Condor Gran Fondo titanium

[vickster]

Anyone got one? Also, on the Titanium what does the grading mean, 3A, 6A etc, The Condor is a LOT more money *splutter* than say a van nic ventus or enigma frame. It is utterly lush and presumably it's down to the material as well as the name, design etc!

It's apparently.... Dedacciai K19 triple-butted 3Ai.2.5V titanium

http://www.condorcycles.com/Condor-Bikes/25630-Condor-Gran-Fondo-Frameset/flypage.tpl.html

Fortunately for my credit card, the 55cm frame is out of stock with a 10-20 week order time

 

[SWSteve]

Doesn't it come in Mauve?

 

[vickster]

Doesn't it come in Mauve?

Ti? No their steel may. Enigma paint their Ti frames for a cost but the detailing on the condor is gorgeous, no colour needed

Curses @jefmcg for persuading them to stick their stock model on a turbo for me while we waited for the rain to stop! Luckily I don't want campag chorus or I could have been 4k lighter

 

[Venod]

Some useful info here.

http://blog.cyclefit.co.uk/blog/5-questions-to-ask-before-buying-a-titanium-bike

Also consider this similar to the Condor but cheaper, I have the old model (non taper head tube and less tyre clearance) a great all round bike.

http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/racelight/gf-ti

 

[vickster]

The kinesis is nice but there's just something class about the condor, no paint, just etching

 

[jefmcg]

You can't really see in the photos on the condor page, but the joints in the frame are etched so it's reminiscent of a lugged steel frame. It's very lovely

 

[ianrauk]

Lovely, lovely bike.

• 3AL-2.5V Alloy – consisting of 94.5% ti, 3% aluminium and 2.5% vanadium – best suited to building bicycle frames because of optimal, strength, fatigue endurance, corrosion-resistance and workability. But not all 3AL-2.5V is itself equal (as we will find later).
• 6AL-4V Alloy - An alloy of 6% aluminum, 4% vanadium and 90% ti. An exceptionally hard material that is useful for making drop-outs etc but difficult to make into a complete bicycle frame.

Once you have had the experience of riding Ti, it's very hard to go back to Carbon, Alu and even steel. My poor old Spesh Roubaix, which is a wonderfully comfy, lovely bike is now gathering dust in the shed, poor thing.

 

[jowwy]

Ti is a wonderfully smooth undescribable ride, that just keeps giving

 

[outlash]

That's a properly lush frame, I'd forego my disc brakes and straight top tube rules if I had the cash for that. Problem is with that, you'd have to get top end kit to hang on it (nice, handbuilt wheels too) otherwise it'd be slightly ridiculous.

On a slightly related topic, I spotted Genesis doing teasers on their twitter feed with what appears to be a Ti Croix de Fer frame...


Tony.

 

[vickster]

They did say I couldn't put sora on it

The bike I tried had chorus, some fancy £500 wheels, Deda kit and a most knife like fizik saddle! It was £4200

I'm struggling to find anything with styling that comes anywhere close...oh dear...

 

[ianrauk]

Handbuilt wheels don't have to be expensive.

£320 for these pair

 

[vickster]

Which model is that @ianrauk ?

 

[ianrauk]

Which model is that @ianrauk ?

VN Ventus

 

[outlash]

Handbuilt wheels don't have to be expensive.

£320 for these pair

View attachment 89666

Oh definately, but the old phrase 'cheap, light, strong. Pick two', well....


Tony.

 

[vickster]

Just had a look at their bike builder, they have the campag scirroco. Very expensive tyres and one women's saddle. I think they are pretty flexible however!