bygone era
Über Member
which bike would offer the longest time span steel or titanium thoughts please
steel or titanium
- Thread starter bygone era
- Start date
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ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
How many human lifetimes are we talking about?
(They should both outlive you if treated properly!
)
(They should both outlive you if treated properly!
)
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Too many variables in construction and design to give a sensible answer based upon the material choice alone. A fly weight steel frame may be outlasted by a more sturdily construct titanium frame.
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
You’ll need both as a comparison. That’s what I've done and it makes me very happy therefore I might live a bit longer.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
If steel frames break you can weld them. If titanium frames break it is frame replacement time. Most titanium frames have a lifetime guarantee.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
Steel every time. Titanium frames seem to suffer disproportionately from cracking and weld failures, considering how unusual they are. Theoretically, Titanium is great albeit extremely expensive for the very small weight saving. In practice they require a perfect fabrication environment which is very difficult to achieve.
Soltydog
Legendary Member
- Location
- near Hornsea
There's a few manufacturers that offer a lifetime warranty, but in my experience it's not most. Many offer 10 years, but some offer less than that
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
If anything, the Titanium frames I've seen typically have shorter guarantee periods than a plain old steel frame!
That tells you all you need to know about the degree of confidence (or rather lack of) the manufacturer has in their products.
Raleigh used to offer 15 years on their predominantly steel offerings, and Dawes used to offer lifetime to their customers with proof of purchase! The other issue is, a guarantee is worthless unless the issuer is still in business to claim against when a failure occurs. I would sooner take my chances with a long established manufacturer than an upstart one that has appeared from nowhere in the last few years and could easily disappear just as suddenly.
That tells you all you need to know about the degree of confidence (or rather lack of) the manufacturer has in their products.
Raleigh used to offer 15 years on their predominantly steel offerings, and Dawes used to offer lifetime to their customers with proof of purchase! The other issue is, a guarantee is worthless unless the issuer is still in business to claim against when a failure occurs. I would sooner take my chances with a long established manufacturer than an upstart one that has appeared from nowhere in the last few years and could easily disappear just as suddenly.
Bonefish Blues
Banging donk
- Location
- 52 Festive Road
That's my perception, too. Not sure if that's statistically the case, but I have seen significant numbers of reports of ti frame issues.
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
Could be valid, but at the rate people change and upgrade their bikes, is this really an issue?
Bonefish Blues
Banging donk
- Location
- 52 Festive Road
Depends how much money they drop on it, and what the status of the bike is, I guess - a truly once in a lifetime bike that someone has pushed themselves to spend a lot of money on shouldn't let them down. An 'off the peg', less so, but I'd still be right miffed!
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
Totally non-scientific, but my impression based on the number of forum postings etc on the subject of frame failures I strongly suspect that the rate of attrition for different materials, from worst to best, goes like this:-
1) Titanium
2) Aluminium
3) Carbon fibre
4) Steel.
You see loads of comments about Aluminium fails, but then they are now pretty common.
Titanium frames only form a tiny proportion of the overall bike pool, yet reports of issues are not uncommon.
Carbon fibre is still only a small part of the bike market, but failure reports are common, especially ones relating to ham-fisted mechanicing and impact damage.
Steel bikes still vastly outnumber all the others, because there are huge numbers of cheap steel bikes still being made and millions of old steel bikes of all qualities still in existence, yet you hear less about steel failures than any of the other materials.
1) Titanium
2) Aluminium
3) Carbon fibre
4) Steel.
You see loads of comments about Aluminium fails, but then they are now pretty common.
Titanium frames only form a tiny proportion of the overall bike pool, yet reports of issues are not uncommon.
Carbon fibre is still only a small part of the bike market, but failure reports are common, especially ones relating to ham-fisted mechanicing and impact damage.
Steel bikes still vastly outnumber all the others, because there are huge numbers of cheap steel bikes still being made and millions of old steel bikes of all qualities still in existence, yet you hear less about steel failures than any of the other materials.
southcoast
Über Member
A good quality steel frame should last a lifetime, there should not be any need to keep upgrading. Not so sure about titanium though.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Like you say, totally non scientific and of no statistical validity at all.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
It's an issue because when a bike is replaced, the old bike ends up somewhere else, and given the price of titanium, that somewhere else is not likely to be a scrap metal skip. A high failure rate will depress the used market for titanium bikes, because many buyers will avoid them. Less punters willing to take a chance on secondhand titanium means lower used values, which means more depreciation and higher ownership costs for the buyers of new ones.
Personally, I regard titanium as a bit of a gimmick and a status symbol, rather than a credible engineering material for bicycle construction. The only plus point is lightweight carbon bikes are usually ugly beasts to look at whereas titanium ones can be aesthetically pleasing. If you want light and ugly buy carbon, if you want light and pretty buy titanium. if you aren't a complete weight obsessive, but want good looks, buy steel.
