Carbon vs. Titanium?

[BoulderGal]

Hi all,
I am in the market for a new road bike. I have a 10-yr. old Serotta, ti/carbon, that I love. When I chose the Serotta I tried out a few all-carbon frames and they felt really pingy to me. My former bike was a steel frame that was heavy but I liked the feel of it and that it was pretty forgiving on long road rides. I do a lot of climbing/hills/mountains where I live so therefore also a lot of descents. The ti/carbon combo seemed like the perfect combination and sturdy overall. Now I am considering an all-carbon Specialized or Cervelo frame, or possibly a custom Titanium frame from a local shop. The Titanium bikes seem pretty lightweight these days. I don't have any special fit needs but to get a comfortable/less aggressive geometry I would probably go custom, and am willing to invest in what I hope will be another 10-year bike. My question - does anyone have experience riding a titanium bike vs. full carbon? If so, how would you describe the differences? My other concern is that I am relatively light in weight and there are times on descents where I feel tossed around a bit by the wind - I suspect this will be even worse with a lighter carbon bike - does anyone have experience with this??

Thank you in advance for any experience or insights to share!

[emily_in_nc]

Hi BoulderGal and welcome to TE!

I really can't answer your question as I have never had a ti bike, but I've had a couple of full carbon frames and love them. Yes, if it's windy, you may get blown around a bit (I am also light in weight), but having a lighter bike for climbing offsets any negatives, to me. My only advice is to test ride anything you can get your hands on that fits you and see what you think. That said, I have never followed my own advice, as I am short and have ended up buying my last few bikes online. Still, after a few tweaks, I've been super happy with them.

I hope you find what you are looking for!

[ny biker]

My experience is with carbon or aluminum, so I can't answer your questions. FWIW, when I got my carbon bike, I didn't really notice much difference between it and the old aluminum one other than the carbon offering a smoother ride on rough pavement. I don't feel particularly blown around by the wind on the carbon bike, unless it's very very windy in which case I prefer not to be riding at all. But I'm not exactly lightweight.

One thing that comes to mind, since I've discussed different frame materials with a friend who has a fleet of steel bikes, does lots of long rides including some tours and tends to carry lots of gear on his bike -- with carbon you are very limited on your ability to add racks for trunk bags, panniers, or larger handlebar bags. If you think you'll want to have that type of gear on your bike, I think ti would be a better choice.

I'm curious, on your Serotta, which parts are ti and which are carbon?

[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.

[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.....