Passoni unveils flagship OT-01 Omni Titanium – and yes, it’s eye-wateringly expensive

If you like your bikes to be titanium and unapologetically Italian, you might want to settle in for this one. Passoni has unveiled the OT-01 Omni Titanium, an evolution of its current flagship model, the Titanio Disco. It’s very much a case of quiet refinement rather than radical reinvention. Think cleaner lines, a weight saving and, Passoni says, sharper handling. Plus, it’s a real looker, and that always helps, doesn’t it? Let’s take a look.

We reviewed the Passoni Titanio Classica Disco frameset here on road.cc a couple of years ago, and we were hugely impressed by the craftsmanship.

“Hand-made in Italy, the Passoni Titanio Classica Disco is a stunningly beautiful frameset to look at, and even to touch, but more importantly, it’s absolutely wonderful to ride,” said our man Stu Kerton. A glowing endorsement… and Stu’s a picky so-and-so.

> Read our Passoni Titanio Classica Disco frameset review 

One of the biggest changes with the OT-01 Omni Titanium is the new 1.5in head tube, engineered and machined in three parts from solid Grade 5 titanium billets. You might know Grade 5 titanium as the 6Al-4V variety – 6% aluminium and 4% vanadium, if you’re interested in that kind of stuff.

It’s just the head tube, dropouts and CNCed parts that are Grade 5. The rest of the frame is Grade 9 titanium, which is 3Al-2.5V.

Passoni says that the new head tube (it was previously 1-1/8 inch up top, 1-1/2 inch at the bottom) increases front-end stiffness and improves steering precision. We’ve not ridden this bike, so we can’t comment on that.

Passoni has made changes elsewhere to the frame too. It has reduced the diameter of the triple-butted down tube, for example, to reduce the weight by 90g.

It has also redesigned the rear triangle with new chainstays that allow you to use tyres up to 32mm wide. The 3D-printed dropouts are new too, the one on the driveside being fully enclosed so you can’t see the end of the thru axle. Everyone’s at it these days.

Passoni reckons the OT-01 Omni Titanium frame is 120g lighter than the previous model in size medium “without compromising strength or performance”. It hasn’t given us an exact claimed weight for the OT-01 Omni Titanium frame, although the Prima Titanio Disco’s frame weight is 1.4kg, so you can do the maths for yourself.

The fork is full carbon, again fully enclosed on the driveside to keep everything looking as neat as possible.

The OT-01 Omni Titanium is available in seven standard sizes (from 48 to 60) but if they don’t work for you, you can go for a made-to-measure option. In for a penny…

Passoni is keen to emphasise that every OT-01 Omni Titanium is handmade and 100% built in Italy.

“Every frame is crafted to order in Passoni’s atelier near Milan, where precision, material expertise and attention to detail define each step of production,” it says.

How much is a Passoni OT-01 Omni Titanium going to set you back? If you’ve liked what you’ve seen so far, steady yourself. A frameset (frame, fork and headset) is €7,020 (about £6,100) plus VAT. That converts to about £6,100.

A framekit (frame, fork, headset, Passoni CP01 full carbon integrated handlebar, Selle Italia custom saddle, titanium seatpost, leather bar tape) is €8,550 (around £7,430) plus VAT.

If you want to go fully Italian, a complete Passoni OT-01 Omni Titanium with Campagnolo Super Record 13 groupset and Campag Bora Ultra WTO 45 wheels is €15,230 plus VAT. That’s £13,230. Pre-orders are open, with deliveries scheduled in 16-20 weeks.

Not cheap, then; far from it, in fact. We know that not many of us are in the market for a 13 grand made in Italy titanium bike, but we thought you’d like a look anyway. Window shopping can’t hurt, and we can all dream.

Check out loads more Bikes at Bedtime here. 

www.passoni.it