Re: limits of Ti?: Bikefanclub.com

Mad:

Sorry I have taken so long in replying. I seem to be spending far too much time in the paint booth.

The quick answer to your question is, no, there is no practical upper limit for rider weight and style when working with titanium, at least not for us.

A little history... When we started with Merlin way back in Somerville, we (and they) were limited to the titanium tubing available from the top mills. Over the years, Merlin bought drawing dies when they could afford to do so in an effort to increase their range of tubing diameters and gauges. That is where some of the early Extralight tubing came from. At this point, there are no limits at all for us when it comes to tubing diameters and gauges. We can get anything we want. Merlin now has so much purchasing power that I can specify whatever I want. Once the tubing is in house, I can have it manipulated and butted to any degree. This allows us to make very large frames that have drivetrain stiffness at least as high as one of the classic Cannondale 5000s and the comfort you'd expect from our titanium frames. At the same time, we can build a 49cm frame that is just as comfortable.

I know that this sounds like a line of sales crap, but it is actually true. If we were working with any other builder, we would not be able to get just what we wanted. Lucky us. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to give us a buzz.

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Tom Kellogg
Spectrum Cycles
610-398-1986
http://spectrum-cycles.com/

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