If you would have asked me 20 years back about the future of bicycle frames and the materials used to build them, I would've told you that titanium would be the main material used to build bicycles by the year 2000. It seemed that it was the perfect answer for the rider that wanted a smooth riding bike like a steel frame, and wanted the light-weight of aluminum or carbon fiber. The only drawback was the price. My thinking was that titanium would eventually drop in price and heavy steel frames would finally meet their match.Well, something got in the way of that prediction. Steel got much stronger, and therefore, much lighter. Steel actually got so light, that we can build an S3 steel frame as light, or lighter than any titanium frame (unless we build a wet noodle ti frame), and it still comes in a lot less expensive. Titanium is so springy, that it is possible to build it lighter, but then the ride really suffers. For these reasons, we really saw no sense in offering titanium frames in the Rodriguez line-up.
Last year however, it came to my attention that some customers want titanium for other reasons than weight. Some people like the look of ti, or don't want to have to protect a paint job, and are willing to pay a bit more for that convenience. So, for 2009, R+E Cycles is happy to announce the arrival of the Rodriguez titanium custom frame.
This winter Dan P. (our machinist) made all of the appropriate fittings for the welding equipment to enable ti welding, and Dennis has been honing his titanium welding skills. We've opened the frame shop for titanium frame repairs (yes, titanium can still break like other bikes) and we've performed several ti frame repairs already on various brands of bikes. Dennis built a ti frame for himself to ride to and from work.
Titanium is an addition to our offerings, and won't replace any of the steel frames we make. So, if you're looking for extreme light weight, you'll still want to be looking over the Rodriguez S3 frames. But if you are looking for titanium, you can now come on over to R+E Cycles and have your ti frame built in Seattle with the same care and attention to fit and service that we strive to achieve.
Rodriguez titanium custom Frame options for 2009
$2,699
Custom ti frame with Alpha Q or WoundUp carbon fork
$3,199
Custom ti frame super light with Alpha Q or WoundUp carbon fork
$6,899
Custom ti tandem frame w/o fork
Travel Options
For an additional price (based on frame model) we can build any of the ti frames with titanium S&S couplers for travel as well.