carbon bars & handling

[Eden]

I loved my carbon bike a whole lot more before I got my ti frame. So I would suggest you not test ride a ti or steel bike I do have a steel surly pacer and I can't say that I like it anywhere near as much as the ti or carbon - so maybe don't test ride a surly pacer as representative.

The bf far prefers his ti frame to his carbon - and tends to complain overly much about the dead feel.

Feel of a bike has as much to do with the design of the frame as it does with the material. I know someone who had to get rid of their Ti frame because it was too harsh. I also know people who have cushy riding aluminum... My carbon bike certainly doesn't feel dead.

I have cheap-o second hand aluminum bars on my ti bike and I can't say I notice much road buzz. I did however replace the cheap-o second hand seat post aluminum that I put on it originally with a carbon one and that made a big difference (not to my hands... but to my backside at least).

[Cataboo]

I think titanium (and for that matter steel) tubing can be tuned to feel like almost anything - I'd assume that 6/4 ti is stiffer and a harsher ride than 4/3, but haven't test rode any and have read some reviews saying that isn't so. So it wouldn't surprise me if you could do a fair amount with carbon tubing - but I'm not sure you can make it give you the same road feel as steel or carbon.

My carbon bike isn't so much dead, as ... dead feeling compared to the liveliness of the ti bike. It's all relative. And it was something that I never noticed coming off of the aluminum bikes that I started with. I've only test rode a few other carbon bikes in stores, but that was before the ti bike, so I can't really judge whether I'd say they were dead now.

I can't say that I really tried the aluminum bars that came with the ti bike - I went on a ride or two with them and I hated them & their shape, and swapped them with carbon bars. I already had the carbon bars on my aluminum bike & really liked the shape/fit. So I swapped the bars onto the litespeed and sold the aluminum bike.

I just swapped the bizarre fake carbon seatpost that came with my litespeed for a carbon one, so I'll have to see how that feels this afternoon. Descending a hill on chipseal with the buzz off the ti & aluminum seatpost did direct a fair amount of vibration at my crotch which I wasn't exactly comfortable with.

[ridebikeme]

I agree with Eden, it really has more to do with the layup of the materials... how the specific frames were built. With that said however, like most of you I prefer ti. I have rode many carbon bikes, and always seem to come back to my ti bike.