Show us your Titanium! - Ti and Stainless bikes

Just finished building up my replacement for my Trek 920 which I did love but am a sucker for Ti and the price I just couldn't turn with full carbon forks and pannier mounts! Sonder Camino Ti. Now completely sold out and they are not sure when they getting more in stock so pretty lucky!

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Schweet!

I don’t think I’ve posted it in this thread, flip painted Enigma Echo

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Niiiice

And while I was at it I updated the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Isen with some aliexpress carbon

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I'm thinking of a titanium fast, aggressiveish road bike with fender mounts for all year speeeed.
Am I having some sort of crisis?

Pretty much, lean into it I say

Friend of mine is having a similar crisis at a similar age, I think it's healthy. I want him to order here see if they're good: https://www.titancycles.com/#section-pricing Stridsland_journal follows them insta, leads me to believe he's ordering his stuff there which is a good sign RE quality.

Hmmm, Ti recumbent trike...

Not a crisis, but also not where the material shines IMO. I know it can be built into fast bikes, but the tubing diameters have to be really quite something to maintain the same level of stiffness as steel tubing, a la No. 22. I can't think of many people building fast Ti bikes that aren't fully custom. But if you're okay with fully custom, then I say go for it.

I'm all about fat tubes. I'm also attracted to the corrosion resistance for winter road bike duties but from what I see on the market, companies seem to make heavier/more relaxed/slower bikes for All-Weather/Winter/Audax bikes. I don't want to go any slower just because I've fit mudguards.
Truth be told I'm thinking of designing it, having a couple manufactured to spec, painted and potentially offering them for sale/starting a micro brand which should hopefully be cheaper than the big brands (and a lot cheaper than going to a UK or US framebuilder) whilst also being cooler.
I don't want to be churning out On One style gravel bikes though so I'm not sure if there's enough interest in the sort of bikes I personally like

I can't think of many people building fast Ti bikes that aren't fully custom

This is what I'm counting on

My Lynskey R470 Disc is pretty nippy. Or it would be if it didn't have me riding it. Not that I've actually got to ride it in nearly two years.

Sounds cool. I've only heard good things about working with Waltly if you can get the comms down.

Good stainless steel will be lighter, stiffer, easier to repair and almost as corrosion resistant.

Oh and it doesn't crack near the welds either.

Nor does Ti when it's built by people who know what they're doing :-) Edit: It's also nowhere near as corrosion resistant.

Ha true, the people who know what they're doing don't build lightweight Ti bikes. Chunky wall thicknesses is the only way to avoid it. Fine for heavy gravel bikes I guess...

Stainless is also prohibitively expensive. I'm only 65 kilos so my bikes perhaps receive a little less stresses than some other folk's

my bikes perhaps receive a little less stresses than some other folk's

Where's that gif...

pls no

Stainless is also prohibitively expensive

Yeah fair enough. Light, strong, cheap.... pick two.

And it doesn't ride differently to steel.

When I started speaking to Gaulzetti about my Seven last year he said (I italicised the important bit):

'Stainless is another $1000 due to material costs and increased labor time incurred. Again- it doesn’t make for a better bike. It just allows for an 1100 gram steel frame if that is desired. If I’m looking to build in the snap and rigidity and liveliness I like in a race bike- there is negligible weight savings as I generally end up speccing the same tubing profiles and diameters in both XCR and Columbus Spirit/Life/Niobium etc. If you truly want a frame that will have an infinite fatigue life and never corrode- I’d rather work with you on a titanium project. XCR isn’t truly stainless and is a bit on the brittle side compared to other materials. All stuff I account for with our heat treatment schedule, argon induced welding, and final finish work on stainless frames- but with Ti you can literally bury the frame under the ocean for a decade, dredge it up, and with some red scotch brite and elbow grease- the frame will be good as new! Not such an option with any modern steel- stainless or otherwise. '

Dave Kirk even advises people who live near the sea to not buy 953 frames because stainless reacts with salt air. Lol.

Sounds interesting, is more or less what I’d consider for replacing my winter bike TBH… cost dependent obv

Just to check.
I might wanna trade this for just a tad smaller, it is a Serotta Colorado ti full da groupset 61/64 ctc; and I’m looking for 59/60 preferably a Serotta ti or other ti or stainless, disc brakes are more than welcome too.
(Only thing is that I’m in Switzerland)

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v nice.

Thank you. It’s SO annoying that 1,5 cm don’t allow me to ride it without back pains from the stretch.