sheddle

There was also a cheap-ish Miyata titanium here but it was reeeeal old titanium (from about the late 80s), and also a bonded frame which- brave to ride if it's 30 years old?

steelbikeguy

so you're saying that you don't need that Raleigh Team in the background??
.. never mind.. too small.

Steve in Peoria
(but I do have a couple of Raleigh jerseys that match that era of the Team paint scheme)

La Brea Bike

Steve, that's the Levi's-Raleigh Land Shark back there! Although, my house does have a consistent theme...

tricky 

It sounds like you are comparing the average price of an average steel bike to a Ti bike. A better comparison would be to compare a custom or high end marque to Ti and even then Ti will still be more expensive. Compare the cost of a Colnago, Cinelli, Serotta or some other high end steel bike frame and add more $$ on top of that since Ti is even more niche.

Regarding just pure numbers available on the market, even factoring in rust, the steel bike population will never dip to Ti levels.

That said, you can still get deals. There have been Ti road bikes that sat on here in the general For Sale or the C&V for sale sections for a while, especially ones with quill stems.

steelbikeguy

oh yeah.. I remember that photo!
shoot... you might need this jersey more than I do!



to get back to the subject of titanium, I've been riding my Raleigh Team and had people comment "I didn't know that Raleigh made a titanium bike"... thinking that the "T.I." indicated the use of titanium. Not an unreasonable assumption, I suppose.

.

a more applicable story... a friend has ("had"?) a Lightspeed painted in Waterford colors with logos and all. His race team was sponsored by Waterford, but apparently got to ride Lightspeeds. The only real indicator of the true identity is the head badge. Pretty cool!

Steve in Peoria

dpd3672

There are deals to be had if you're vigilant and extremely patient. I got a Lemond Titanium/Carbon spine bike frame for $550 and a Colnago Monotitan frame for $500 in the last year on Ebay. Both built up into gorgeous bikes.

And titanium is everything I was told it would be and more.

Here's some photos of the Lemond built up. Can't find a photo of the Colnago built up, but I replaced the fork with a Colnago carbon fork and built it up with Campy 10 speed Record.

DMC707

They are both gorgeous !

DMC707

Ive also seen Waterford built frames with other manufacturers colors ! I raced for a team in the early '00s that used Litespeed frames -- was told they were "Classics" but the tubing is big and the ride is not really comfortable like Ti is reputed to be -- its a high performance frame. Still have it . It was painted in team livery so i recently stripped it and re-built it with Campy 10 speed ---- i like it a lot . I dont know what it would sell for or anything, but its still a nice bike even compared to the modern stuff ive ridden

I am 50 yo now --- i tinker around a lot with a few C&V bikes, but i like the idea of a Ti bike for my "permanent bike"

Ironfish653

And that's probably why 'deals' on Ti bikes are hard to find. Even in the peak Ti 1990's, most Ti bikes came from boutique builders, and bespoke or near-custom builds; you didn't just go to your LBS and buy one 'off the rack' As such, they were either kept, or sold rider-to-rider, to someone who could appreciate it, rather than just open classified / CL sales.

Plus the fact that road bike frames are fungible, even a 30 year-old frame can run pretty much any modern road component / group except for disc brakes, the ones that are out there, are more than likely still doing what they were bought to do.

due ruote 

Here’s a Merlin for <$1000. Seems like a pretty nice deal to me. Listed for close to a month.

https://sarasota.craigslist.org/bik/...400385481.html

degan

Nice bike. Looking at the map on that ad makes me glad I don't live Florida.

79pmooney

OP, the good news is that all of us who bought titanium as "forever" bikes are going to die. Yup. Every single one of us. A lot of these bikes will get sold off cheap by family members who aren't impressed by their aura.

DMC707

Cmon bro ! I just turned 50 in July !

To paraphrase a humorous quote i saw

"My nightmare is that my wife will sell my bikes (or guns or guitars or whatever) - for what i told her i purchased them for !" LOL

BMC_Kid 

I've got a mid-90s Quattro Assi titanium bike. Very nice riding titanium frame and carbon fork with full Dura-Ace 7700 that just soaks up the miles. I forget who actually built the frame but I remember asking Bill Lewis back in the day and he had told me the builder and they were US based. It's got a gorgeous purple-pink flip flop paint job with polished seat and chainstays. Probably should sell it as it just does not get ridden with all the other bikes I have.

botty kayer

Most ti bikes seem to be purchased by the over 40's, so if they really are the bike for life, we've got to wait for this generation to croak. If we say ti hit the market from the late 80's.and thro the 90's and beyond, those early folk will be in their 70's to 80's now. Assuming they are long lived healthy cycling types, they may live another 10-20 years so there may still be a bit of a wait before these all hit eBay.

