Ti for things … like pedal axles.

[2manyoranges]

Ti is a dirty, dirty metal in terms of its environmental impact. Carbon is bad too. But the ti frames which I have had have been pretty wonderful things. And the handlebars too. And the ti railed saddles, And the seatposts. I had ti-axled onZa HO pedals. They did pretty well, and seemed to wear no differently than the CroMo axles as they passed through the bronze bushing. I was pretty assiduous in just dropping a tiny amount of oil on the axle of each pedal in order to keep the bronze bushing saturated. At end of ride, wipe clean, drop of oil on axle…before next ride, wipe clean, off you go. They lasted ages.

On my modern bikes I currently am running Hope F20s and Burgtec Penthouse 4 alloys. Nice to have a box of pedals and spares which allow easy maintenance and which are nicely renewable rather than throw away. I recently acquired a pair of secondhand Burgtec penthouse 4s and turned out they had ti axles. Result! I thought. Just pull the pedals apart and renew the bushings and bearing. Nope. When I pulled them apart there was huge wear on the axle - about .5mm off the diameter. Now junk. When neglected, the Penthouse CroMo pedal axles can rust, but they don‘t wear like that.

I also have a Hope pedal I am working on (major headache) where the CroMo axle broke at the point the diameter reduces on the inboard side. Not me doing the pedal strikes, someone else, but I am doing the refurb.

Now…ti pedal axles can save about 100-150g which is not to be sniffed at. But it doesn’t feel like a sensible application of ti. Slow rotation, lots of load, big energy inputs from pedal strikes. Hope don‘t do ti axles, although after market axles are available from SuperStar.

What do you think……?

 

[FluffyChicken]

My Onza HO Ti axles wore down, still have them.

 

[2manyoranges]

Thanks FC….Those are pretty darned worn...

 

[bikeworkshop]

Ti might be bad for the environment, but aluminium is worse.

https://redstonemanufacturing.com/aluminum-vs-titanium/

However steel is better,
https://off.road.cc/content/news/reynolds-finds-steel-is-greener-than-titanium-in-study-10603

(as long as it doesn't fail due to corrosion)

So if you own a ti bike you need to ride it 3x as far

 

[Twozaskars]

Have them sleeved and return to service.

 

[Twozaskars]

So if you own a ti bike you need to ride it 3x as far

 

[Suprachrgd82]

I love Ti parts. It's a great way to put the bike on a diet. The amount of weight that can be shed from swapping fasteners and spindles is staggering. Put every steel bolt and spindle from a bike in a bag and throw it on a scale, reduce that by 50% for Ti equivalent and that's a significant number.

My 18" Zaskar is a weight weenie, with the exception of cutting/grinding parts to lighten it up. Before swapping to Ti spindles, Ti and Al fasteners and Hollowtech cranks, it was about 25.5 lbs. Now it's about 22 lbs (was 21.5 with a 16" Avalanche frame). That's comparable to a well-equipped Klein of the same vintage. With 70 psi in the tires, the effort required to get rolling is far less than other bikes in the stable. The harsh ride discourages me from riding it with a sore back and bum. I can run over a penny and read the year with all of the road noise that travels thru the frame.

Different alloys of Ti offer different characteristics from brittle to ductile. I'd like to think that manufactures are applying the correct alloy to the respective application. Probably not.

Of course I don't "need" any of the Ti parts. It's really about the cool factor.

 

[bold stelvis]

With 70 psi in the tires, the effort required to get rolling is far less than other bikes in the stable. The harsh ride discourages me from riding it with a sore back and bum. I can run over a penny and read the year with all of the road noise that travels thru the frame.

I think pretty much any frame essentially becomes a bone rattler with MTB tyres at that pressure

 

[Cloverleaf]

Wrong place to be saving weight IMO. Taking weight off the bottom of the bike without taking it off the top actually raises the centre of gravity which in turn makes the bike feel top heavy. Obviously only changing a set of axles will not have a great deal of impact but as a part of a bigger picture, it can. Change rotating, unsprung and high up weight before looking at anything that's centred around the BB, IMO (and that 'O' is based on lots of timed testing using bolt on weights on DH tracks).

 

[M-Power]

Still got my OG SPDs with SRP Ti axles spinning perfectly after many 1000s of miles. In Ti frames defence, they can last a lifetime if looked after.How many of these modern £4K leccy bikes have become ‘bricked’ when their motor, battery or electrical issues mean mechanics cant or wont fix them ?