Reilly Cycleworks was one of the first bike brands to discover the unparalleled properties of titanium in bike frame design. The bike industry's ongoing quest for a 'perfectly balanced' bicycle (in terms of stiffness, weight, comfort and durability) prizes titanium for its stunningly lightweight and responsive for when the pace or road goes up but beautifully smooth and efficient for all day comfort.
While they still rank higher in price compared to your standard aluminium bicycles, the old saying ‘you get what you pay for?’ certainly rings true with titanium bikes.
Titanium bikes can be a costly investment but due to the unique properties of the metal they are a bike that will stand the test of time.
Mark Reilly pioneered our unrivalled bike geometries and we are a specialist titanium bike building brand with access to specialist equipment that can craft the titanium bike frames perfectly - which takes time to perfect. Amidst rising popularity, we are able to bring you exceptional choice and when it comes to cost, you won't regret an investment in a lifetime of cycling.
Considered by many to be the ultimate metal when it comes to cycling in the bike world, you may begin to wonder exactly why many cycling connoisseurs hold this metal in such high regard when it comes to purchasing a bike.
At Reilly Cycleworks, we have some in-depth insight from our in-house expert team here to put together this article on ‘reasons why you should buy a titanium bike’ for your next cycling purchase.
To understand a bit more about titanium bikes, then we’d first have to learn about what is titanium, a bit of history about it, plus how it managed to find its way into the cycling industry.
What is Titanium & How It Found Its Way In Cycling?
Titanium was first known & discovered all the way back in 1791 by William McGregor. The name was coined by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth - who decided to name titanium after the titans of ancient greek.
You may have heard in the cycling world, that some refer to a titanium bike as ‘Ti’ and this is due to its chemical symbol name is ‘Ti.’
It started to be known more during the Cold War as the USSR started heavily producing using it in construction of submarines and many more of their military units.
The United States started to recognise this and decided to follow suit, causing all the supply of titanium across the globe only to be allocated to help build weapons to win the war.
Once the Cold War stopped, the commercial industry started to get its hands on the material - and was able to produce equipment that wasn’t just for war. But when do we start to see the cycling industry start to use titanium to produce amazing bikes?
The start of titanium bikes can be found as early as the 1960s with most prototypes coming out in the 70s. At that time, the bikes were fully titanium causing them to be too too soft and unstable. Soon the perfect solution was found.
If you combine titanium with certain alloys that you could get a stronger material that was reliable plus was still light to ride. Today, it is known to be one of the best materials in the cycling industry!
Comfortable Ride
One of the main reasons why the popularity of titanium bikes has risen in the last couple of years is due to its insane high-quality ride comfortability.
Bike frames created from titanium will make sure that you have a comfy ride over a various number of road surfaces that you may come across when on a bike journey.
Titanium offers the perfect combination of performance and comfort. Many titanium bike owners hail the high levels of comfort as to the reason their Ti bike is their go-to ride.
Titanium bike frames have the natural ability to dampen vibrations that may occur through the bike frames. Not only will you enjoy riding titanium bikes but you’ll get the massive benefit of peak performance when out cycling by yourself or with a group.
That’s why many people don’t see Titanium bikes as a luxury purchase - but they can be seen as a great long-term investment that you can ride for a longtime.
It’s Light, Strong & Lasts
Titanium bikes are known for being light, strong and durable. They will stand up well to any potential signs of corrosion.
You may hear people call titanium bikes the best road bikes you can purchase, this is thanks to it being extremely light but that doesn’t mean cause it’s light it loses strength as titanium has a really high tensile strength which gives it a lot of strength so that it can last for years even stretching to over 15 years in some cases.
It can take damage if needs be without hurting the inherent structure of the tubes. That’s why even though it may be more expensive than other certain models on the market, you do really get your money's worth when purchasing a titanium bike.
Why Should You Purchase A Titanium Bike?
If we were going to sum it up shortly, then the perfect reason to purchase a titanium bike is that titanium bikes are incredibly comfortable to ride whilst being light, strong and reliable for years to come.
Not only do you get all benefits like this, but Ti frames are certified head turners - and you are guaranteed to get a lot of compliments from other cyclists every time you take your bike out.
The classic tubing profiles with their brushed finish have something that makes them very easy to look at and be very pleasing to the eye.
Many of our customers agree that a Reilly bike is an investment in your dream ride. You'll get a bike for life that goes the distance, perhaps it's our Gradient or Gradient T47 titanium adventure bikes that "do-it-all", or the resilient, all-season, all-road Spectre with its relaxed race geometry that's a sportive and ultra distance favourite.
Our knowledgeable and passionate team of experienced, self-proclaimed ‘bike nuts’ will take the time and care to work with you to create your dream ride whether it is a frameset or a full bike build.