Endurance bikes - British manufacturers ?

[audaxjk]

To pwa

I think Kinesis are still doing a titanium frame, the GTD V2 is listed on their website. A quick internet search suggests you can buy them (usual depleted stock levels as is the new normal). I always think about buying one but can’t really justify it with an already overstocked garage!

[keyboardmonkey]

To pwa

I think Kinesis are still doing a titanium frame, the GTD V2 is listed on their website. A quick internet search suggests you can buy them (usual depleted stock levels as is the new normal). I always think about buying one but can’t really justify it with an already overstocked garage!

With you on the overstocked garage. I was looking to buy a Ti Spa Audax frameset and transfer the kit from a donor bike before finding an 853 bike second hand. I wonder if the OP - like me - is looking for a Ti bike to justify it by saying it’s “different” from the others

Anyway, at the upper end of the OP’s budget there is always the Kinesis Tripster ATR Ti Frameset with £1500 left over for the rest of the bike. Just a thought.

[Jules59]

Thanks for all the suggestions - very helpful.
My reason for considering Ti was purely practical - strong, corrosion free and chip resistant - I'm not really "into" retro bikes and welded tube and to be honest I prefer the lovely smooth curves of carbon but really hate the ease with which it gets damaged.
But I'm 62 and sadly do not bounce quite like I once did. A friend had his carbon frame disintegrate on him when he hit a submerged pot hole - putting him in hospital for some time !

Maybe I should reconsider alu ?
My first bike (as an adult) was an alu hybrid with hydraulic brakes and the welds were so smooth it looked like carbon. I borrowed a CAAD 12 (2018) recently and thought it a rather harsh ride, but I understand the later CAAD is more "endurance" and compliant.

Decisions , decisions !

[PH]

I'm not really "into" retro bikes and welded tube

Errr... how do you think Ti tubes are joined

Maybe I should reconsider alu ?

... or aluminium
I think you should re-visit steel, it's not all retro. Some of the suggestions so far have been very modern steel bikes.
I've had two titanium bikes, very different, a Sportive and a tourer, both good in their own way, but IMO not particularly different in feel to the good steel bikes I've had. The weight difference has been minimal, a couple of hundred grams, the lack of paint an advantage, I'm not overly bothered by corrosion, it's a minor effort to avoid it on any bike.
The British made requirement is the obstacle in your list, though you're unlikely to find that with aluminium bikes either. Remove that and there's a wide choice of bikes that meet all your other criteria.

[Tiberius]

I've just been perusing the Ribble web site. I was particularly looking at their Ti Endurance Disc bike.

ESTIMATED delivery 23rd June 2022 for the 'Pro' - Eight months.

Well that's saved me a few grand.

[mattheus]

I'm not really "into" retro bikes and welded tube

Errr... how do you think Ti tubes are joined

They can be glued together. c.f. early Raleighs

[Sid Aluminium]

First thought was the Pashley Clubman Country. Hmph. No longer in Pashley's current catalog.

"Each bike is hand brazed by a skilled craftsman at our London factory."
https://www.brompton.com/bikes/build-quality

I seem to recall Brompton even brought the manufacture of the optional 'super light' titanium forks and rear triangle into the UK a few years back, although not in their West London facility. The little bikes are of course completed with imported components. Adam Smith: without interference, the market will naturally migrate to the most efficient producer.

[Bmblbzzz]

I don't think Planet X have been mentioned but they are also a UK assembler of bikes with titanium models. It should be pointed out 99.9% of US and European brands are also basically importing either complete bikes from Asia or pretty much all components from Asia and assembling bikes mainly the former.

With components being a larger and larger proportion of total bike cost, this is the elephant in the room of nations. If you really want a bike from a British (or French, German, whatever) manufacturer, you're almost certainly going to have to compromise on components. Hope make brakes, hubs, bars, chainrings and a few other components in the UK but I don't think there's anyone making derailleurs (or other gear systems) or shifters.

[Jules59]

I've just been perusing the Ribble web site. I was particularly looking at their Ti Endurance Disc bike.

ESTIMATED delivery 23rd June 2022 for the 'Pro' - Eight months.

Well that's saved me a few grand.

Sonder - Sept 2022 delivery for their Ti endurance (order book closed until march 2022 IIRC

[pwa]

Titanium welds on Spa frames (which is the brand I have in my garage) are very easy on the eye, which is certainly a consideration for me. I have big ugly welds. The frames have a pleasingly crisp, simple and unfussy appearance, with a sort of purity you don't get with something painted. Prior to having these frames I too liked fluid joints on frames, whether it be carbon, alu or fillet brazed lugless steel. I always preferred that to lugs or welds. But the neatness of the titanium welds converted me, and now when I roll a bike out into the sunshine and see the near perfection unaffected by the passage of time or by poor handling, I smile. I recently offloaded one of my titanium framed bikes (Spa Audax) onto my son, having not ridden it for a couple of years, and the frame, after a good period of use and countless miles, is as pristine as the day I unwrapped it. My remaining Spa Titanium Tourer, is a joy to look at and when I ride it I find nothing that could be improved on. If I had a wad of dosh to waste and went to a bespoke frame maker I would have to take that frameset with the instruction "copy that in every detail", which would make the bespoke frameset pointless.

