As I already have an eight year old road bike designed bike by Mark Reilly (the Enigma Effusion), with the same wheels, same tyres and same geometry, but with a 3AL-2.5V titanium frame, I already have something which I can honestly compare against my new Reilly T640 with.
The first thing which is noticed is that this has larger diameter top and steering-tubes and when you lift the bike and gently bounce the bike, it already appears noticeably stiffer than the older 325 alloy frame.
On road the T640 has not lost any of the vibration absorbing properties normally associated with titanium, however on the hills when step up out of the saddle on the pedals the bicycle immediately feels so much more solid and stiffer, especially around the bottom bracket and it feels like a completely different. Under heavy breaking, there is no noticeable flex from the front end and going downhill the handling is certainly more “sure footed” and “razor sharp” as it does not flex jump or skip about as much!
To be honest, I was not expecting such a significant difference in handling between 3AL-2.5V and 6AL4V titanium frames, however having now ridden my new Reilly T640, this bike is serious built for hills, both climbing and descending and for long distance rides which is intended use!
I took it out yesterday on a 50 mile club run and I found ironic that none of the club members knew what the difference between 325 and 6/4 titanium was, or why this new bike was so special, however at 60 I was still able to out sprint and snatch some of the hills from much younger riders towards the end of the ride.
I am now looking forward to testing this bike in anger on the Epic route of the Peaks Tour Sportive and the three day Tour of the Highlands this month!