If you’re thinking about buying a titanium bike, I understand why. You’re probably after a combination of ride quality, cool factor and longevity.
People can debate the ride quality to death – there are plenty of variables that can impact this, especially tire pressure. Also, some people think the stealth fighter look of carbon fiber beats the Cold War jet fighter appearance of titanium.
But nobody is about to debate the longevity of titanium with you. It has impact resistance that you won’t find in carbon fiber bikes. If you can actually get a titanium frame to fail, it’s not going to crack into pieces. It can handle rock spray, hard impact, shitty weather and just about anything else you can throw at it.
As you’ve probably guessed, I’m a titanium bike fan.
I’ll also admit that buying a titanium bike isn’t easy. They’re more expensive and harder to come by than most steel, aluminum or carbon fiber bikes. That makes it imperative that you get the right one.
So here are a few tips for buying a titanium bike. Some are from my own experience, while others are from other titanium bike owners.
Avoid Buying Titanium Frames with Paint
I love my Domahidy titanium singlespeed. The designer conceived it from the ground up to have a Gates Carbon Drive system instead of a chain.
He made the bottom bracket area overbuilt to handle all the power output of someone cranking hard on a singlespeed. He got nearly everything perfect.
Titanium ages better when left unfinished. Skip the paint!
Then he went and painted it.
Admittedly, it looked pretty for a long time. But mountain bikes go through a lot. And their paint gets ratty over time.
In retrospect, I should’ve had it stripped and buffed before hanging a single component on it.
Double-Check the Seatpost Size
If you’re buying a singlespeed, you’re certain to pour over plenty of specs. And you shouldn’t miss the humble seatpost diameter.
One of my fellow ti bike owners wound up with an oddball 28.6mm seatpost size; he’s having a hard time finding the right replacement seatpost.
He still loves the bike, but he’s less than thrilled with the scarcity of seatposts in that diameter.
Buying Used? Be Patient
Titanium’s longevity means that plenty of people are eager to get a hold of even older ti frames. Personally, I wouldn’t touch anything that doesn’t have disc brake tabs and thru-axles, both of which are relatively modern.
But some people love the classics. And it seems like they never sleep, constantly scanning and sniping on eBay, SteveBay, Craigslist, and anywhere else people post used bikes.
You might be tempted to settle for “close enough.” Don’t. The right deal will eventually come. If you settle, you’ll be the next person to list that titanium bike and hoping to break even.
Buy the Frame Builder, Not Just the Frame
When I bought my two titanium frames, I didn’t just click “Buy” and hope for the best. I emailed the frame builders and I asked questions.
Going full-custom and made-to-measure just isn’t an option for me.
My first titanium bike. The company owner’s patience with all my questions won me over. 12/10, would buy from again.
I waited for good deals to appear, and then I started asking questions. In both cases, I got prompt, courteous replies. This told me that these were companies I wanted to support with my dollars.
They also gave me peace of mind that I was getting the right size and the right frame for my riding style.
Talk to Titanium Bike Owners
There’s no shortage of people who love titanium frames. Get in touch with them and see what their thoughts are on certain brands and models. Find out which ones are re-branded frames made overseas – and also find out which of those made overseas are better.
Along the same lines, there are plenty of American companies selling titanium bikes that don’t actually make those frames themselves. Find out who does.
Check Facebook for titanium bike owners groups to get started.
I also look to Spanner Bikes, which is chock-full of helpful titanium bike knowledge.
Wrapping up Tips For Buying a Titanium Bike
This is all pretty basic stuff that you could apply to buying any kind of bike frame — aside from maybe the part about paint.
But it’s always good to check your enthusiasm, especially when something looks like a great deal. Do your due diligence and get yourself a bike that will last the long haul.
I’ve been riding a singlespeed mountain bike for the last three years. During that time, my 2011 Santa Cruz Superlight sat in the garage doing absolutely nothing.
A recent ride with a friend made me wonder what would happen if I:
Pulled the Santa Cruz out of deep storage and ran a lap on my local bike/equipment test track.
Rode the same on a modern slack-angled full-suspension bike.
During the ride with my friend, I noticed our bikes were the exact opposite from each other: My Domahidy Ti belt-drive bike has fairly traditional geometry. My friend’s bike was carbon fiber with barely any stem to speak of — and a generous amount of travel. I noticed where our bikes excelled and fell short (see the video for some of the fun we had).
And I got curious.
Hardtail Versus Full Suspension for a Day
I topped the Superlight’s tires off with some Stan’s sealant and checked the shock air pressure. Then, it was time to ride.
I’ve been on the Domahidy 29er since I’ve been using Strava heavily. I have a ton of data on it from my local trails. So this would be a perfect test for my Superlight.
I felt like the more slippery climbs were a bit easier on it. I definitely felt faster on one particular rocky descent.
My Superlight when it was still considered a modern bike instead of a throwback.
