Think a titanium bike is out of reach? The new State Bicycle Co. Titanium All-Road will make you reconsider.
I mean, it’s affordable from a “it’s a titanium bike” perspective. A complete bike starting at $2.5k isn’t exactly chump change…
You’re not wrong, though I’d think most non bike enthusiasts wouldn’t even think about a titanium bike.
As far as the bike crowd goes, I’m sure a good portion won’t be buying something fully assembled and will instead opt for just the frame here which seems to only be $1300. Still a pretty penny, but damn if it doesn’t show its worth.
I definitely agree; I do ride a boutique CrMo hardtail mountain bike myself. I think I just still haven’t gotten over how much Ti bikes cost, lol
That’s funny, see I’m on the other side - been riding carbon for eons. Titanium was going to be my next step if I ever broke a frame - lucky so far, especially with my abuse. Then again, I haven’t bought a full bike in a decade so I’ve not a clue what’s going on price wise anymore. If it’s similar to tomatoes though, I hope my frame outlasts me haha.
Mind if I ask why you’d switch to Ti? Probably stiffness, but wouldn’t the added weight be less agile and take more effort overall?
Stiffness is a factor, but my thought was moreso for weight. Seems a good compromise between the weight of aluminum and the strength of steel. Of course, I didn’t think much of any specific bike or anything. Just a vague notion that if I cracked my carbon frame, I probably wouldn’t want to get another one right away. Never rode a titanium bike so figure to try something new.
For that kind of money, I can buy the tools required to make my own made-to-measure frame, the DIY RETUL used for finding my perfect-fit, the tubing & pieces, etc, & have the most bespoke bike possible for me to have, AND have the tools to build other stuff, too…
Wouldn’t be titanium, but if I wanted to do Ti, then the tubing’s a couple of dollars per inch, & it has to be DC TIG welded, ttbomk, instead of brazed, to it’d be a steeper learning-curve, but still possible…
Why the hell would anybody want a road bike, is the real question…
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I mean I want a road bike. I want to commute but at a fraction of the cost and with some exercise while I’m at it.
That said for this price I’d expect a sick ebike tbh lol
You make some good points, though I’m not sure that most people riding around even know what TIG and MIG are, let alone how they’re different. Armed with this knowledge and presumably fabrication experience, it certainly would be cheaper for you to make your own frame from scratch.
This wouldn’t be the case for a person that’s never used a welder before or thought about the foot cost of steel tube. Which is where this company - or any company, really - is making their money.
frames start at just $1,299 and complete builds from $2,499
$1300 for the frameset is pretty good. A carbon fork is a few hundred alone. Does anyone know if it’s made in Taiwan, PRC, elsewhere?
Looks like it’s likely Taiwan but I couldn’t find anything concrete on their site.
In other news, one company is selling gold bars at a price slightly below the market average, making it the most affordable gold yet
Buy gold, resell at slight profit, ???, profit?
