The Lure of Titanium Bikes
Over the last few years, Bicycle Quarterly has tested quite a few titanium bikes. There is a simple reason for this: Titanium is a great material for an up-to-date, thoroughly modern bike.
In recent years, the pace of innovation, especially with respect to tires, has been incredibly rapid. Just a few years ago, “gravel grinders” were riding 28 mm-wide tires. Today, many riders use 32 mm tires on the road, and much wider ones on gravel…
Carbon bikes require expensive molds, which take time to engineer and manufacture. That is why most carbon bikes available today were designed 3 or 4 years ago. Metal, on the other hand, is more easily shaped, so new bikes can be introduced as the technology evolves. And titanium builders have been especially keen to make bikes that perform equally well on gravel as they do on pavement.
Since Bicycle Quarterly has provided much of the inspiration behind the current “Allroad” bike trend (together with visionaries like the organizers of D2R2 and a few others), it’s only natural that we’ve been testing these exciting machines.
All the titanium bikes we’ve tested have been great machines. That has allowed us to take them on some amazing rides. Not only are these adventures great tests of the bikes, but they also make for a great read, even if you aren’t in the market for a new bike.
The Firefly impressed me so much during our ride over the 4000 m-high Paso de Cortés in Mexico (above) that I bought the test bike! It’s designed as a racing bike with ultra-wide (54 mm) 26″ tires. Riding the bike all over the place, I found that it really has delivered on the promise of combining the best of a racing bike with the go-anywhere ability of wide tires.
The Litespeed T5g was great fun during our search for the “Lost Pass” in the Cascades. Built up with 650B wheels, the bike’s nimble handling was impressive, and the smaller wheels allowed fitting wider tires than with 700C wheels. A win-win scenario made easy with modern disc brakes.
The Moots Routt was another machine that offered amazing performance. Intended as a classic “gravel grinder” (if there is such a thing), it was equipped with 700C x 35 mm tires. Our ride to Bon Jon Pass seemed like a perfect mid-summer adventure, until the heavens opened and drenched us with a deluge. But the rain was warm, and the Moots was fun until the end.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the Jones 29er, which looks like a mountain bike, yet was able to climb with the fastest bikes we’ve tested. Most of all, riding the Jones to a deserted cabin in the wilds of the snow-covered Olympic Peninsula was a great adventure. (Thanks to Fred for designing a perfect test for this bike!)
These four bikes cover the spectrum of modern titanium Allroad bikes, with 700C, 650B and 26″ wheels and a variety of frame configurations. If you are in the market for a modern Allroad bike, you’ll learn much about these bikes, and about what to look for in a modern bike in general, by reading these four issues.
We now offer these tests in a convenient Bicycle Quarterly 4-Pack at a special price. Click here to find out more or to order your set.
Photo credits: Fred Blasdel (Photos 1, 6), Duncan Smith (Photo 2), Hahn Rossman (Photos 3, 4).
