Interesting… I have a Merlin Extralite ti rim brake bike with 25mm Conti 5000s on it (tire actually measures 26mm with Vernier calipers) and there’s plenty of clearance. Frame vintage is 2006 if I’m not mistaken.
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It might be the fact that yours is 2006 vintage vs. mine was 2001 vintage. I could fit 25s in the rear with maybe 1 or 2 mm to spare, so I would get rubbing on the tires, which made me worried about long term durability.
Ah… mine is also pretty stiff (I had a Vitus 979 back in the day, and this bike is MUCH stiffer than that). It also looks a lot like a Seven… I wonder why? 
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I race gravel, so it’s not a straight up apples to apples comparison. That said the callout by prior posters about endurance racing on one for reasons OTHER than aero are all spot on.
I’m building up a road Ti that will take discs and 32mm tires, and while it’s not an aero frame, there’s way more that needs to be done to the engine (me) before I start obsessing about aero gains.
I haven’t but I would. Raced on a steel bike just fine, my 2022 bike has bamboo tubes…
The tube is aero, but it shaped as a bike, the tubes are much bigger, and you attached crap to it.
DT diameter of my 853 Steel bike = 32mm external at BB ; head tube = 32mm; BB
DT diameter of my Emonda by the BB= 64mm external at BB; head tube = 49mm
A steel/Ti bike also has an external BB (68mm) vs the pressfit (86mm), meaning the area outside of the cups is smaller.
Did you see this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE_GKePa3CQ
If my Specialized math is right, thats about 11-12w @25mph (about the same as a Evade aero helmet saves). So that would put it in between a full aero road bike and light/round tube bike. About 5-7w of that are handlebars. It’ll be more aero than a round tube Emonda/TCR/etc.
Semi-aero steel bike vs Venge… Tom’s bike uses a ~38mm downtube and headtube with a semi aero profile
https://cyclingtips.com/2019/12/bikes-of-the-bunch-stinner-aero-camino/
Keep in mind, a lot of this is meaningless because you’ll have a round bottle on the bike anyway. The Allez Sprint (aero tested in Tour Int ) shows us the aero seat tube /post doesn’t really save anything with rider on the bike, so you’re really just need to consider the Fork/DT/Headtube/bars/wheels.
Unless you’re doing a time trial, you’ll be behind someone 75% of the time and have 2 water bottles on the bike. Anyway, the aero penalty isn’t huge.
- Yup, as I essentially said here:
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My Reynolds 853 Raleigh with a GXP / 50/34 crank looking down will I’m on the trainer. It only moves 1-2mm, so it’s minor, but it might impact FD being set perfect.
Yup
For me the major advantage of a boutique metal frame is the possibility of getting a custom frame. If you have special demands, particular preferences and/or just like something more extreme, this is your chance. And titanium is definitely a great option. Two team mates got custom IF steel frame bikes. Although they cost an arm, a leg and a kidney, and took about a year each from order to first ride.
On the other side of the ledger, I’d caution you against falling for simple narratives like titanium or steel are smoother than carbon or that it lasts longer. A particular ride feel can be achieved with pretty much any frame material, and frame material itself is less important than e. g. tire size and volume. Longevity is also not appreciably different. My mountain bike is almost 10 years old, and I’m retiring it soon not because the frame is bad, but because it is incompatible with all modern standards and requires all new components (fork, shock, groupset, wheels, …). Road bikes have seen a slower evolution, yes, but still, something to keep in mind.
Depends on the bikes. I raced both ti and carbon bikes in road races and crits last year. In my case my position on both bikes is identical and in race setup both bikes have similarly deep and aero wheels and fast tyres. Differences are that the ti bike is heavier (maybe as much as 1.5-2kg), less aero (round tubed vs aero frame, plus messier cabling at the front end) but has disc brakes instead of rim and runs wider tubeless tyres (28 or 30mm vs 25mm).
With my bikes the carbon bike is faster in all situations other than where the conditions are such that braking and grip is a limiting factor. E.g. wet races on courses with patchy road surfaces. There was certainly one road race in particular where I’m pretty sure the titanium bike saved me energy overall as it was pouring with rain, poor visibility and poor road surface in places. The aero and weight penalty was outweighed by better braking and grip, and I spent the whole day in the bunch anyway so didn’t see much wind. Would have preferred the carbon bike for the finish as it ended with a bunch sprint on an uphill finish where only a few seconds separated 3rd place down to about 12th, and the lighter/stiffer/aero bike would likely have gained me a couple of places. But also entirely possible that I wouldn’t have been able to contest that sprint as about 2/3 of the field was dropped by that point and being on a bike with inferior grip and braking in those conditions might have seen me join them! Or DNFing with a pinch flat or from a crash (quite a few people crashed out).