Overall, the Superlight didn’t feel as stable or as quick to handle as the Domahidy. That titanium hardtail holds its speed and accelerates with tons of punch.
And there I was thinking about gears again. Especially cumbersome with a 3X9 system versus the modern 1X systems. With a singlespeed, all my concentration is on picking the line and braking.
Enough Feelings – What About the Data?
My Strava times shocked my gizzard. The Superlight was nowhere near as fast on this ride as my top times on the singlespeed (which is also slightly undergeared). It was 52 seconds slower over my nearly 4-mile lap.
That rocky downhill I mentioned? It tied my typical time on the singlespeed hardtail versus full suspension. No faster even over chop and small drops.
I felt like I was working hard, but not worked over (I’d ridden 40 miles on my road-plus bike the day before).
This bears mentioning: I admit that I’m kind of a chicken. My priority is to finish every ride in one piece. So I ride in control, more Iceman than Maverick.
What I Expected
My prediction was that the Superlight would make me noticeably faster. Maybe by as much as a minute.
I expected its top-end speed and ability to crunch over some of the rocky sections to win the day — even against the Domahidy’s efficiency.
What about weight? I have no idea what either bike weighs. But the Santa Cruz Superlight has always been a light-ish full suspension bike. Certainly lighter than the slack dropper-equipped trail bikes of today.
What I didn’t expect was for the longer 29er to carve corners so much better and to give up next to nothing to the Superlight in rocky downhill bits. I’m at a loss for words.
There are still question marks with the singlespeed hardtail versus full suspension issue: How would I do riding the Santa Cruz on long rides, like the Fat Tire 40 or the 50-mile Tour of the White Mountains? (The answer to that: If it rains beforehand, the belt drive singlespeed will straight-up murder every other bike I could pick. The mud up there can change the game.)
This bike is unstoppable, especially in wet weather.
What Next for Hardtail Versus Full Suspension?
I’m eager to repeat this experiment with a modern bike. Rage Cycles in Scottsdale is right near me, and they have a Santa Cruz demo coming up. I’ll have to throw my computer on there and give it a whirl.
I may also rent a bike to test somewhere like McDowell Mountain Regional Park. The Long Loop there is currently in chewed-up condition. During the Cactus Cup and Frenzy Hills races, I got rattled pretty hard back there.
I’ll update this post with more info and data when I have something to add — I hope that’s soon!
I’ve wanted a titanium mountain bike ever since I started mountain biking. Of course, 1993 Justin had no idea that, when he would eventually get his ti fighter, it would have 29-inch wheels, a single belt-driven gear and a tapered headtube. But that’s the form my long-awaited ti bike has taken.
My first ride on a titanium mountain bike.
My experiment with belt-drive singlespeeds started with my Raleigh XXIX, which I built in 2013 as a leftover model from 2011. It convinced me that I could deal with a singlespeed on many of my local trails, and that belt drive is a very cool alternative to using a chain. The fun factor of the XXIX made me consider a nice steel frame -- I’d look for specs close to my Raleigh but with a touch more standover height, swap out the parts and call it good.
The Long Road to a Titanium Mountain Bike
I actually tried twice in recent years to buy custom steel frames (I’ll unspool those stories at a later time). I also considered a Burmese-made bamboo frame, but the company never quite convinced me on the quality front; I had a constant "caution" light flashing in my head.
In mid March, I stumbled upon a Domahidy Designs ti hardtail. The company is now known as Viral Bikes, and their only product at the moment is a titanium Pinion Drive hardtail called the Skeptic. They were (and probably still are) selling titanium frames from their previous incarnation as Domahidy Designs. The company owner and namesake, Steve Domahidy, also has a great reputation from his previous work as co-founder of Niner Bikes.
The price was super-attractive, and the build quality and handling had a very good reputation from all I could find online.
Steve Domahidy committed to the belt drive … which was a big draw for me.
About the price – I could find ti frames slightly cheaper, but they’d require an upcharge and some time to build as a belt drive-compatible frame. I ultimately chose the Domahidy for two very big reasons:
First, I had more confidence buying a frame that was purposely designed as a belt-drive bike from the word go. I have a feeling that Steve Domahidy’s belief in that system will ultimately make this a “keep forever” bike just as much as the fact that it’s made from titanium. My gut tells me that he’s considered aspects of the belt drive’s impact on frame design beyond “sure, we can add a belt drive splitter.” That gives me a lot of confidence.
The second factor is incredibly important: When I shot an email to inquire about the frame, Steve replied within hours. He was enthusiastic and friendly through the entire email change, and he personally handled my order. And that’s to help a guy rooting around in the bargain basement of his offerings. This is sadly atypical in my experiences with other companies. An example: A few days before finding the Domahidy deal, I emailed another well-known titanium frame maker to ask about the possibility of getting one of their models in a belt-drive version. I didn’t hear from that company until after I’d placed my order with Domahidy. When they contacted me, I thanked them and explained the situation – and said that I’d always liked their bikes, and would keep them top of mind when it’s time to replace my 1999 Lemond Zurich road bike.
