Kinesis titanium frame, it was great while it lasted!

[vickster]

Yes, that’s what I was thinking as well. The only issue with their rim brake frames is tyre clearance under guards. I have the audax frame and love it, but it works best with 25 mm tyres. Some 28 mm work well such as Schwalbe one pro tubeless, whereas the 28 mm Schwalbe one tubeless wouldn’t pass under the guards. The enigma range could be interesting so worth a call to check.

Enigma will probably cost more than the Kinesis one though

 

[chris667]

I'd send a variation of @Velochris ' letter. £1200 is probably near wholesale price but they're still making profits on that. I don't feel 10 miles a day is a lot to ask for something. That's about half of my old bike commute.

I would also draw attention to this thread. I certainly wouldn't want a Kinesis frame after hearing about their response.

 

[ColinJ]

Which one, I wonder...

1. Those Kinesis frames are so unreliable that they can't afford to replace them all when they fall to bits?
2. Those Kinesis frames are generally very reliable so failures are rare and replacing the few broken frames would be affordable. They would just rather keep your money!

 

[cougie uk]

Unfortunately Planet X don't seem to do any rim braked Ti bikes any more. That could have been handy.

 

[T4tomo]

Unfortunately Planet X don't seem to do any rim braked Ti bikes any more. That could have been handy.

I think the Spitfire might have been the last rim braked Ti bike they did. They were flogging the framesets off for £500 in the summer. They only took upto a 25mm tyre though.

 

[cougie uk]

I think the Spitfire might have been the last rim braked Ti bike they did. They were flogging the framesets off for £500 in the summer. They only took upto a 25mm tyre though.

Bargain price that - pity about the close clearance.

 

[All uphill]

Yes, that’s what I was thinking as well. The only issue with their rim brake frames is tyre clearance under guards. I have the audax frame and love it, but it works best with 25 mm tyres. Some 28 mm work well such as Schwalbe one pro tubeless, whereas the 28 mm Schwalbe one tubeless wouldn’t pass under the guards. The enigma range could be interesting so worth a call to check.

There's the Spa Roughstuff Ti which takes up to 37mm tyres with rim brakes. Frame and fork is £770

 

[wafter]

Carbon forks have been around and safely used for decades with no worse failure rate than any other material. But you choose to believe they haven't. As have carbon tubs in sporty road cars and they haven't failed other than in bad crashes which would have written off any other material

I think you need to update your material science if you still believe CF is " fundamentally inappropriate for safety critical consumer applications."

They've certainly been around for decades, however I'd question your assertion about their failure rate - do you have any objective, reliable evidence to support your choice to believe that they're not more likely to fail than those made from other materials?

I'm happy to re-assess my position in light of sufficiently persuasive evidence, however so far I'm happy with the conclusions I've drawn from knowledgeable independent sources such as Luescher Teknik on youtube and my own understanding of the loads encountered in bike forks and material properties and failure modes of composities; which I suspect haven't changed fundamentally since they were covered as part of my degree 20yrs ago.

In addition I believe there have been at least two catastrophic failures of CFRP forks covered by CC forum members; while I don't recall seeing anything similar on here for other materials unless corrosion, accident damage or other relatively easily detectable / identifiable circumstances play a part.

Of course you're welcome to your opinion and if you're happy to ride composite frames nobody's stopping you. I however remain more skeptical and have no plans to purchase another composite bike.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

This the problem with failures. Unless you also know the denominator, you can’t actually state a failure rate.

 

[AlanW]

Can never understand why some of us get all excited about Ti. Apart from looking nice and shiny there's no real advantage in the material and adding in cases like this make it a serious disadvantage.
I'd like to ask the OP what was so great about it 'while it lasted'?

In answer to your question, I love the cleanliness of the Ti frame. They are very easy to clean and there is never any fear of getting stone chips on the paintwork or suffering paint damage at cafe stops etc. Add to that the beautiful ride quality, which is very smooth and they just soak the miles up, and they are indeed a joy to ride.

Plus, they are also a bike for life.......oh, in this case, maybe not?

The downside is that one Ti frame looks exactly the same as all the other Ti frames, so slightly boring if anything.

 

[Cycleops]

In answer to your question, I love the cleanliness of the Ti frame. They are very easy to clean and there is never any fear of getting stone chips on the paintwork or suffering paint damage at cafe stops etc. Add to that the beautiful ride quality, which is very smooth and they just soak the miles up, and they are indeed a joy to ride.

Plus, they are also a bike for life.......oh, in this case, maybe not?

The downside is that one Ti frame looks exactly the same as all the other Ti frames, so slightly boring if anything.

Just wondering if there isn't a bit of 'the king's new clothes ' in this?
I presume yours and other Ti bikes come with a carbon fork which will influence ride more than the frame, which in turn is influenced by the geometry. Surely the difference in ride will be in reality little different to a good steel bike?

 

[T4tomo]

Just wondering if there isn't a bit of 'the king's new clothes ' in this?
I presume yours and other Ti bikes come with a carbon fork which will influence ride more than the frame, which in turn is influenced by the geometry. Surely the difference in ride will be in reality little different to a good steel bike?

buy one and find out...

 

[vickster]

I like the springiness of Ti which I don’t notice with steel (all bikes with carbon forks).
I tart mine up with colourful or blingy bartape.

My Condor has lovely etching which is very unique and rather more interesting than Matt black paint on a plastic frame

 

[cougie uk]

Just wondering if there isn't a bit of 'the king's new clothes ' in this?
I presume yours and other Ti bikes come with a carbon fork which will influence ride more than the frame, which in turn is influenced by the geometry. Surely the difference in ride will be in reality little different to a good steel bike?

Down with this heresy - you might as well say there's no point in getting any new bikes !

For me - it is a lovely ride. My 853 was harsher than my CF bike - I transferred the whole kit and wheels onto the new frame so it was only the F&F that was new.

My Ti is my first bike with discs though so I dare say the chubbier tyres help a lot.

 

[bobzmyunkle]

Surely the difference in ride will be in reality little different to a good steel bike?

That's my experience, although my Ti has discs so the fork is a bit stiffer. I run the front tyre on the Ti 10 psi lower. Pretty much the same feel after that. Hopefully the Ti won't crack, I was expecting it to see me out.