Titanium bikes

[mimbresman]

I´ve been riding titanium bikes for 17 years now. Killer! Expensive but I love them. I can´t afford a Porsche 911 GT3, but can afford a nice bike.
I got my first Merlin in 1990. I ordered it and waited all summer for it to arrive. I got it the weekend after the first World´s in Durango. That frame lasted till 1993 when it was replaced by Merlin for a 1993 frame. Then Merlin replaced that frame with my current 1996 frame. I love Merlin #3! Its been on tons of trips and adventures.
Got my Litespeed last year. A 2000 Toccoa hardtail. I bought it used (obviously) but boy howdy is it a killer ride! A smoother ride than the Merlin, it tracks like its on rails! Great on technical stuff and climbs like a goat!
Ti, what a cool metal!

[Hand/of/Midas]

I've long dreamed of how i'd build up a seven sola or imx, but alas, im a poor shop rat with 7 bikes to keep running, so my steel gunnar rockhound is getting the job done very nicely. plus it was made 2 hours from home, and i enjoy that.

[Nick Verstain]

My GF's original Ibis Silk Ti still rides like buttah after all these years and just seems to get better. I have a thing for alte schule steel frames, but will admit that after a few hours on roots and rocks, my wrists and saddle area are begging for mercy. Maybe its the rigid Pepperoni fork and Velociraptor 2.4" inflatable dual suspension. Not every mountain bike problem can be solved by throwing money at it, but ti has shown it is worth the investment.

[mimbresman]

I guess the major downside of my bike (or any bike) is the thief factor. I also use my bikes as urban transport from time to time (mainly the Merlin since it is now single speed) and I am alway nervous leaving it unattended for a period of time. I have a hefty Kryptonite cable lock that I use for quick trips into the hardware store or local Chinese grocery. I really need to get a local beater bike for this role.

[Wazu]

Ahhh...Titanium. Yeah I had a 2002 Merlin XLM. It was totally fly with XTR, Mavic, Titec, Thompson, Tubeless and the whole 9 yards. I moved to a non-mountainous area and sold it. I regret it. I admit it. Now I'm back near the mountain again and it would be really nice to have it to look at. I have a single speed though and truthfully, it's made me a much better rider not having the Merlin. I miss not owning it but I don't miss deraillers, cables, 3 sprockets, shifters, cassettes, shifting etc...I suppose it's inevidible that I will own a titaniam single speed specific bike in the future. It's my destiny. My Bianchi Lewis rocks, especially with my SpeedDream wheelset but Ti is the metal of metals for bicycles. I've ridden steel, titanium, aluminum, scandium and carbon, front suspension, dual suspension and rigid and a hardtail titanium "feels" the best. Especially with a rigid chromoly fork or a firm and light suspension shock.

[rockhound]

so my steel gunnar rockhound is getting the job done very nicely.

Yes it does.

[rockyrider]

How about a Titanium folding bike...

[mimbresman]

How about a Titanium folding bike...

Already have one...

[mimbresman]

A new dream bike (http://lynskeyperformance.com/M220.php)...

[rockyrider]

A new dream bike (http://lynskeyperformance.com/M220.php)...I know a guy having a custom Lynskey done for a Rohloff rear hub with Paragon Ti sliders. I'm going to give him a hand setting up the Rohloff and the shifting when it arrives.

[mimbresman]

I know a guy having a custom Lynskey done for a Rohloff rear hub with Paragon Ti sliders. I'm going to give him a hand setting up the Rohloff and the shifting when it arrives.

I'm thinking about selling a kidney...

[rockyrider]

So Mims, how far have you taken the Ti addiction, are a set of these (http://www.marwiusa.com/default.aspx?taxid=34&cid=productview&bbid=4&pid=61) in your future???

[mimbresman]

So Mims, how far have you taken the Ti addiction, are a set of these (http://www.marwiusa.com/default.aspx?taxid=34&cid=productview&bbid=4&pid=61) in your future???

I don't know if spokes are the best application...need more information.
I do want to go to Bilbao, Spain to see the Guggenheim (http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011434)(plus see the stuff inside, and some mtn biking in the Pyrenees).

[steel-s-real]

Yeah....Ti done right is really sweet!!!!!!
That's why I'm in the process of repo-ing w/ old 96 Ibis Ti-mojo....Now if Ibis would come out with a 29er Ti -Mojo

I WOULD BE IN TROUBLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rockyrider]

Here ya go, a Ritchey Ti breakaway bike....

