Independent Fabrications or Lynskey. My husband thinned the herd recently so his IF is sold but 1) it was just stunning 2) it looked brand new with tens of thousands of miles on it 3) it will last its new owner decades. He has the Lynskey living in his trainer. I can’t speak to my bike because as a newbie cyclist I’ve just got your basic aluminum Trek situation :). I think he wants to sell the Lynskey.

I have an '04 Litespeed Ultimate and a '14 Lynskey Helix. For the past 4 years, they've both had ENVE 2.0 forks. They're both great bikes, but the Helix is a better all around bike.

IF makes great bikes. Can't go wrong there. I'm not sure that Merlin is what it was when Tom Kellogg was involved, but I could be wrong. Moots is a great option, but a tad expensive. If money's tight, watch for a Lynsey sale. You can often get the Helix or the 460 for under 2k, including fork.

But, if you can afford it, get a custom Spectrum - Tom Kellogg's company.

Lynskey has some great deals on 2019 framesets right now.

Waiting a little longer will probably get into the end of year Lynskey 20% deals. I like the bikes but they’re in the category of Rudy, 2xu, etc where they have a constant stream of promotions in rotation.

MOOTS
Seven
Firefly
Black Sheep
No 22
Indy Fab
Hampsten
etc.

The stuff built by the Lynskey's companies has never been known for its build quality. That is Litespeed, Merlin, and Lynskey.

Back in the day a ti frame would last forever but now it is a matter of how quickly the industry changes standards.

MOOTS hold their value better than any frame you can buy. They ride fantastic, but if you eventually don't like it then you can sell it without taking a huge hit.

Lynskey is already doing the extra 20% discount.

No love for Baum? 😍

Still riding my Seven from 2001, never have bike envy.

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The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Jens Voigt's wheel, but cracked.

There are quite a few titanium bike manufacturers now and any of them from the big ones are going to be pretty nice. Litespeed, Lynskey, Moots, Seven, Firefly, Burls, Merlin, Van Nicholas, Darren Crisp, Firefly, Kinesis, Motobecane and a few more are the ones I researched before buying. Some of them have clearance bikes on sale, and some even offer custom paint instead of choosing one of the finishes. I think all of those listed are going to be very well made frames so other than honoring warranties, it is going to boil down to looks and price. Some of the boutique builders will offer a choice of head tube shape, choice of bends in the seat and chain stays, but you are going to pay a pretty penny for it.

Another option is to buy your own frame and assemble it yourself, which is what I did and saved a lot of money (over $800 on the components alone) by buying them on Wiggle. Consider the type of BB you want to use. Mine is PF30 which I swapped out after 12,000km in about an hour for the price of a pair of new PF30 BB cups ($30) and some Loctite. With your own tools you can swap out your own BB regardless of which type you choose. So, do a bit of research first.

10 years? No problem at all. Steel and CF will last 10 years too if you care for it and replace all of the parts that will rust with parts that won't. As for the ride quality titanium eats up the road buzz really well. Only steel is smoother. CF is stiffer, easier to put into more aerodynamic shapes, and lighter, but it is harsh. With titanium you get a great mix of both lightness and comfort. I don't know how many watts are lost in frame flex but for me that is minuscule and acceptable.

1 of the things I like about brushed titanium is that when it comes time to renew the finish, it is a lot easier to use some abrasive material to do so instead of paying for a new spray.

1 thing about bike frame design though. There is a huge difference between having someone who is a titanium welder and who understands how frame design affects performance and comfort. I'm not going to say who I think is the best since it is subjective and I don't know many of the builder's credentials. In many cases titanium frames are simply going to be round tubes welded together at specific lengths. IMO though, the companies who have the ability to shape titanium tubes are going to be better and more reliable.

With that said, and this is going to ruffle some feathers, NASA turned to Litespeed for some of its needs. Not counting the discount I got on my T1 frame, that alone was almost enough to seal my purchase.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

Check out Dekerf. I already have three ti bikes, and if I get another, it will be a Dekerf. Chris Dekerf has been welding frames for about 30 years, and he was building steel frames for Rocky Mountain back in the day. He builds frames for Chromag as well as his signature frames. He did some hydro mounts on my old ti mountain bike frame a few years ago. Superb work.

https://www.dekerf.com


Here is another suggestion. Naked Bikes on Quadra Island. Beautiful builds.

https://nakedbicycles.com



The welds on a ti frame are critical. Quality matters, so do you research.