Unless of course ti is not just a bike for life, but for longer than that. Maybe like the ancient Pharohs folk have decided to be buried with their faithful steeds so they've got something sweet to ride in the afterlife

dpd3672

my OCD was killing me so I had to take a picture of the titanium Colnago built up.

Darth Lefty 

Poking around just now on local CL it appears you would do better to also search by brand name than just the word "Titanium"

Here's a tall Dean with Chorus, looking ragged
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik...407969013.html

70sSanO

Older bicycle prices are generally driven in cycles by generations that want a bike that they wanted, or wanted again, when they have the additional income to buy it.

90’s mountain bikes are a hot commodity right now. Bikes, parts, frames have gotten obscenely high as those mtber’s of the 90’s want to get back a bike worn out, discarded, or desired when they were young.

It probably won’t be their main ride, but they will hang onto it.

I imagine Ti is the same. Why get rid of a bike for less than the owner thinks it is worth if money or space is not an issue.

John

tgot 

Thanks to all who weighed in, and especially to those who posted examples!

VRJAKE 

It does surprise that Ti bikes and frames are offered for, what seem to me, to be very high prices, especially for bikes built in the late 1990's through 2010 or so. They are usually tight geometry race frame designs, not much versatility, though one could install a modern drive train, 25c - 28c is the max tire diameter. And many with original carbon forks, that I'd want to replace for safety's sake.

That said, as others have written, patience and diligence in your search is a virtue. Practicing patience and then jumping when the right bike appeared, got this Seven Muse off CL from the original owner about a year ago, their touring model, so straight gauge tubing, still light and comfy, steel fork, room for 32c tires with fenders. May be a forever bike. Older components were fine, including Paul cantis, but updated with newer Ultegra drivetrain. All for well under $1000.

The pic below is a mystery Ti frame, kind of a 29er design but with fittings for racks, fenders. It's very well constructed, maybe a custom one-off. Lucky on this one, $300, fork was extra, and there was a line of buyers if I didn't take it.

Bianchigirll 

I am feeling the same way about Univega hybrids particularly the Via Carisma and Via Montega. I know they sold fairly well but they never seem to come up used especially the taller Mixtie Via Carisma.

I think finding any bike at what you think is a good price is all about keeping your eye out and just getting lucky. Someone got lucky when I sold my low mileage 1999 Bianchi MegaProXL Ti fir only around 1500, in 2015. I doubt it had over 1000 miles on it. I paid almost twice that at employee discount prices.

however I got a killer deal on my Bertoni Speckled Trout, SLX and 105 for only…… well that’s a secret but any of you would jumped st that price.

velomateo

I’m not going to say they are plentiful, but there are good deals on Ti to be had. Some models will always demand more than others, so expect to pay higher for a Moots or Merlin Extra Light than you would for a basic Litespeed Classic. But if you know what you’re looking for and the size you need, just be diligent at your searches and be ready to pounce.
Also, factor in the build group value. If you already own the group of choice, you can offset the purchase price by selling off the group the bike already has. I bought my Moots for $1100, sold the build group for $600 - so $500 Moots frame and fork…not too shabby. It will be a long time until the Moots leaves my collection. It’s ridden regularly and absolutely my favorite bike.

This is a ‘96 VaMoots, with a 1inch steer tube. Fork was color matched by Black Magic paint shop. I’m extremely happy with how it turned out, and I’m glad I left the original (old school) decals.

mhespenheide 

I agree with velomateo that if you're willing to be patient, you'll likely find a deal at some point.

On top of what everyone has already said though, I do think that prices are trending up. Not necessarily due to the pandemic and supply issues, although that doesn't help. I think prices on the non-big-name Ti frames and bikes have been trending up for five or ten years. I was lucky enough to score a complete LeMond Ti bike for ~$850 about 12 years ago when carbon was really breaking through into the mainstream and I don't think I'd find that price again. While I think that there are some very fine carbon frames out there (heresy!), I think that there has also been a gradual shift of steel and Ti coming back into fashion for non-racers and the sweetheart deals on those bikes and frames are harder to come by than they were a decade ago.

nlerner

This one popped up on my local CL:

https://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/bo...406440264.html

Not exactly a screaming deal, but the provenance is intriguing!

mpetry912 

One of the problems with those 90s = early 2000s titanium frames is that they do crack and are I think unrepairable. Or not economically repairable.

My #2 bike is a Serotta Ottrott carbon - titanium and it's a fabulous ride.

/markp