Just considering titanium weld aesthetics, study the images in this link:
https://spacycles.co.uk/m11b0s143p3171/ ... and-Forks-
In real life they look every bit as good, and you soon begin to appreciate the regularity of the slightly rippled effect. But the overall effect is of smooth crispness, and with etched graphics rather than fragile paint or stickers. I'd not swap it for carbon or alu, even if aesthetics were the only consideration.

[Tiberius]

Titanium welds on Spa frames (which is the brand I have in my garage) are very easy on the eye, which is certainly a consideration for me. I have big ugly welds. The frames have a pleasingly crisp, simple and unfussy appearance, with a sort of purity you don't get with something painted. Prior to having these frames I too liked fluid joints on frames, whether it be carbon, alu or fillet brazed lugless steel. I always preferred that to lugs or welds. But the neatness of the titanium welds converted me, and now when I roll a bike out into the sunshine and see the near perfection unaffected by the passage of time or by poor handling, I smile. I recently offloaded one of my titanium framed bikes (Spa Audax) onto my son, having not ridden it for a couple of years, and the frame, after a good period of use and countless miles, is as pristine as the day I unwrapped it. My remaining Spa Titanium Tourer, is a joy to look at and when I ride it I find nothing that could be improved on. If I had a wad of dosh to waste and went to a bespoke frame maker I would have to take that frameset with the instruction "copy that in every detail", which would make the bespoke frameset pointless.

Just considering titanium weld aesthetics, study the images in this link:
https://spacycles.co.uk/m11b0s143p3171/ ... and-Forks-
In real life they look every bit as good, and you soon begin to appreciate the regularity of the slightly rippled effect. But the overall effect is of smooth crispness, and with etched graphics rather than fragile paint or stickers. I'd not swap it for carbon or alu, even if aesthetics were the only consideration.

I completely agree with all of that.

I have two Van Nicholas bikes, I was drawn to them when I first retired and came to cycling nine years ago.

I was time wasting in Tadcaster and popped into 'Cyclesense' and saw my first VN bike. As I was new to cycling I had never heard of VN or titanium frames, but I know what I like and I was blown away with the beauty of those frames and particularly the welding and the dropouts. Absolutely stunning. There and then I said to my wife that I was going to get one one day.

As said, I now have two. Both bought as framsets and built up by myself. They are lovely to ride and I can still spend time just looking at them - what an eyeful they are.

I'm the sort of bloke that likes 'nice' things and I'm happy to pay extra for nice things. Titanium is 'nice'

[Paul Smith SRCC]

I've been thinking for some time about replacing my 2013 Boardman Team Carbon, which I've had from new, with an new "endurance" bike with "relaxed" geometry (though it varies a lot across the endurance range), disk brakes and full mudguards and maybe a pannier.
I'm looking at the £2k to £3.5K range...I'd like to buy "British" if possible..I quite fancy a Ti bike...

Enigma are the only UK Ti frame builder to my knowledge, although note not all their range are UK built; those actually made at their impressive facility in Sussex are listed under the Signature range. Enigma's workmanship has evolved to the extent the finished product rivals the very best from anywhere in the world as far as I'm concerned.

Other Ti frames may be designed and distributed in the UK, but they are often built in the Far East; historically Russia were also another source (Omega I believe were made there) although I don't know of any of the popular brands that use them anymore. As you'd expect there are quite a few Titanium builders that these designers use and quality can vary, some in my opinion are very well built and the pricing reflects that over the manufacturers that build to a budget; even those of higher quality expect a financial saving over those built in Europe, the USA or Australia, you'll struggle to find any made in those locations that tick both the specification boxes and in your budget range; where as you will have a better chance of finding something suitable from some of those made in the Far East, although even some of these will be the wrong side of your "£3.5k range".

[Jim]

What about Mercian? British made? - yes. Expensive? Yes. Superb quality? yes.

[pwa]

What about Mercian? British made? - yes. Expensive? Yes. Superb quality? yes.

I toyed with the idea of a Mercian in stainless (I believe they do them if you ask), but of course the price would have been truly eye watering. For me a "standard" steel tube set in rustable steel would be a non-starter. I have ditched expensive steel frames in the past due to rust, mostly on and around the cable stops on the top tube. If it were not for that, I am happy with good steel as a material. It is a pity that the stainless varieties are so expensive.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

What about Mercian? British made? - yes. Expensive? Yes. Superb quality? yes.

I toyed with the idea of a Mercian in stainless (I believe they do them if you ask), but of course the price would have been truly eye watering. For me a "standard" steel tube set in rustable steel would be a non-starter. I have ditched expensive steel frames in the past due to rust, mostly on and around the cable stops on the top tube. If it were not for that, I am happy with good steel as a material. It is a pity that the stainless varieties are so expensive.

Steel frames yes can rust and eventually fail, it was one reason I replaced my Dave Yates built Pearson Steel 531 bike I used for tours like Lejog with my Titanium Van Nicholas Yukon , a bike I have had since 2007. When I serviced the Pearson rust did indeed come tumbling out of the BB and I was concerned it may fail on a tour and ruin the holiday; plus of course it kind of validated the N+1 . Fast forward to 2021 and I am still using that 35 year old Pearson on a regular basis as a fixie.

I'm 58 years old, I love Titanium, I have two (a Van Nicholas Chinook as well as that Yukon) but when my fixie finally fails bearing in mind that one has lasted so long I would be happy to replace it with another steel frame.