Every few months, someone on a ride asks us the same question: "So, titanium or carbon?" The answer people want is a winner. The honest answer is that it depends on what you want from the next ten years on the bike, not the next ten weeks.
We came to titanium the long way. In 2020 we pivoted to bikes first. We tried about twenty brands and a lot of materials, and we kept a mental list of how each bike felt at hour one and at hour five. Titanium kept ending up at the top of that list. Here's why, and where carbon still earns its place.
How they feel
Carbon is a layup, which means engineers can tune stiffness exactly where they want it. That's why a good carbon race bike feels so immediate. You stand up, you sprint, and the bike answers.
Titanium is a metal, so it has a natural springiness. Think of a long day on rough pavement, or a gravel road that never lets up. The frame takes the sting out of it without feeling dead underneath you. People describe it as "alive." That word is overused, but you'll understand it about an hour into a long ride, when your hands and back are still fresh.
Our goal was the snap of a race bike with the comfort of an endurance frame. Carbon can do that too, but in titanium it's the default behavior, not a tuning exercise.
Durability: the quiet difference
Carbon is strong, but it's strong in the way a glass bottle is. A hard knock from a dropped bike, a rock strike or an airline handler can leave damage you can't see, and you spend months wondering about it.
Titanium doesn't crack the same way, and it doesn't rust, corrode or need repainting to protect it. Scratches buff out. We've watched frames come back from rough travel looking like they only needed a wipe-down. If you travel with your bike, ride gravel, or just don't want to baby your machine, this matters more than a few grams.
Weight: yes, carbon wins, and it matters less than you think
We'll say it plainly: a top-end carbon frame will usually be lighter than a titanium one. If you race and every gram counts, that's a real advantage.
For most riders, though, the weight of your bottles, your bag and your breakfast outweighs the difference between frame materials. On a multi-day tour, nobody has ever said "that climb would have been easier if the frame was 300 grams lighter." They say it about sore wrists and tired backs.
Cost: think per decade, not per purchase
Carbon is usually cheaper to buy, and titanium usually costs more up front. But a carbon bike often gets replaced when a new standard arrives or when damage makes you lose trust in it. A titanium frame is the kind of thing riders keep for fifteen or twenty years, swapping out the parts around it as they wear.
Spread the price over a decade or more and the gap closes quickly. You aren't buying a faster bike. You're buying one you won't need to replace.
So which should you choose?
Choose carbon if:
- You race, and the lowest possible weight is the goal.
- You want the most aero, most aggressive shape money can buy.
- You expect to upgrade bikes every few years anyway.
Choose titanium if:
- You ride long days, tours or gravel, and comfort over hours matters more than grams.
- You travel with your bike and want it to shrug off the abuse.
- You want one bike you'll still love in ten years.
Where we landed
We build in titanium because of how we ride. We spend whole days on the bike in Sicily, Bali, Lombok and now Japan, and we care more about how we feel at the end of the day than how the bike looks on a scale. We make two versions of our titanium bike, classic titanium tubing and a 3D-printed titanium option for riders who want the premium tier. They're two bikes, one metal, and no compromise on the ride.
The best way to settle this isn't an article. It's riding both. If you're near us, come and take one out, or look at how we build.