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

[KDM]

I've always wanted another one but then I remember why I got rid of the last one.

Something niggles me when I do not have one, so I buy another and apart from the weight saving which to be honest, a few less visits to Gregg's would achieve the same loss, when I get it it just looks, well blurgh, flat and uninteresting

So do you, have you, have/had a titanium bike. Why did you buy it, do you still have it and if sold, why?

 

[k-rod]

Re:

Nope - could see right through the masturbatory 'look at me everybody' nature of it all right from the beginning.

 

[widowmaker]

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A bit of both.

 

[ishaw]

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I like mine. I've got a couple built and a couple boxed. Light, strong, ride nicely. I like the understated look of the bare Matt/brushed finish over the shiny. They are often built with nice touches such as CNC drop outs which add to the charm. They are also comfortable wearing any colour finishing kit, so they don't have to look dull. Add a bit of coloured anno, get some custom decals made and you'll have a nice riding and nice looking, light and strong bike.

 

[Gaddmeister]

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Mmmmm.....my precious!

Never had one, would love one, but always been out of my reach. Hoping by next year I can have one. I just love the metal, love the colour, strength and lack of corrosion (Going to be stand corrected on this, Im sure ).
Anything metal would be corrected if I had a choice.

 

[Gaddmeister]

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Titanium even. Bloomin predictive text!

 

[M-Power]

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Most of the late 80s-early 90s Ti bikes were plain gauge tube geo and very flexy in the BB region. When you descended at speed on rutty rough terrain, some had a tendency to get a scary 'speed wobble' vibe. This made you feel like you you were a) gonna crash, b) die if you went faster or c) that you had to slow down to feel comfortable again.

I could not afford a Ti FAT Chance at the time but i knew they had addressed many of these issues from mag reviews - theoretically !!! Fast forward many years later and i finally got my hands on my dream 94 Ti and all I can say is it totally blew me away. I never expected it to ride like it did, stiff like a Yo, no noticable scary BB flex, no scary speed wobble but with that sumptuous forgiving feel and natural shock absorbtion of a quality Ti frame. It so light, has amazing tiny neat welds, looks beautiful and climbs like a goat with perfect telepathic handling and all day rideability.

Im not such a fan of Ti road bikes, strangely, they feel a bit too soft and lacking in feel but for offroad riding Ti wins hands down.

 

[66 triumph daytona]

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I had a Torus Ti in the early 90s,downhill raced it and man was it sweet.Thinking about it now its funny cos at the races it was considered a serious downhill bike because I ran it with DH3s,Club Roost risers,DCD,front and rear brake boosters and a 52t chainring,braking was SS7/987s(as were a lot of the other racers).You really had to pick your line back then.The frame just about coped geometrywise with the riser bar/DH3 set up but was a joy in general,I want another one!

 

[Woz]

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Must have....not really when there is good steel frames about.

Nice to have....hell yeah!

 

[highlandsflyer]

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I bought a lovely Ti Carbon dual suspension from Velofrog.

I have had it built in various different ways, but in no configuration could I tell it from an aluminium or steel alternative, having ridden loads.

My next plan is to get a Ti solid.

I reckon the 'flex' would work with that.