Ti Touring frame

[crossy]

Hi my question is I already have a Dawes Galaxy if I were to change the frame to titanium would it make much difference? Would the handling be different and much difference in the weight. Crossy

[531colin]

If the Mods. will allow me to post this, why not bring your bike and test ride our Ti tourers?....http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s143p2323
Any time, eg. come and tour the Dales in May?

[Audax67]

Colin, I'll take two - one for me and one for me.

...just joking, alas. I've ridden an Audax bike built around a 2001 Lapierre Ti frame for the last 8 years and loved it. £850 is about what my frame cost back then, without the forks. A Ti tourer would be grand, but I just spent all my loose change.

[johnb]

Yes there is a difference in both weight and handling,

I have a Van Nicholas Amazon and a Galaxy and the Amazon is by far a better handling bike(IMHO) than the Galaxy. I don't know that the weight would make that much difference to you considering panniers, racks, kit and food but if you can, take Colin up on his offer and see and feel the difference yourself, you could well be pleasantly suprised.

[blackbike]

I'm a big fan of titanium, having bought a titanium mountain bike in 1995 which is still a good, competitive bike now.

However, for touring the weight difference between steel and titanium isn't worth bothering about. And my steel touring bikes all handle superbly.

[gilesjuk]

Comparing two different bikes made of two different materials seems unfair. The main advantages of Ti for me are lack of corrosion and the value of the metal when the frame fails (which some seem to do).

The biggest problem is they can be creaky. I had to wrap my bottom bracket threads in pfte tape to stop the creaking. But I had to do the same for a steel frame which was clicking not creaking.

[Nettled Shin]

The main advantages of Ti for me are lack of corrosion and the value of the metal when the frame fails

Just how heavy is your frame? I think you'd get about £10 for it, typically.
If the FFC Cambridge process is ever fully commercialized, the cost of titanium will decrease significantly since we would be able to turn sand into titanium by electrolysis. And there is no shortage of the right kind of sand.

[belgiangoth]

Frame material will not effect handling - unless the builders involved are incompetent.

[iandriver]

If you are talking about taking all the bits off of a galaxy and putting them onto a Titanium frame, I'd suggest you'd be disappointed with the final result. Although the Galaxy is a heavy frame, the other bits collectively make a big difference also.

[Tonyf33]

I'm considering having a go at attaching a rack/mudguards to my Raleigh Ti racer, though the fact it has a full carbon fork that I stuck on in place of the lightweight straight leg steel ones gives me a little more thinking to do.
I reckon titanium could well be a little more pleasant to ride over long distances but not massively noticeable if you have the cockpit areas well sorted anyway. I think having the most comfortable saddle (for you) you can afford, carbon fibre bars to absorb vibration & as near perfect a geometry as possible (Again for your own measurements) is likely to be far more important than the frame material itself. In terms of weight shaving off a maybe 1lb-2lb when touring is not much of a difference overall unless you were doing expedition touring but if the frame got damaged somehow you might have problems getting it fixed whereas steel is relatively easy AFAIK.

The fact a Ti frame should never rust does give it a little more kudos & a naked frame does look lovely but if you look after a steel frame it'll last for decades in any case.