Tough choices - Ti or Dekerf?

I know i rue, lament and regret the day i sold my 99 DeKerf Team SL.

if it were me personally it would be the a Dekerf - i will say though i do have to Ti bikes so its a no brainer for me.

See what is about 2nd hand ti though expensive is a good if not outrageous bargain for what you pay for it - though the flipside is a Dekerf will probably not interest many and slip under the radar.
 
oldave":5u8290g9 said:
"Simply" poor design, then.

I'd take with a pinch of salt anyone saying 'the usual place" or such things on small number builds by proper frame builders.

I remember one of the tools in my lbs saying smugly of my pace, 'yeah they're alright but i've seen too many of them snap - there...".


Really? Really seen so many of them? They only made 150 a year anyway so how many have you actually seen and how many of those had really snapped there?

It's one of those really annoying things people say to look like they know what they're talking about...


"tsk, you're big end's gone, it's gonna cost ya."

:roll:

I've met three Dekerf ST's in 15years. And none have snapped.

I've seen three snapped I.F Ti Deluxes on UK forums this year. But I'd still wager them to be about the best made Ti hardtails out there.

Sometimes stuff breaks, sometimes it doesn't.
 
As the person who has said "the usual place" I should perhaps clarify...

I was not suggesting that they all break - but when they do break they usually break at the BB shell where the steel spigots meet the Ti chainstays.

I should also say that when mine went back to Canada to be fixed I was told by Chris that once they have been fixed he has never heard of one failing again.

In my opinion I'd go for the DeKerf every time over a Ti frame!
 
95explosif":3bs5wy3m said:
As the person who has said "the usual place" I should perhaps clarify...

I was not suggesting that they all break - but when they do break they usually break at the BB shell where the steel spigots meet the Ti chainstays.

I should also say that when mine went back to Canada to be fixed I was told by Chris that once they have been fixed he has never heard of one failing again.

In my opinion I'd go for the DeKerf every time over a Ti frame!


Yes, I wasn't meaning you, sorry, didn't mean to appear to be. more the wheel kicking brigade.

Of course there are design flaws and sometimes consistent failures due to design, i just get fed up with the smug 'other' forum brigade that always tell you smugly, 'Oh it's one of them, they always go here..."

Lovely frame the Team ST. Lovely. What colour will it be? Mine's sort of Metallic Guinness, but a bit more reddy.

:cool:
 
For me, the name DeKerf meant nothing before I joined these hallowed pages. I'd previously left mtb'ing before the name was well known over here.

I knew Ti had an allure about it, back then, so my choice would be Ti (but as Wu says, it'd need to be a specific frame, rather than a generic). And having ridden a few now, I'm smitten.. A DK might ride even better, but I just love the feeling of Ti, so no desire to look elswhere, personally..

Problem is tho, you might end up buying one, and constantly thinking how the other would be, so unfortunately my ultimate advice would be to buy both, then there's be no argument. ;) :D
 
a decade ago I had a 'My other bike's a merlin' sticker on each merlin.

:LOL: :roll: :oops:


Tart.


Sick.



Sick tart.
 
I'd personally draw up a short list of both Ti and Dekerfs, get the market values and wait till a bargain comes along. All things being equal you can get what you want and eventually move it on at little if any cost to yourself. :) Dekerf seems hot at the minute though and there are some great Ti bargains going around.
 
The Ti's i have been looking at are the Kona Hei Hei and the KK and also the merlins that i have seen on the forum. I'd love something a little more exotic like a McMahon but its way out of my price range. An IF Ti would also be on the list. My problem is that as i've never ridden one i don't really know what im looking for, from a use point of view it will be a bit of a do it all commuter/towpath/single track as i'd like to get as much use as possible out of it if im going to spend £1.5k+ on the full build. The only ones that arent on my list (purely because i dont like the brand and not for any proper reason)) are the Raleigh frames.
 
I've owned both , sold my Ti frame a while back and kept my Dekerf , says it all really. You won't be disappointed with either though.
 
Back
Top