I gave up on carbon and went to steel and titanium bikes. After riding carbon fiber and having the medium dull feed back it gave me. I stepped back in time and took to steel and titanium road bikes. I have the carbon forks on my bikes but feel 853 and 3Al/2.5V ti are much more fun to ride.
I went from a aluminum frame carbon fork Fuji Absolute 1.0 to a Jamis Aurora Elite 631 steel, and I realy like the ride of the steel. I have bin looking at a Titanium bike but not ready to put out the cash, I nead to ride a Ti bike.
I crashed an older Tang Champion steel frame work out bike into a chunk of concrete 9 months ago. Took out the steel fork but frame lived to ride another day. I would hate to put a carbon bike through that. I hear good things of the 631 steel. Ti bikes on the other hand (at least my Litespeed) have a little flex if you look at your rear brake while grabbing a steep climb. They may not be for every body.
The bike I was Eyeing was on bikes direct it was a Motobecane Century Team Ti, I like the fact it has Ultegra with a 11-28 and a triple 52-39-30 It will fit a 700x 40 tire allso sounds good to me, comfort. Wish it had disc brakes and a Ti fork but you would have to have one built if you wanted it that way I guess. I guess what I am realy saying is, I would like my Jamis Aurora Elite in Titanium, it is 27# befor I put my junk on it
Not all carbon bikes give similar rides. Quality steel is wonderful but so is a good carbon bike (I'm lucky to have both) it's apples & oranges. To each his own.
Wow, I bought a Trek 2.3 Aluminum in May of 2010. Now I am looking at the Trek carbon Madone 6.5 (project-one) I feel sure I will purchase it really soon. I will be keeping the 2.3 btw.
Congratulations in finding the truth. I never went to the dark side so I stayed with steel, I did kind of went to the dark side with a purchase of an aluminum bike some years ago but then the headtube cracked so now I will never again peer into the darkness. Titanium is my next step though, but will have to put it off till next year. I have a hobby budget and had some expenses on a couple of classic cars I have that's blowing the budget for awhile; hopefully next year the main project will be done then I will consider a TI bike. By the way, Bikes Direct has several great inexpensive made in Taiwan, not China, TI bikes from Motobecane that are very nice bikes and have all gotten rave reviews from various publications, and one even saying that it rivaled TI bikes costing 3 times more! see: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/road_bikes.htm scan down till you see the titanium row. The one I'm considering is the LeChamp SL Ti, but the lightest one is the LeChampion Titanium Inferno. Also notice they have Ti cross bikes too.
I haven't purchased anything yet, but I do frequent other forums and heard of lots of people who have purchased from them, and I've only heard one complaint and that was in regards to the wheels on the bike he purchased were not as advertised, but the ad clearly stated: "subject to change without notice". Only one forum person had to return a bike under warranty that I heard of when a $450 or so road bike he bought broke a weld at the rear stay and Bikes Direct took care of it with no issues. They cannot make substitutions, but they have a wholesale place they refer people who want other parts. It's because of all the good things I did hear about them is the reason I'm seriously considering a Motobecane TI road bike from them...and the great reviews on the TI bikes helped with my decision as well. They have free shipping (if you keep the bike, to return it there's a charge) to the lower 48 states only, to other states or territories or Canada they charge around $150 shipping. And the only state that gets a sales tax charge is Texas and that charge will be 8.25%. Where else can one find a TI bike for $2,000 for the Ultregra model? The next lowest cost TI bike I found was Habanero (sp?) and theirs is made in China (their welds don't look as smooth) and with Ultregra components it would have cost me $2899...not bad really, but the Motobecane I thought looked better with it's polished ti vs Habanero's brushed TI. But the Habanero does allow customization, like all Campy or Shimano or SRAM components which could appeal to some, but they do charge for shipping, and their wheels are not as good (as the Motobecane's) using Mavic Open Pro wheels with Ultregra spec'd bikes. If you want more info on the Habanero see: Titanium Road Frames for $895
This is my Bikes direct titanium bike: Here it is in a race: My BD bike has almost 5,000 miles in 3 years and has only got a new chain, not due to an issue, but it was time. Also gone through a few sets of tires, and now it need brake pads and could use some TLC over all. But I have ridden the wheels off it. Crashed it a couple of times. I love my bike.
The 2011 Motobecane Le Champion Ti Heat SRAM Apex Equipped Titanium Road is a very nice looking unit. My Ti Litespeed Classic was made in 1997 and looks almost new. These Ti bikes are just too fun to pass up owning.
My bikes direct bike is the Motobecane Cross Pro Ti. with the Shimano Ultegra grupo. The 58 cm size and it weights about 17 1/2pounds. It is a cyclocross bike, so it has wider tires/rims and the extra set of brake handles. Vuelta wheels, FSA cranks(I got the"mountain climber special" which has deeper gearing)and Ultegra components. A nice road bike. My crotch rocket. The tire pump has sense been replaced with a special road bike only high pressure low volume pump not much bigger than a fountain pen(a neat little thing.(and CO2)
Is that "pump" and pump and a CO2 inflator or just an inflator? If it's also a pump, have you ever tried to pump with it? And if so how did it work?
I could not locate the Motobecane cross pro ti, Ultegra, mountain climber special on bikes direct is it still avaleable.
Titanium Cyclocross Bicycles | Road Bikes - Motobecane Fantom Cross Team Titanium | Cross Bikes or Titanium Cyclocross Bicycles | Road Bikes - Motobecane Fantom Cross Team Titanium | Cross Bikes frames on both are the same, components are different.
