Titanium frame pros and cons

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Pro - if you get a deep scratch in it, get some fine sandpaper and rub it out.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
I haven't got a carbon bike - 3 are steel - Columbus SLX, Reynolds 653 and Tange Cro-mo (all OLD). The Fixed is 7 series alloy with carbon forks. Can't complain about the carbon forks - two years hard life, same with the seat post.

Now't wrong with any material.
 

snailracer

Über Member
It's been a while so I just had a flick through the busted carbon site again, funnily enough what stands out is:-

people crash at speed a lot
an alarming number of people forget they have a bike on a roof rack

There are some genuine, out of the blue, catastrophic failures or stress fractures appearing. But a heck of a lot are user error or crashes in bunched riding. I don't use a roof rack for bikes and I don't ride in close packed groups or sprint etc. I wonder what the carbon failure stats would look like of you removed these sorts of things?
One way to get a semi-quantitative feel for the failure rates of materials is to visit other cycling forums that post manufacturer's recalls. On the occasions I have done this, I got the impression that carbon parts are much less dependable than alu or steel equivalents (especially as I think carbon parts are still relatively uncommon), and that expensive stuff is less dependable than middle- and low-end stuff.
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
You and me both. I actaully sold my cf bike due to the fact I couldn't shake my carbon anxieties, and a mate of mine is about to do the same!

They were/are probably unfounded fears, but you know how it is when you get something in your head that you can't shake off.

It is silly isn't it, to get me thinking of replacing a £300 set of forks with a £90 set which weigh half as much again, especially as the carbon ones are cross forks so not exactly delicate :blush: I worry about myself sometimes
 

snailracer

Über Member
...
Now't wrong with any material.
I agree. However, it's not about the material, it's about the engineer knowing how to design with the material and the manufacturer fabricating it correctly.
 

RecordAceFromNew

Swinging Member
Location
West London
Now't wrong with any material.

But the question is, for our particular application, whether we wish to a) take advantage of a material's ductility and isotropic characteristics against potential scratches, minor impacts, crimping pressure etc. encountered in normal, day-to-day use, or b) forgo that to save may be 1 kg.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
Like PK99 I've just bought a Van Nic Yukon. I've no carbon anxiety - travelling on business I fly in aeroplanes with carbon fibre wings and tails, and I've not fallen out of the sky yet**.

It just so happened that the Yukon is ideally suited to the sort of riding that I do - and want to do in the future: Loooonng distances, reasonably fast, but not "competitively", able to carry a small amount of luggage, fit mudguards if necessary..... in other words an Audax bike.

If I'd lived in the north west I might have tried to get a test ride on a Hewitt Carbon Alpine - having seen Frank9755's, and it's gorgeous, but in the end I was sold on the fairly traditional looks of the Yukon, and it's a huge improvement over my old 531 (steel) frame, both in speed and (surprisingly) comfort.




** Actually I have - but that was from an aluminium aeroplane - and it was deliberate, so not relevant to this discussion.
 
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