[mimbresman]

Here ya go, a Ritchey Ti breakaway bike....

Where's that Homer drooling emoticon?

[rockhound]

I wish Surly had used Dahon's (Ritchey's) Breakaway design...I assume it is cheaper than S&S couplings.

A ti-breakway SS with an EBB or sliders would be awesome.

A breakaway singlespeed coaster brake bike would be cool too. No cables to mess with at all.

[rockyrider]

A couple more close ups...

[50 Mission Cap]

This is a beautiful bike. Would you trust it though? I could see it coming apart on you in a gnarly downhill.

[mimbresman]

This is a beautiful bike. Would you trust it though? I could see it coming apart on you in a gnarly downhill.

All reports I've read of the Dahon Flo, which uses the Ritchey technology, are that they are a solid design. Feels like a normal hardtail.

Not sure if its a better system than the S & S, but its cleaner looking. I like that etched seat tube. Nice touch. :cool:

[jh4rt]

On Ti...

I like steel too, but I like my Ti Bike better.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/mavsolve/R5JjU0uDDWI/AAAAAAAAAc8/3VrlEMgRm4g/s800/IMG_2067.JPG

Since this picture, I have swapped the fork for an F80X, installed a layback MOOTS post, and a Ti Rail B-17 Limited (numbered). Next investment is a MOOTS stem, and some Groovy Ti Love Handles....

[rockyrider]

This is a beautiful bike. Would you trust it though? I could see it coming apart on you in a gnarly downhill.It's titanium, if the SR-71 could handle mach 3.2 with titanium skin, the bike should be able to handle a gnarly downhill. Maybe even a nuclear blast.

[50 Mission Cap]

jh4rt...

Didn't you snag that one off of craigslist or something? Or am I thinking of someone else? BEAUTIFUL bike man.

[RickB]

It's titanium, if the SR-71 could handle mach 3.2 with titanium skin, the bike should be able to handle a gnarly downhill. Maybe even a nuclear blast.

Big, BIG misconception about Ti is that it is necessarily any tougher and will not break. Not true. I've seen more than a few Litespeeds, Lynskeys, and Sevens busted apart from relatively normal use. On the plus, side, these brands all have a reputation for excellent customer service and stand behind their products, but never assume that they won't break. They can and will.

[mimbresman]

Big, BIG misconception about Ti is that it is necessarily any tougher and will not break. Not true. I've seen more than a few Litespeeds, Lynskeys, and Sevens busted apart from relatively normal use. On the plus, side, these brands all have a reputation for excellent customer service and stand behind their products, but never assume that they won't break. They can and will.

I've broken 2 Merlins! One of them twice! (see post 1)

Its tough stuff though...rides like a dream. I love my Ti bikes!

[rockyrider]

Who are you guys, Mythbusters? :D

Sorry I was thinking of Unobtanium bike frames.

[mimbresman]

It's titanium, if the SR-71 could handle mach 3.2 with titanium skin, the bike should be able to handle a gnarly downhill. Maybe even a nuclear blast.

I've touched and fondled an SR-71 at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson. :D Wicked airplane!

[rockyrider]

I was at the public unveiling of the F117 Stealth April 1990 at the airshow at Nellis AFB. Couldn't get any closer than about 20' so no fondling, but it looked like spray painted plywood, and no titanium in evidence. :D

[mimbresman]

I was at the public unveiling of the F117 Stealth April 1990 at the airshow at Nellis AFB. Couldn't get any closer than about 20' so no fondling, but it looked like spray painted plywood, and no titanium in evidence. :D

I have a good friend (this is the guy with the DeKerf) from El Paso who worked on the development of that plane. He's a pH D metallurgist. His favorite phrase about the projects he's worked on is "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

He built a Ti bike and a CF bike with Ti lugs back in the 80's or so. He used his connections in the aerospace industry to get the materials and had a machinist at Boeing make the Ti lugs for the CF bike.

BTW, the F117 are based out of Holliman AFB in Alamogordo, NM. They often fly over Silver City on training sorties. They look like black arrowheads. I hear they are being phased out.

