People are always asking me: 'What's the one exercise I can do to get rock hard abs without having to spend hours in the gym or give up sweet, sweet candy?'
Ok they're not, but people have asked me if I've noticed much of a difference between steel and ti because I am in the rather unique position of having owned bikes from made from each, by the same builder, running the same wheels and very similar spec.
There's a lot of ink put to paper about frame materials and the difference they make to the ride. If you want to know what it means to a builder and an engineer I encourage you to ask Mister B himself. It's a refreshing thing to hear about it from someone who doesn't have an interest in keeping pages a-turning. If he offers you a coffee as you ask, accept. There'll be time for the explanation to gain momentum then, and there's some small entertainment value in watching the boys get fidgety once the cups are long empty and the torch-man is just getting into the details with you, each minute another away from the jig. Before long you'll know more than all the magazine editors in the world rolled together. It's a big part of what makes the place so special.
Cubano - Ti
Ristretto - steel
To be fair, the two bikes I mentioned aren't identical in every respect other the tubes they're built from. The fork on the new bike is longer at 100mm, and it has some slight geometric tweaks on ol' steelie (more on that later), but nothing so big or weird that I can't point to a few differences in the ride that are more than probably metallurgical.
Finding the words for those differences is where it gets tricky because the difference is subtle. In the simplest terms, the ti bike feels damped. If aluminium bikes are stiff and hard, and steel is springy (say it with me kids: 'resilient') and alive, then ti is damped. Smooth.
Cubano - Ti
Ristretto - steel
It felt almost dead at first after the Ristretto and I wasn't altogether sure that I liked it. I did like that it was lighter (even with the heavier fork) and it was definitely stiffer in the BB, but it doesn't have the 'living machine' feeling that steel bikes have. I think my steel bike was probably more fun for rolling around on short rides when conditions were good, but the ti bike thrives when pushed. It yields when things hit it but it doesn't bounce back, and the longer and nastier the ride is, the more that rocks. It holds a line a little better, but that could be the angles. A well built ti bike earns the material it's magic carpet reputation and if you're searching for 'the one', not having to worry about rust or denting ultra thin-wall tubes is pretty tempting.
The only problem is coming up with the Nellies. They can be something in the order of arm, leg, first born child, first daughter's virginity, and remaining childrens' college funds expensive. The problem with cheap ti bikes on the other hand, is that they won't even sink when you dump their busted remains in the river, but that's another story ... for someone else to tell. 'Think of it as an investment' as they say.
I'm not going to pretend that I know what's best for anyone else, and I continue to love steel bikes. A custom steelie is obviously where the value curve is friendliest in custom bicycle land. At the time I bought the Ristretto the coin toss for me was between off-the-rack ti or custom steel. I think that decision came out ok.
If you're tossing a coin of your own, try to wrangle some ride time on one of each. Baumteam members come in S, M and L and are friendly little critters, usually more than happy to lend you a bike for a quick spin at an event or out on the trail (just bring it back). If you're in Geelong or passing through, call the guys up and drop in. It all started for me when JB handed over a bike for me to take on a 20 minute spin around the city park before he had any inkling of how interested I was.
Cubano - Ti
Ristretto - steel
Cubano - Ti
Ristretto - steel
