Carbon vs. Titanium?

[Crankin]

Welcome and I can maybe speak to your question, as I have a carbon Trek Silque and a custom Ti Guru (which are not made anymore). I like them both. The feel of the ti is smooth in a different way than carbon, and really not heavy at all. I think my ti bike weighs 2 lbs. more than the carbon. Maybe less. I just don't notice a lot of difference. I mostly ride the carbon bike, though, but it has nothing to do with the material, it's the geometry. At the time I had the custom bike made, there weren't any relaxed geometry carbon WSD road bikes. My ti bike is only 6 years old, but a lot has changed in the bike industry in those 6 years. I got a new carbon bike at the end of 2014 and it is just better fitted for me. However, whenever I finally get on my ti bike, I always say "this feels so nice." I ride a lot of hills, too, and it does well on the hills. I have really low gearing on that bike, though.

[rebeccaC]

The ride quality of a frame is about the material and also how tubes are used and the geometry of the frame design. A custom builder can match ti, carbon or both to your individual needs. It’s easier to individualize with Ti, Ti/carbon or custom tube sized/shaped carbon. Your Serotta is probably like my Seven. The ti/carbon mix of my Seven gives me a comfortable long ride and good power transfer for climbing and steadiness for descending, one of my best money investments for my health and sanity too. I’ve found descending is also about tires, wheels, body technique, frame design and especially keeping a mental/body fluid-ness with the ability to respond and correct quickly for things like wind, road surface etc. Strong buffering wind on a long descend and i'd slow down, relax and be glad that gravity was on my side.

My wife has an all Ti for climbing and it leaves her not wanting. I’m sure Serotta had good customer/builder discussions as the design was put together…..one of the bigger benefits of going custom for some.

‘An all carbon bike could get destroyed easier than Ti” was in the back of my mind when I made my decision.

welcome and post about your boulder area climbing sometime!!!!!!

[ny biker]

‘An all carbon bike could get destroyed easier than Ti” was in the back of my mind when I made my decision.

Yeah that too. When it comes time to replace my road bike, I will look into Ti before another carbon frame. I paid about $500 to repair a crack on the top tube of my carbon bike, and now worry about it falling over more than I did with the old aluminum one.

[north woods gal]

My only experience with a Ti bike was a Moots mountain bike that a fellow mountain biker let me take out for trail ride, one day. Since my favorite frame has always been steel, I loved it. Has a similar ride quality but is even more bombproof than steel, if such a thing is possible.

If you're trying to add that last fraction of a mph to your average speed or squeeze max efficiency out of your bike with every pedal stroke, I think carbon is still the way to go. Definitely the lighter frame by the time you beef up the Ti to specs.

On long road rides on pavement, though, I much prefer a steel bike to my carbon Trek Domane 4.3. The carbon Trek rides butter smooth and I love how light it is, but I have less feel for the road with it than with a steel bike and, yet, when it comes time for handling road cracks, the steel doesn't hurt as much. Go figure. I suspect titanium would be similar. I think it would be the comfort and durability choice.

[Crankin]

I agree about the feel of ti (and steel), but I've had 3 carbon bikes and I am not someone who is "gentle" with my bikes. I've had crashes, too and never had any issues.
Weight doesn't matter to me, but when I got my ti bike, it did take me awhile to match my speed to that on my carbon bike. At that point, it could have been getting used to the compact double, as my carbon bike at that point still had a triple. Now that both my bikes have the same gearing, it's not really different, except for the fact, I have my Arkel trail pack on my ti bike sometimes, or a pannier!

[rebeccaC]

Talk to the frame-builder about flex versus stiffness, and try to determine what your bike is like.

Designing the proper vertical/lateral/drivetrain flex/stiffness into a frame for a persons needs is one of the benefits of a custom build in my mind. I learned a lot about how those are related to each other and the ride in the conversations during my Seven build. It’s a worthwhile issue to understand especially if you’re spending the money on a higher end custom bike.

The transition from carbon fiber to titanium can help reduce vibration at the transition point. My seat tube/stays being carbon ending in Ti helps in that. Balanced with Ti designed for efficient power transfer and a carbon fork makes it my favorite construction design for the kind of long rides and climbing I like to do.

Lots of choices to make a frame ride the way you want it to.....

[Kathi]

I have an 11 year old Serotta ti/carbon custom frame. I've also had aluminum and full carbon. I get beat around no matter what the frame material. One year I got blown off the road on Rabbit Ears Pass while on Ride the Rockies tour. I stopped riding tours in Nebraska because I couldn't handle the wind. I attribute it my weight, 100 lbs. Good to know others have the same issue.

Last week I had a refit done on my bike. While the bike fit well the fitter said some updating needed to be done. He recommended a newer style handlebar. He said I was "planked out". He meant my arms were stiff and I was riding in the curves of the handlebar. The new bars bring the reach closer to me, allow for a bend in my arms and seem to improve the steering. My thought is if I have better control I won't be like a "drunken sailor" in crosswinds.

Because I have 650c wheels the seat stays are Ti. The only time I notice the stiffness is if there is too much air in my tires. I run 86 psi but sometimes the LBS will fill them higher which makes the ride uncomfortable for me.

If you haven't had a fitting since you bought your bike it might be worth it to see if anything can be done to improve your fit. I was shocked at the changes we made to update my 06 fit to todays standards.

[pumpkinpony]

I'm a little late to the thread (but only a few months, not years!). I have both... I've been gearing up for the hotter than hell century and was trying to figure out which bike to ride, so I've been alternating rides on the two bikes weekly. It took me until two 75 mile rides 2 weekends in a row to decide - I'm taking the Ti bike. The 2 weigh very close to each other. The carbon bike feels sportier and accelerates a bit quicker, or at least it feels like it does. The Ti bike is smoother, but almost soft. Alternating my long rides on the weekends was a good test. I feel less tired/beat up on the Ti bike, and oddly enough my average speeds have been slightly higher on the Ti bike. I had a pro-fit done on them, and they are set up the same geometry wise, same seats, aerobars, etc.

And I may have missed it in another thread, but did you make your decision yet?