It has been some time since my last email and I have now put close to 2,000 miles on the bike and wanted to write an update for your website, which follows on from my initial thoughts in August.
I continue to be impressed with the ride quality of the bike after nearly 2000 miles and I feel like this is a bike I will own for a long time to come. The handling is nicely balanced with just the right amount of responsiveness to keep things lively but controlled.
I’ve ridden into the Pennines and have been full of confidence in really letting rip on some of the more technical descents. I have come to appreciate the ride quality of titanium and can now understand what all the fuss is about. The frame smoothes out the road surface and gives a cushioned ride but responds quickly to out of the saddle sprints, picking up speed in a way that dispels any doubts about the frames stiffness and efficiency.
I rate this frame above all the others I’ve owned including a carbon/alloy race frame that I also rated better than my full carbon frame. It reminds me of my old 531c frame in terms of ride quality but performs better than any of the other frame materials.
It’s also nice to be able to use it without worrying about the lacquer finish or the potential of damaging carbon laminate, and is proving to be very low maintenance, which is good as I’m using it through winter and summer. It will be interesting to see the difference when the mudguards come off and the summer wheels and tyres go on, as well as the carbon seat post and saddle. This will knock some weight off the bike and I’m expecting the ride characteristics to change a bit as the wheels are much stiffer and lighter than my winter wheels and I tend to run my tyres at 140psi so I am anticipating I might get some skipping from the back wheel – but we’ll see.
I’m looking forward to the summer race season and also taking part in some sportives as well as a training trip to Majorca, and I’m anticipating I will still be a happy customer come the autumn.