If I were in their position, my reply would’ve been something like “No worries, good luck with the new ride and we’ll be here when you’re ready for an awesome road frame.” But they actually didn’t reply. Since I never heard from them … well, it’s a little harder to get excited about them as a company. The takeaway here, Frame Makers, is be prompt and be friendly. Seriously, Be Like Steve. (I’ve since replaced my Lemond road bike with a Lynskey road plus bike — and not from the guys I’m talking about here.)
The etched-into-the-head-tube approach to a head tube badge is quite cool.
As for the rest of my experience, Steve walked me through the process and set me up with a headset, extra dropout adaptors (allowing me to switch between hub and axle sizes) and a headset adaptor to allow my straight-steerer tubed fork to fit his tapered headtube. My titanium mountain bike frame was on its way!
It arrived about a week after placing the order, expertly packed and equipped with everything I needed to start. And it is an absolutely beautiful frame. How beautiful? I took it to a local shop erroneously thinking the headset needed to be pressed in – yes, it’s been a long time since I built a bike, and a few of the cool new standards are throwing me for a loop. This is a shop where it’s rare to see any bike with a pricetag less than $5,000. As the mechanic put it into the stand, nearly every other rider in the shop clustered around, saying stuff "Look at those welds!" and "That [drive-side] chainstay is badass!" This was a serious bunch of bike cognescenti, definitely not the sort of people to get excited about ho-hum bikes.
The Build
Holy cow, this thing went together so easily. I love the internal headset because you don’t need a headset press to install it. The brake line guides and routing are in the perfect place. The belt drive is the hardest part to set up, but that’s to be expected. I notice that the CenterTrack system is considerably noisier when it collects some dirt, where the previous version was dead silent. Maybe some wear to loosen the interface between that center ridge and the belt will help.
All the bolts related to the belt drive splitter and dropouts are big and solid. The frame tubes themselves are a larger diameter than you might usually see for titanium, looking almost like aluminum tubes rather than steel (the welds, of course, are a dead giveaway that it’s ti). There’s a “built to last” vibe about it all.
Beefy hardware, clean welds. That’s what you’ll get with a Domahidy or a Viral Skeptic.
There’s just one thing I wonder: The bike is designed so you can add derailleur cable routing to the bottom of the downtube via what looks like water bottle bosses. Would it have been possible to add another one so that there could be a third water bottle boss? I’ll bet the long-distance hogs who would be interested in the Viral Skeptic would dig that as much as I would.
Hitting the Trails
So far, I’ve had it on a few rides. And I have had an immense amount of fun on both – the Domahidy handles beautifully. I don’t need to muscle it around nearly as much in the tight, technical stuff. I’ve noticed that it likes aggressive countersteering, pointing the knee into turns and aiming a bit more with the hips. It also has a remarkably gentle ride. It’s a subtle feeling of small shocks dissipating before they go shooting up the seatpost.
And there’s a look at the drive splitter.
I have a pretty good amount of Strava data on both rides. On one 2-mile climb on the first ride, I beat my previous fastest time by 1:20. I wasn’t trying to – I was just riding at the pace that seemed right. Same deal on another 7-mile section -- about two minutes faster, and that’s with climbing and extending sections of downhill. It was solid on tricky, twisty downhills, too – I PRd my time on a 1.2-mile mostly downhill run by about 2.5 minutes. This was all apples-to-apples singlespeed-versus-singlespeed data.
What about pitting the Domahidy against my Santa Cruz Superlight? I recently did the Six Hours in the Papago race, so I had a lot of data about the area. I wasn’t willing to ride the duller bits just for the sake of collecting data, but I did have some interesting takeaways: fastest-ever time on a 1-mile downhill by about 20 seconds; second-fastest time up the steepest climb on the course (keep in mind we’re also talking about geared versus singlespeed in the steep stuff); 20 seconds faster on another steep hill. I doubt I could sustain this through multiple laps, but I still think these numbers are a good indicator that the bike fits well and makes me better in certain situations.
After all the years drooling over them, I’m excited to have a titanium mountain bike. Its differences are subtle but noticeable, adding up to a riding experience that is definitely what I hoped it would be. I’m also glad I found the Domahidy – buying from the company now known as Viral Bikes was a very positive experience. Steve clearly cares about the quality of his products. If you’re considering a Viral Skeptic, you’ll feel very good about spending money with Viral just because of the service. And you’ll like them even better after you spend some time riding one of their bikes.
And let me add this: I trashed the rear wheel (the third WTB wheel I’ve mangled in recent history). Since ordering one from a local shop, I’ve been waiting. And not being able to ride the Domahidy has made me a little … testy. Sure, my Santa Cruz is still solid. But there’s just a little extra fun about any good new bike – and the titanium magic seems to take that up a few notches.
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