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Carbon vs Titanium

AaaHhhhh Can somebody, anybody help me please....or maybe shed some light...???
I'm drowning in confusion, I have a list of bikes about as long as my legs & I don't know anymore.
I have a budget of £1,500 - £2k & I'm looking to upgrade my steed to something more worthy.

I Originally had a small list of Carbon bikes maybe a ribble R872, or a BMC roadracer, or a Specialized Roubaix, or a boardman road team, or a cinelli saetta, or a dolan (as I'm NW based) but then I heard about Ti & the Van Nich has been drawing me in.
Titanium sounds amazing but now I'm not sure if Ti is right...

I had ruled out aluminium as (generally) the ride is quite rigid & the roads in & around Greater Manchester aren't the best. my current Alu bike has me whincing in pain over the bumps but I've heard alu is on the comeback. I just don't know anymore.

i went to edinburgh cycles in manchester & the assistant then suggested more bikes to me, argh headache. these were the mekk potenza (sounds great for £1,100!), the focus cayo evo 4/6 & the cube agree gtc.

I suppose what I'm getting at is, would any of these (particularly Ti)stack up in a race if I was to start racing (which I'm considering) & is there a good allrounder to stop me buying 2 bikes  1

thanks in advance

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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38 comments

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Ashleyhoaken | 10 years ago
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Noelieboy,
Thank you for the offer, but I am in the SW also just did an online price checker, the bianchi is under 2k and there was an emx-3 under 2k from 3k sorry to talk about the emx range. Enjoy the izoard and appy rideing

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ur_mum | 10 years ago
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Carbon any day!  4

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toothache90 | 10 years ago
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I never quite understood this hierarchy of comparing metals and people saying 'upgrading' to carbon or Ti. Each material has it's own properties that suit all manner of riders. I still use Alu/Carbon Bianchi. Yes it's a harsh ride at times, that can batter me on a long ride but I get the feel I want in the bars which communicate to me well.

If I could afford and had the space I would buy a bike of each material to compare their merits. Simply don't write off Alu or any other material b/c the masses say so.

Just get your leg over the bike and find out for yourself, you maybe pleasantly surprised of the outcome.  3

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Super Domestique | 10 years ago
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According to my family and friends, I evidently have a fixation for carbon. It is, of course, completely unfounded.
 3

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lukea-d | 10 years ago
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Sorry to jump in on an old thread, but this is a topic I've been pondering. The problem is, Ti bikes aren't as ubiquitous or ephemeral as carbon bikes. This means that you can get amazing discounts (up to 50%) on previous year's carbon bikes, but rarely for Ti bikes. I would be (and am) tempted to buy a discounted carbon bike with top end components, then sell the frame, buy a Ti one and fit the components to that.

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legover | 9 years ago
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Hi all. I've read this post with interest. I currently ride an alu Felt hybrid. I've started cycling with a guy riding a Scott Alu road bike with carbon forks and I just can't keep up, especially when we hit a hill. Hence I'm looking for a road bike that will be comfortable over a distance, say up to 100 miles. Most rides are likely to be in the 20 to 40 mile bracket. To put it into context I'm 50 years old with a dodgy lower back, hence comfort is my prime focus followed by the need to cover miles more effortlessly.

So far I've tested the following:

Felt F5 - really quick but doubt I could hack it it over distance
Trek Domane 4.3 - I liked the seat post decoupler and it felt really smooth
Giant Defy Composite 1 - seemed ok but I didn't get to take it that far.
Considering the Giant Defy Advanced 1 - not tried yet.

My intention would be to upgrade the wheels to Mavic Ksyrium Elite S as I understand the included wheels in this price bracket aren't that great and both LBS offered a deal to do it with the bike purchase.

However I'm now wondering whether Ti should be the way forward. I haven't tried one so I'm not sure how they compare comfort wise. Reading the posts it sounds like there is not much in it weight wise and I'm thinking the additional robustness of Ti would be good as I'd like this bike to last me.

I'm not out to win any races or even compete. I just want to get futher with greater ease (without my car  1 ).

So now over to you more experienced bikers. I've got £2k to spend. What are you thoughts on the following given my brief above:

Ti vs carbon
Specific models for comfort
Wheels - would they really make that much difference?

btw I'm 6'2" and weight 187lbs.

Thanks in advance.

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therevokid | 9 years ago
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Went from one alu and one carbon to one Ti with/without guards and haven't
looked back.

It's just so much nicer to ride all day than either of the other two were, doesn't
weight that much more and scratches etc are fixed with a 3m scotchpad and
some gt85  1 I'm looking to further improve comfort by adding a carbon post
but alu ones at 31.6mm seem to be just as flexy so still experimenting !!

Currently ride a Kinesis GF Ti v2 with handbuilt 32 spoke wheels ...... bliss

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surly_by_name | 9 years ago
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Ti v Carbon? Carbon. Cheaper, lighter, stiffer (which doesn't equal less comfortable). I have a bespoke Ti frame from a well known US manufacturer - which I love - and several carbon frames. The latter don't stir the heart strings as much as the Ti frame when you look at them but they simply perform better and would be much, much cheaper to replace.

Comfort. The idea that Ti is inherently more comfortable that carbon or any other material is complete and utter tosh. My Ti frame has lots of toe overlap/a short wheelbase, which makes it an awesome crit bike, but it was built to race so it's stiff. Most myths about frame materials (aluminium is stiff, Ti is flexy, carbon is "dead") are only true of cheap versions of said materials. Cheap aluminium - and high quality aluminium has become rare with the virtual ubiquity of carbon - will ride "stiff". Cheap Ti is flexy. Etc. Here's a little secret that bike manufacturers don't tell you: if you want comfort put on wider tyres (25mm or even 27mm - of course the latter may mean that you need a frame with more clearance) and reduce tyre pressure (90/85psi). And select a bike with a small diameter seat post (27.2mm) not something with a 31.8mm.

If you can afford a bespoke Seven/Indy Fab/Moots etc, you should buy one. Really, everyone should - everyone should experience the pleasure of the process and the joy of owning your own (literally) bike. But if you can't, you should buy a carbon bike because bikes made from carbon are better tools and at the end of the day that is what a bike is.

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