Titanium

"what ever" wrote in message
...
Who has a ride made with this wonder metal ? I intend it to be my next
ride
( 50 cm + - & compact geometry as I prefer a low standover height) I'd
love
to hear recommendations of brands models etc form anyone who has
currently
or previously owned a Ti bike. TIA



I have three cheap chinese titanium frames.(Non-Habanaro)

http://www.geo.net.au/~mart/personal/martys_bikes.htm

My ti mountain bike has copped a lot of use/abuse over the last two or three
years and is still going strong.

Marty

In article ,
says...
Who has a ride made with this wonder metal ? I intend it to be my next ride
( 50 cm + - & compact geometry as I prefer a low standover height) I'd love
to hear recommendations of brands models etc form anyone who has currently
or previously owned a Ti bike. TIA

I currently have two road bikes -- a compact Ti frame (Airborne
Valkyrie) and a 33-year old conventional Reynolds 531 double-butted old-
timer which I have refinished and modded for 9-speed. (I previously
owned 2 other good road bikes, one steel and one Al.)

The compact Airborne fits me well, as does the Reynolds frame, but
having a long torso/short legs, I prefer the standover clearance of the
Ti frame, but I like the looks of the conventional frame better.

Both bikes are a joy to ride, but the Ti frame is noticeably stiffer in
torsion and feels very light. On the road, I don't notice a difference
in ride quality nor in the 4 lb. weight advantage of the Ti bike. I DO
notice the weight differential when carrying the bike up and down the
basement stairs.

The Airborne frame has smooth, high quality welds and it is perfectly
aligned. I have compared it side-by-side with a Seven, and while it
doesn't have the same high-lustre finish, I think the media-blasted
finish on my frame shows fewer marks and scratches.

Rick

Dave Mayer wrote:

Also, I've ridden in packs with riders on compacts. These bikes can
have a foot of seatpost sticking out of the frame. Watching that
seatpost flex back and forth impresses and scares me. Think of those
flex cycles as countdown towards an emergency trip to a proctologist.

I think a lot of that flexing you see is an optical illusion, like the wobbly
spoon trick. (Hold a spoon loosely between your thumb and forefinger and wobble
it, and it looks like it's made of rubber.)

I've had people swear they could see various frames flexing, and absorbing
bumps. I've heard people say they could tell the difference between a Tange
Prestige frame and a True Temper AVR by observing frame flex while riding next
to someone.

I have over a foot of seatpost showing on my MTB. If it flexed visibly, I'm
sure it would break from fatigue. We don't hear of this happening much, and
MTBs have all had slopey top tubes for 15 years.

Matt O.

Java Man wrote:

Both bikes are a joy to ride, but the Ti frame is noticeably stiffer
in torsion and feels very light. On the road, I don't notice a
difference in ride quality nor in the 4 lb. weight advantage of the
Ti bike. I DO notice the weight differential when carrying the bike
up and down the basement stairs.

A 4 LB difference definately doesn't come from the frame, though -- it has to be
from the other bits. 4 OZ is a more likely weight difference between an 853
steel frame and a Ti one.

Matt O.

In article , says...
Java Man wrote:

Both bikes are a joy to ride, but the Ti frame is noticeably stiffer
in torsion and feels very light. On the road, I don't notice a
difference in ride quality nor in the 4 lb. weight advantage of the
Ti bike. I DO notice the weight differential when carrying the bike
up and down the basement stairs.

A 4 LB difference definately doesn't come from the frame, though -- it has to be
from the other bits. 4 OZ is a more likely weight difference between an 853
steel frame and a Ti one.

Agree. The Ti frame and carbon fork weigh ~ 2 lb. less than the
Reynolds 531 I referenced. The remaining 2 lb. difference is in
different wheels, tires and components.

Rick

Thanks to you all for your input .

what

"what ever" wrote in message
...
Who has a ride made with this wonder metal ? I intend it to be my next
ride
( 50 cm + - & compact geometry as I prefer a low standover height) I'd
love
to hear recommendations of brands models etc form anyone who has
currently
or previously owned a Ti bike. TIA

Matt O'Toole wrote:
Dave Mayer wrote:


Also, I've ridden in packs with riders on compacts. These bikes can
have a foot of seatpost sticking out of the frame. Watching that
seatpost flex back and forth impresses and scares me. Think of those
flex cycles as countdown towards an emergency trip to a proctologist.


I think a lot of that flexing you see is an optical illusion, like the wobbly
spoon trick. (Hold a spoon loosely between your thumb and forefinger and wobble
it, and it looks like it's made of rubber.)

I've had people swear they could see various frames flexing, and absorbing
bumps. I've heard people say they could tell the difference between a Tange
Prestige frame and a True Temper AVR by observing frame flex while riding next
to someone.

I have over a foot of seatpost showing on my MTB. If it flexed visibly, I'm
sure it would break from fatigue. We don't hear of this happening much, and
MTBs have all had slopey top tubes for 15 years.

Matt O.

matt, both my road & mtb seat posts flex visibly if i sit full weight.
but i weigh 200 lbs. they do break from fatigue too, but not that often
as they don't have welds at the most stressed point, where it sits in
the frame, unlike the common break points on frames such as head tubes
or bb's. and most people "ride light" so that mitigates the problem
further.

regarding frame flex, it's interesting that you /can/ see differences in
that also. i was surprised one time riding behind two guys on a
steepish hill - both were beside each other, me behind, one on a
litespeed ti, the other on a big tube cannondale. from my vantage
point, you could see the displacement of the bb on the ti frame was
significant - the cannondale hardly at all. when asked if the rider of
the ti bike noticed any flex, he swore it was the stiffest frame he'd
ever ridden and was puzzled by my question.

bottom line, sure, you can measure differences, but it all comes down to
rider taste. someone that's only ever ridden small tube steel may have
no clue about how different a big tube aluminum frame feels, but not
care either. same for the steel fork/carbon fork debate. we all have
different tastes, and that's fine, provided we've actually bothered to
ride the gear in question before forming an opinion.

lothes (B) wrote in message ...
I have a custom Habanero. Sloping top tube to raise the head tube. Seat tube
comes out about 8 - 10". Fits great, rides great. Would I do it again -
definitely.
B

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No it doesn't! The fork blade length + crown height/hs stack height +
head tube length determine the height of the front end of the bike. A
slope only adds a slope, nothing else. In fact I'd say that it only
lowers the seat tube end of the top tube. If a sloping top tube bike
has a higher front end, it's due to one or more or the aforementioned
factors.


Robin Hubert

Let me state it differently. The sloping top tube on my bike allows me to have
a larger head tube than I could with a flat top tube. I wanted a head tube
large enough that very few spacers were used between the top of the head tube
and the stem. The head tube is the correct height for what I want (handlebars
level with saddle). The top tube slopes back. If the it were flat from the
headtube, I could not stand over my bike. I ride a 54 in a flat tt bike. This
bike measures about 52 - 53 at the seat tube, and has a head tube similar to a
56-57 (I think).
B

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