Why are titanium bikes so often referred to as "Winter Bikes" ?
- Thread starter Van Nick
- Start date
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Jonathan M
New Member
- Location
- Merseyside
Ti can be for summer bikes, and is for some, but titanium won't corrode on salty wet roads - come to think of it, neither will carbon!!!
StirlingCrispin
New Member
- Location
- Stirling, Scotland
I use titanium bikes summer and winter.
Airborne Valkyrie for road, and an Airborne Lancaster for off-road.
Other bike types are stored in my garage, but they're not relevant to my argument
Airborne Valkyrie for road, and an Airborne Lancaster for off-road.
Other bike types are stored in my garage, but they're not relevant to my argument
Gary D
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Worcestershire
Bigtwin said:
Some people can't spell it correctly either!
Gary.
Paul_Smith SRCC
www.plsmith.co.uk
- Location
- Surrey UK
Van Nick said:
Most manufacturers use carbon frames in their high end ranges, which although more robust than many fear them to be is not same as saying that carbon is a robust as titanium, steel or aluminium alloy, the latter three are often therefore the preferred choice for winter bikes that may not enjoy such a precious existence as a summer best bike.
Another reason is that many will also want a weatherproof bike for winter weather, an audax style bike with mudguards and light luggage carrying capabilities is perfect for this. However the UK market is actually slightly different from the rest of Europe in as much that generally audax bikes are far more popular here, the Europeans even though their weather is often similar to ours will often still ride their sportive/race bikes all year round. Which is the main reason why the large manufacturers concentrate on the sportive/race bike market and very few even make a higher end audax bike, as the worldwide demand is simply not high enough.
So it is a combination of a few factors, two being that summer sportive race bikes are inclined to be carbon and carbon is far less common as an audax style bike often preferred in winter. As for Titanium as a summer bike, again the choices available in carbon are far greater, plus where as the arguments for a more robust frame material for use as a winter bike over carbon are arguably justified the same arguments are less relevant as a best bike for the summer, especially if the bike used is a full on race bike, where the focus on pure split second saving performance maybe more important for many than knock about robustness of the other materials.
Of course the above highlights the differences, many do use carbon all year round and a Ti £2000.00 summer bike would for many be more than ideal.
Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk
HJ
Cycling in Scotland
- Location
- Auld Reekie
It is a cunning ploy to persuade people that they need more than one £2k bike, as the old saying has it, a fool and his money...
Paul_Smith SRCC
www.plsmith.co.uk
- Location
- Surrey UK
RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
My idea of a winter bike is a CHEAP bike that i'm not going to cry over when I realise the salt has welded everything together and nothing works anymore.
