will a ti charge duster be a lot better than the steel bike?

[racefaceec90]

have asked on singletrack,but thought i would ask here also.basically am going to p'x my 10 anthem x2 towards a charge ht.have been changing my mind between going for a titanium frame (have never owned a ti bike before/always wanted one) or a steel bike (the duster mid as it seems to be the only one that i can get in small).basically i know that ti is corrosion proof/lighter than steel,but in the real world,would it ride better than the steel (justifying the extra £1000 roughly) as much as i would love the ti frame,being realistic if it wouldn't ride any better than the steel one,then i would rather save the money and go steel.what are your opinions on this (has anyone ridden either/both?)thanks in advance

 

[beagle]

Depends what steel it's made of. If it's just boggo "Charge butted chromoly" 4130 stuff the Ti will ride miles better.

 

[suburbanreuben]

An extra £1000? :shock: What is the total cost?
Let's assume it's £1400. For that , you will get a handmade, custom steel frame made by a framebuilding god. He will select the pipes and geometry to optimise the ride to you stature, weight and style. It will be better than a ti bike made from cheap, or even not so cheap, titanium of dubious origin.
A top quality steel bike is going to be better than any midrange ti bike, and most likely better than ANY ti frame.

 

[beagle]

^ Sound advice.

 

[FluffyChicken]

the mid is Tange Prestige Skinny butted tubing (whatever that means), but Prestige is good stuff.

It all on their website http://www.chargebikes.com/products/bik ... l.php?id=7

All the Dusters seem to come in the smallest 16", I assume the more expensive use slightly better tubing ? as they subtly change the name of it.
But the proper technical details are not there.

Ti doesn't seem to feature at a glance ?


EDIT I found them Duster and Duster Ti XC under parts as frames.
Ti =
Seamless Tange ultimate butted titanium tubing


anyways as for difference...

 

[racefaceec90]

thanks for all the replies and apologies for not putting tubing in the thread.basically the mid bike costs £1199.99,and titanium frame is £1299.99 (going up to £1499.99 next year :shock: have read some great reviews of both bikes (they both ride great/great shock absortion,but will still get up to speed quickly) pic of the mid bike+parts list http://www.wiggle.co.uk/charge-dust...=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products and the 2012 ti frame (no 2011 left i think?) which retailes for £1499.99

again thanks for your advice

 

[FluffyChicken]

I guess what they are saying is you could have something like a DeKerf SST even a custom geometry one for less or similar to the Ti frame
http://www.dekerf.com/Pricing.asp?id=1

Since you don't seem to actually want/must have the Ti frame, else you would already know the answer.

But take them both for a test ride and see how they feel.

 

[andrewl]

I love steel and nice paint, but if its a rider to be kept for the long haul, I prefer Ti myself.

I'd also consider a few other frame options to those too. I settled on a Lynskey for my last brand new hard tail and for an off the shelf frame its pretty awesome.

 

[Harryburgundy]

As Nick says....£1300-£1500 on a frame is in high-end custom made steel territory, well within budget if you buy 2nd hand. No brainer for me.
You could even get a 2nd hand Ti frame from a top custom builder for that money, but you would have to be patient finding one I guess.

 

[makster]

You can get a 2010 Ti Rock Lobster, with full XT for around £1800.
They got really good reviews, and I've hovered over the 'buy' button may an evening
Check the Merlin website if this interests you