Budget custom steel or titanium

Im selling my commuter and my road bike so I can condense them down to one all-rounder. I want the handling of the CAAD12 but with the ability to run 37c-ish tyres as I commute along the Lea valley. The plan is to run 650's during the week and then pop on some Zipp's for the weekend.

I can't really find an off the peg bike frame I like so i've been mulling over having something made. My budget is fairly limited so I have whittled it down to a steel Rychtarski or Titanium Walty. Both seem to have good reviews and both are reasonably priced.

Has anyone got any thoughts on what road I should take.

Steel can’t crack but might rust, titanium can’t rust but might crack. Preventing rust is far easier than preventing cracks.

Are you going to get a bike that handles like CAAD but takes 37c tyres? Is that possible?

Top stone carbon?

I've been really pleased with my Waltly. Well over 10,000km in the last year on it and no issues at all.

Im basically going to copy the CAAD 12 Geometry only wit fat tyre compatibility. I like the Topstone by I have an aversion to sloping top tubes.

edit: sorry, totally misread the thread...

http://spanner.bike/
Local support for a waltly built frame for a small markup.

Cannondale SuperX

The proprietary BB really limits the choice of chainsets.

according to people on the internet who appear to know what they're talking about (i.e. @mdcc_tester and people on here who repeat what he's said as gospel), titanium is a poor choice of material for a bicycle frame.

y?

only metal ive never owned

https://www.lfgss.com/search/?q=titanium&authorId=55593

To summarise: It's increased cost is not justified by its mechanical properties, as carbon fibre is better and cheaper. That is of course ignoring that carbon fibre makes it harder to go custom, but he is of the opinion that no abled person should ever need a custom bike as the market is big enough to cater to any need.

For what it's worth I prefer riding my Titanium bike from Waltly to my Carbon Canyon. Obviously this isn't just due to the material but...

.

I've owned a selection of titanium frames for the past twenty years and have had zero issues with them.

You do know that @mdcc_tester can be wrong on things, don't you?

It's less about the frame having issues (i.e. cracks?) and more about the cost/benefit I guess.

I've seen tester be wrong about a number of things and I've logged them diligently on my Google sheet.

Lol.

Personally, I'd not go for a budget custom titanium frame, mainly because such a thing doesn't exist. The cost of the material, and level of capability required to work it, make it an expensive choice.

condense them down to one all-rounder.

I've never seen this turn out as well as people hope it will

i've been mulling over having something made.

Almost never a good idea with a solo bicycle, all the things which are worth making are already being mass produced

Titanium

Strike 3

Has anyone got any thoughts on what road I should take.

The one back to where you started, as fast as possible

It's just BB30? Can fit anything to that

I tried to condense, I failed. Have 2 bikes that are amazing are 2 things, not 1 bike that’s not quite good at either

No, the new ones are PF30-83 that are not compatible with much.

new ones are PF30-83 that are not compatible with much

There will be adaptors for anything which goes in a 1.37×68mm BSC shell with external cups.

You need to speak to someone who knows how to design bikes, but a CAAD 12 with 37c tyres will handle differently to a CAAD 12 with 25c tyres, so just copying the geometry may not give you the result you were hoping for.

I've owned many many cheap and expensive carbon, alu and steel bikes, yet my titanium bike is by far and away the plushest and smoothest of them all. If I could only have one, it would be it. I bought from a UK builder though for the warranty.

Do you have a link? I spoke to CSG (Cannondale distributors) and they were pretty adamant that my choices would be very limited.