Originally Posted by
merziac
Well I'm glad you've done just fine with them. How old is the oldest one now. Plenty of folks have done ok with them and I would hope they have improved.
They were plenty of sketchy ones along the way, especially in the beginning when they lit the whole thing off.
The oldest one is from 1996, a road bike, Catalyst. All others are newer but none of them are less than 14 years old.
They have been used quite a bit but never been in accidents etc.
I am used to my bicycles lasting a good long time, hopefully outlasting me.
Titanium was supposed to be tricky in the early period or so I gathered but with good techniques of welding, they seem to be as good as any other metal. We shall see how much longer they continue to survive.
[There was one Ti bike (can’t remember the name) in our area on Craigslist about 6 years ago, which was initially listed for $800 but after a few months came down to $600. I went to see it but decided not to buy it - it was unpainted clean metal but most welds had rainbow colors. The seller tried to convince me that he has been using it for several years and there has never been any issues with sturdiness. He even indicated that he might reduce the price some more, if I am serious about buying it. I informed him that I’m serious about buying a Ti bike but not this one.]