Flip side is that I did race the titanium bike in a crit with a good road surface on a dry windy day and regretted it (though didn’t have a choice other than DNS - carbon bike was out of action awaiting a part). Got myself in a small break that ended up being the winning move but got dropped from it with a few laps to go. Possible it would have happened regardless of the bike of course, but I strongly suspect that the cumulative effect of the weight and aero penalty through all the corners and fast sections in a small group on a day with a lot of wind was the difference between hanging on or not. That’s borne out by all the training and group rides I’ve done on both bikes - the differences are fairly small and won’t have an impact most of the time. But when the margins are fine and you’re close to your limit, those differences can count, and race outcomes are often determined by fine margins (not just at the finish but all the key moments during the race like getting gapped or not during a surge or a climb - or being able to gap others).
As I said, really comes down to the bike and also the conditions you’re racing in. I could certainly make my ti bike quite a bit lighter with higher end components, and maybe a bit more aero by tidying up the front end. But upgrading my carbon bike to a current model disc brake aero bike with wheels optimised around 28mm tyres would also eliminate the one area where my ti bike does have an advantage. It’s nice having the luxury to choose, and when performance is paramount I’d choose the carbon bike 9 times out of 10 (and when enjoyment and just finishing is paramount I’d equally choose the titanium bike 10 times out of 10!). But the titanium bike is still absolutely fast enough to be competitive in races and if that was all that was available to me I would never hesitate to race on it.
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Anyone have regrets buying a titanium frame set or bike? I’m looking into getting one for “all road”, curious how others feel especially in the long run.
I’m looking at a lynskey pro gr frame set, I know component change and other things eventually change. I wonder how much they could actually change in the future, will 12 speed be more popular? Also I mostly ride gravel and road, having 45mm tire clearance is more than enough for a long while, if I need more tire I may as well have a mtb. Anyways without rambling too much
Any regrets with your purchase?
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No regrets. Sold one titanium frame because it was my all year round, all weather bike, and it was a rim brake frame which couldn’t accommodate tyres much bigger than 25mm so a few years ago decided it just didn’t make much sense using it any more. Replaced with a modern disc brake titanium bike with clearance for 34mm (road and light track use only) and reckon that frame might have more riding years left in it than I do! It’s 11 speed so I’m sure at some point will get upgraded to 12 or might be 13 by then but that’s easy enough. Have a 22 year old bike on my trainer which started out as 9 speed and moved through 10 and now 11 (think that will be it’s last upgrade!). Only issue would be if the frame used any bespoke parts like integrated front end which were hard to source in future but that’s unlikely with titanium.
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I think the correct question is “What comes after 12 spd?” since it is pretty much the default now (with the reported move to 12 for the new GRX).
But in terms of frame design and “future-proofing” it, you’ll be fine for many years. The one thing that could change things would be SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger design getting adopted for road / gravel, but even then there will likely be adapters.
If you think you’d like a ti frame, go for it…I still consider it myself occasionally.
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I had a Lynskey GR300 and would whole-heartedly recommend it (or Lynskey in general).
- Looked great and welds were perfect
- Comfortably fit Rene Herse 700x48mm tires on 25mm internal rims, still felt fast with deep carbon wheels and GP5000
- Easy to work on with BSA bottom bracket, standard headset sizes
- Reasonably light
- Lots of mounting points
It was supposed to be my N=1 bike, but I personally felt after a while that I needed a different fit for road/gravel and a dropper (tricky with Di2) so I sold it. That’s a “me” problem…not the bike 
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I’ve a ~2011 Lynskey Helix road and it’s a work of art. I’ve put ridiculous miles on it and, decal stickers aside, it looks new. Rim brakes, 25mm tyres, skewers, external cables, 10 speed DA mechanical but somehow it still goes uphill quick and I didn’t die descending in the Alps. Who knew?
I’m lusting after a Helix Gravel right now. There’s some deep discounts on the site. Dammed UK import duty and VAT though 
My Helix got several compliments in Mallorca last month. I saw very few Ti frames aside from one hire fleet.
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Dropper in the steering tube. Works great. I just don’t have the internal routing on my T-Lab for a dropper, so it’s external, but then I can also take it and the cabling off when I don’t need it.
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There is a great sale right now roughly 40% off!
Sounds like you guys have had no regrets and makes me want to pull the trigger before the sale is up.
Thanks for replying!
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Good point…but I was lucky to sell the Lynskey during covid without losing much money. I’ve since been spoiled by my AXS dropper.
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Yep Gravel cyclist hacked an AXS dropper on to his with the blips on or near the stem. He had no complaints considering it was the first time he’d used it. I almost wish I left it on for Unbound… almost.
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The ex mechanic of the place I bought my Ti frame raced on the disc braked version of the R-Jack. R J.ACK Disc - J.Laverack Bicycles He since set up his own place making ti bikes and he has a team that race on his bikes. https://www.paradigmbicycles.uk/
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