The Lynskey family created Litespeed.

Motobecane is a bunch of crap.

If you are looking for a custom-built titanium frame that fits you perfectly, reach out to Dmitry at Triton Bikes in Moscow.

I've had my custom road frame since 2012, and I love it-rides like a dream. You can get a frame for $2400, worth every penny.

https://tritonbikes.com/

Yes, I do know that. Before buying, I do an insane amount of research. I didn't know that about Motobecane though. They simply didn't have anything that caught my eye right off the bat so they were not included on the short list which was Litespeed, Lynskey, Kinesis, Moots and Darren Crisp. IMO Crisp's head tube on Volpe Dedaccai is beautiful, and the chain and seat stays on the Foglia Tonda or Land's End are a work of art. That was out of my budget though.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

Excellent. I knew it was coming up just thought it was later in the fall. I’ll have to not look at their website for fear of actually buying a new bike.

I went with a custom Naked back in 2014 and couldn't be happier. Sold off all my other bikes after that.

Last year I was trying to decide between an older soloist and a ti bike. I went with a Lynskey R350 with full Dura-Ace (including some sweet C40 tubulars) that I found on eBay. More and more of the roads around me are getting paved with a heavy chipseal, and the Lynskey soaks up the vibrations nicely. It lives in the trainer during the winter and I feel much more comfortable having the ti on there, rather than a carbon bike.

Titanium is hard to work, and since this thread popped up I've been browsing the web for titanium triathlon bikes. Some of the older Lynskey, Litespeed and Van Nicholas triathlon bikes came up and I gotta admit. I was looking at my bank account to see if it could take the hit. If someone could clean up the lines just behind the head tubes and at the top of the rear triangle to look something like a P5 or P3 with streamlined tubing I'd be all over one.

I wouldn't even care if it was a tad slower than a CF frame.

https://store.pedalrevolution.co.uk/...-with-free-fork.aspx

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

My Holland Ti frame is going on 20 years of use, and I still like the way it rides. I'm a difficult fit and Bill Holland nailed it. I can't recommend him enough.

http://hollandcycles.com/holland-titanium/

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-- Scott

I have a Lynsky Sportive and it's beautiful and bulletproof. I also have a Why Cycles S7 MTB and they just came out with the PR (road machine). If the quality of their MTB is any indication of their talents making road bikes, the PR will blow you away.

Following.

I only recently restarted riding and am riding my 42 year old steel Trek with original components. I have my eye on titanium. I'm 100 lbs more than most of you and very long as well (large bike frame, big torque) and the strength and longevity of titanium are attractive to me.

The Lynskey 480 looks perfect because it advertises super stiffness and strength, but I don't have any experience with different geometries or materials, so I don't actually know what would be good for me. My Trek is perfect for me, but I literally grew up riding that bike, so maybe it's just what I'm used to. It creaks and makes me nervous when I get out of the saddle, so I'm going to need a new bike soon.

Since I clicked on the Lynskey site and got on their mailing list six months ago, I'm bombarded with Lynskey ads. There's always some huge sale going on. It's hard to know when to buy the frame or bike or how much I should actually pay.

I have two ti road bikes. 2002 Lemond Victorie (I picked it up used in 2007) and a Habanero frame that I bought in 2017. I do not think I will sway away from ti as my primary ride. Both bikes ride great with only a slight difference in geometry, but I have my position matching on the two.

Do you know the measurements of the cervelo? And do you want to keep those measurements? This may decide if you have to go custom or off the shelf which I would think changes what brands are the better choices.

Built and Bought a Seven Red Sky in 2017. Great process and love the bike. I’ll be building a mountain bike in a couple years and I should be good for a long while.

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http://www.teamodz.com
http://www.endurancelab.fit

I have an old Ti Guru, an old(ish) Lynskey Helix and two Litespeeds. A T1SL & Ultimate Gravel.
For ride quality, finish & weight, I would buy a Litespeed every time.

I have been riding titanium now for over 13 years and I would never go back to riding any other frame material. It is stiff, yet absorbs the road... it gives the rider confidence... plus IMHO it looks awesome! I never get tired of just looking at the welds and workmanship. It will last forever and the nice thing about the raw material is that you can polish it up, change the decals etc and make the bike look new again anytime.
Obviously I am partial to Litespeed, and have both a Saber and a Blade. As mentioned in other posts there are other great brands too.
Do the research and get one, you will love it!

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Member of the Litespeed Factory Team
www.litespeed.com