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Titanium – a bike for life or 6 months

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  • September 12, 2023 at 7:11 pm #32692
    IRISHGENIUS

    I got a Ribble CGR Titanium in March this year. I have ridden it a bit and enjoyed it so far, but not put a lot of miles into it yet. However last week on a flat off road trail I hit a piece of wood and went over the handle bars. It was a pretty slow crash, checking later on Strava about 10 mph, I got up brushed myself off and rode home. However at the weekend I washed the bike and then notice that the top tube and down tube were slightly bent just at the point where they join the front steering post.

    I bought this bike as I was sold on the durability of Titanium, how strong it was especially for gravel riding so I am really surprised that after a very simple bump the frame didn’t stand up to it.

    Is this unusual? Has anyone had a similar experience with Titanium? Are these frames that fragile?

    Ribble’s response has also been really disappointing, they have said that their warranty is not valid because it was a crash, and the best they could offer is a 10% off a replacement frame. Do I have a case to challenge this?

    Finally if I can’t get any more joy from Ribble can a Titanium frame be repaired, does anyone have any recommendations.

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Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • September 13, 2023 at 7:40 pm #1017385
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    matthewn5
    davebrads wrote:
    But a carbon frame wouldn’t have broken in the first place, and is repairable if you do break it….

    It might have broken, but it would be repairable.

    September 13, 2023 at 6:36 pm #1017383
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    Sriracha

    Any time I read comments
    Any time I read comments about Ribble it’s not good. After a while you start to think they can’t all be wrong. Whatever the rights and wrongs here, you can’t accuse them of courting good publicity through word of mouth!

    September 13, 2023 at 6:05 pm #1017381
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    IanEdward

    I share your pain, I badly
    I share your pain, I badly bent and cracked a lovely steel Salsa Vaya on a similar awkward slow crash (rolling down a smooth steep rock slab not realising there was a 1ft drop to flat at the bottom).

    Salsa helped as best they could (much better than 10%…), assisted by Charlie the Bikemonger, but I still ended up out of pocket.

    Covered under home insurance?

    September 13, 2023 at 3:00 pm #1017379
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    OnYerBike

    I think you have to chalk

    I think you have to chalk this one down to bad luck.

    Whilst a bike might be strong and durable in normal use (and tolerate a bit of abuse), I do think a crash (even a relatively slow one) can produce significant forces that the bikes are generally not built to withstand. Building a bike that could withstand crash damage, in all the myriad of forms that could take, would result in a bike that is massively overbuilt for normal use.

    September 13, 2023 at 2:49 pm #1017377
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    mark1a

    Bad luck, and at least you’re

    Bad luck, and at least you’re OK.

    I wonder whether the damage is due to the type/thickness of tubes used or a fault in manufacture… I also have a Ti bike and had a similar crash on only its third ride out(!) (I didn’t hit a piece of wood, someone in a car coming in the opposite direction decided to turn right, across my path). The other factors, 10mph impact speed (from GPS), over the bars/back of the car sound very similar.

    I was concerned about both the carbon fork steerer and the frame itself. My LBS has some tools for checking frame alignment, and they gave it a clean bill of health, so maybe either I was lucky or you have a dodgy frame. 

    It maybe worth finding a shop yourself that has similar tools (I think they were this and this), and checking how far out it is, and perhaps going after Ribble again with either a “fit for purpose” or “satisfactory quality” angle to try and get them to up their 10% offer, in consumer law, surely any reasonable person would expect something sold as a gravel bike to be able to take a 10mph OTB spill without bending? 

    September 13, 2023 at 2:16 pm #1017375
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    davebrads

    But a carbon frame wouldn’t

    But a carbon frame wouldn’t have broken in the first place, and is repairable if you do break it….

    September 13, 2023 at 2:10 pm #1017373
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    andystow

    Ti bikes (or bikes of any

    Ti bikes (or bikes of any material, really) can be made very light, or very strong, or a balance between the two. For a bike that’s supposed to be a fun ride and not, say, part of an abused fleet of bikeshare bikes, the designer is going to choose tubing that can take normal riding loads for that type of bike, with a bit of a safety factor.

    I’m sure a frame could be made that can take a crash like that, but would you have bought the frame if it weighed 1-2 kg more?

    September 13, 2023 at 1:29 pm #1017371
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    matthewn5

    I’ve seen a number of reports

    I’ve seen a number of reports of cracked titanium, particularly around welds, but not bent.

    Any metal bike will bend in an impact, and the top tube/down tube bends are very characteristic of a frontal impact. In the old days of lugged or brazed steel frames, a frame-builder could melt out the brazing and insert new tubes, making the bike good as new, but with electric welding, no chance. At least metal frames are recyclable, unlike carbon…

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