[rockyrider]

BTW, the F117 are based out of Holliman AFB in Alamogordo, NM. They often fly over Silver City on training sorties. They look like black arrowheads. I hear they are being phased out.If they're being phased out it does make you wonder what has been flying around in secret for the past 18 years. They'd only reveal the old stuff if the new stuff was already in service. Not like the SR-71 where there's still nothing that can do what it could do.

[mimbresman]

If they're being phased out it does make you wonder what has been flying around in secret for the past 18 years. They'd only reveal the old stuff if the new stuff was already in service. Not like the SR-71 where there's still nothing that can do what it could do.

The F22 will do some of the F117's chores.

I've often wondered about that myself. All sorts of rumors and stuff. Aurora ring a bell? I wonder if it really exists?

[rockyrider]

The F22 will do some of the F117's chores.

I've often wondered about that myself. All sorts of rumors and stuff. Aurora ring a bell? I wonder if it really exists?Mach 5+ scramjet, string of pearls exhaust flare. Likely something more exotic than Ti for skin on that puppy.

[jh4rt]

jh4rt...

Didn't you snag that one off of craigslist or something? Or am I thinking of someone else? BEAUTIFUL bike man.Yes. Snag off CL. Thanks.

[jh4rt]

I've touched and fondled an SR-71 at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson. :D Wicked airplane!
Me too. When I was a kid, there was one sitting in a hanger at an airshow at Edwards AFB. They had those pans underneath it like old guys used to put under their Mustang's in the garage, only it was to catch the JP4 dripping out of the wing tanks.

The guy there told us that it was dripping because the tanks need to be porous at sea level, so when they are at flight levels they don't expand and blow up. All the wing tips and the nose cone were turned blue from the heat at speed.

A friend of ours used to fly DC-3s (medical gear) out of Edwards in the early seventies. He told us a story about being waived off and held in pattern for a couple of hours coming into Edwards one night. They took the plane off, and then came back. He chased the pilot down asking him about the plane. The only answer he got was... I can't tell you anything about it, but while you were circling around, I went to Hawaii and back.

I love that plane.

[Hand/of/Midas]

so this entire bike is titamium. chain,seat,cranks,rims. you name it. its Ti.

[rockyrider]

so this entire bike is titamium. chain,seat,cranks,rims. you name it. its Ti.Tires and handlebar tape? :rolleyes: :D The seat looks like Ti.

[Hand/of/Midas]

Tires and handlebar tape? :rolleyes: :D The seat looks like Ti.

you know what i meant rocky! all metal parts are ti, maybe not the bearings, but literally everything else.

[RickB]

If they're being phased out it does make you wonder what has been flying around in secret for the past 18 years. They'd only reveal the old stuff if the new stuff was already in service. Not like the SR-71 where there's still nothing that can do what it could do.

There's one outside the window right now. I think. I can't see it or hear it, but I know it's there...watching me...

[mimbresman]

Mach 5+ scramjet, string of pearls exhaust flare. Likely something more exotic than Ti for skin on that puppy.

One day my metallurgical friend made a reference about titanium/ceramic matrices. Thats all he could say. We got on that topic when we were looking at the first Specialized Al/ceramic matrix. He was real disappointed. He was based out of White Sands Missile Range, and he said they've been using that stuff since the 70's and there was stuff that was so much better and lighter now.

[rockyrider]

you know what i meant rocky! all metal parts are ti, maybe not the bearings, but literally everything else.The seat still looks like it's made of metal. :eek:

[rockhound]

so this entire bike is titamium. chain,seat,cranks,rims. you name it. its Ti.

What is it?

[Hand/of/Midas]

What is it?

its a merlin, and yes rocky the seat is Ti also.

[mootsguy]

MY two most often used rides are a 98 Mongoose 9.3 Ti HT and a Dean Ti HT 69er.

All purpose, all terrain and all rides. Plus I don't have a paint chip on either one of the bikes yet.

[rockyrider]

These Black Sheep Lonestar bars look pretty swanky in Ti.

[robcycle]

so this entire bike is titamium. chain,seat,cranks,rims. you name it. its Ti. I love that bike. I believbe its from a thread over on MTBR, and the guy that owns it is a track bike nut! He has something like 50 bikes, all of significance. Anyway, if you can find the thread, it is awesome.

-Rob.

[K-Man]

These Black Sheep Lonestar bars look pretty swanky in Ti.

doublephallicplusgood!