Price Paid:
$10000.00
at John Kennedy Cyclefi Model Year:
2007 Favorite Ride:
Mt Baw Baw, Victoria, Australia Bike Setup:
Campagnolo Chorus 10sp 50/34 and 13=29. Eurus wheels, Conti Attack/Force. ITM Millennium bars and stem, Columbus Tusk forks, Shimano Ultegra pedals. Performance E3 saddle. Summary:
This is a very nice bike. It has the stiffness of an alloy frame but the added comfort of a Ti beam. Sometimes the comfort through the saddle is a little disconcerting as the vibration still feeds through the handlebars, but this is a very comfortable long-distance bike that still weighs in at around 8kg. There is some spring in the Ti beam but this takes about an hour of riding to acclimatise: the trick is to not unweight before a bump but to do so after the bump! Like any beam bike, the design encourages smooth (efficient)pedalling although when tired I can bob a little on the boom.
The long wheelbase, 'lazy' frame angles and Ti boom give comfortable and predictable handling, but the stiff frame (below the Ti boom) and Eurus wheels leave the bike feeling very responsive and lively. As a consequence of it's low weight and light stiff wheels, it climbs well, only limited by the feeble engine! This bike descends amazingly quickly and its sure tracking exceeds my reasonable descending ability. The mid-profile Eurus wheels do catch some side winds. Strengths:
comfort, strength and bottom bracket rigidity, liveliness, speed. TitanFlex are very good to deal with, responded immediately to all my email queries, were very accommodating with my custom frame requirements. despite odering this bike sight unsen over the internet from the other side of the Pacific, I have been very happy with the experience, although I was careful to give very specific frame design parameters Weaknesses:
Some initial creaking from the Ti beam cured with graphite lube. Tube locating bolt stretched and then Ti tube kept rotating whilst riding - disconcerting! This was quickly and inexpensively replaced with a higher tensile bolt. These are initial teething problems that were easily fixed. The bike came with a less that perfect paint job and a small frame defect around the boom insertion. The latter item is of some concern as the frame supports the weight of the cantilevered boom at this point but TitanFlex assure me that this is cosmetic and not a structural problem - so far I have no reason to doubt this. Similar Products Used:
Look KG 361 (comfortable but not as comfortable as the TitanFlex, not as stiff, not as fast).
Bike Friday Air Friday - also a Ti boom bike but this one folds! Not as stiff, not as fast, not as comfortable - but more comfortable that the Look, (limited by the small 20" wheels) but a better boom design and of course it folds for traveling!
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