SP