Reilly was one of the first bike brands to discover the unparalleled properties of titanium in bike frame design. The bike industry's ongoing quest for a 'perfectly balanced' bicycle (in terms of stiffness, weight, comfort and durability) prizes titanium for its stunningly lightweight and responsive for when the pace or road goes up but beautifully smooth and efficient for all day comfort.
While they still rank higher in price compared to your standard aluminium bicycles, the old saying ‘you get what you pay for?’ certainly rings true with titanium bikes.
Titanium bikes can be a costly investment but due to the unique properties of the metal they are a bike that will stand the test of time.
Considered by many to be the ultimate metal when it comes to bikes, you may begin to wonder exactly why many cycling connoisseurs hold this metal in such high regard .
At Reilly, we have some in-depth insight from our in-house expert team here to put together this article on ‘reasons why you should buy a titanium bike’ .
To understand a bit more about titanium bikes, then we’d first have to learn about what is titanium, a bit of history about it, plus how it managed to find its way into the cycling industry.
What is Titanium & How It Found Its Way In Cycling?
Titanium was first known & discovered all the way back in 1791 by William McGregor. The name was coined by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth - who decided to name titanium after the titans of ancient greek.
You may have heard in the cycling world, that some refer to a titanium bike as ‘Ti’ and this is due to its chemical symbol name is ‘Ti.’
It started to be known more during the Cold War as the USSR started heavily producing using it in construction of submarines and many more of their military units.
The United States started to recognise this and decided to follow suit, causing all the supply of titanium across the globe only to be allocated to help build weapons to win the war.
Once the Cold War stopped, the commercial industry started to get its hands on the material - and was able to produce equipment that wasn’t just for war. But when do we start to see the cycling industry start to use titanium to produce amazing bikes?
The start of titanium bikes can be found as early as the 1960s with most prototypes coming out in the 70s. At that time, the bikes were fully titanium causing them to be too too soft and unstable. Soon the perfect solution was found.
If you combine titanium with certain alloys that you could get a stronger material that was reliable plus was still light to ride. Today, it is known to be one of the best materials in the cycling industry!
Comfortable Ride
One of the main reasons why the popularity of titanium bikes has risen in the last couple of years is due to its insane high-quality ride comfortability. Titanium bike frames have the natural ability to dampen vibrations that may occur through the bike frames.
At Reilly we have spent countless hours prototyping and refining every model for an exceptionally smooth ride. We obsess over every details to ensure the perfect balance of performance, comfort and handling.
That’s why many people don’t see Titanium bikes as a luxury purchase - but they can be seen as a great long-term investment that you can ride for a longtime.
It’s Light, Strong & Lasts
Titanium bikes are known for being light, strong and durable. They will stand up well to any potential signs of corrosion.
You may hear people call titanium bikes the best road bikes you can purchase, this is thanks to it being extremely light but that doesn’t mean because it’s light it loses strength.
At Reilly we only use premium aerospace grade titanium with seamless, imperfection-free tubing, engineered for up to 30% more tensile strenght. Each frame blends cutting-edge technology with traditional craftsmanship for beauty, comformt and speed.
The durability of titanium ensures that the tubing is not damaged when knocked and any little scuffs can easily be brushed back to ensure a beautiful finish at all times.
Why Should You Purchase A Titanium Bike?
If we were going to sum it up shortly, then the perfect reason to purchase a titanium bike is that titanium bikes are incredibly comfortable to ride whilst being light, strong and reliable for years to come.
Not only do you get all benefits like this, but Ti frames are certified head turners - and you are guaranteed to get a lot of compliments from other cyclists every time you take your bike out.
Many of our customers agree that a Reilly bike is an investment in your dream ride. You'll get a bike for life that goes the distance, from the "do-it-all" Gradient to the all-season, all-road Spectre with its relaxed race geometry or the ultra-speedy, super sleek Fusion.