Titanium Handlebars
Titanium the Perfect Metal for the Best
Bicycle Handlebar
Titanium happens to be my
favorite material for a handlebar on a long road ride. Its light,
won't rust, doesn't fatigue, and offers an amazing combination of
stiffness and comfort. It is less likely to fracture or crack at
clamps or in crashes like carbon fiber handlebars or aluminum bars
... and not as expensive a carbon fiber so I have a little more
money to spend on other bike parts.
Weight: The TITEC TI-18 Titanium flat bar certainly takes
the prize on weight, coming in at a meager 118 g, but most bars
range from 140-200g.
Identical steel vs titanium handlebar would be about equal in
strength, but the titanium bar would be about half the weight and
half the stiffness. To build a titanium handlebar with more rigidity
and better feel many manufacturers beef up the diameter and/or the
wall thickness, so the overall weight of a titanium bar does not
always reflect the fact that titanium is less than 60% of the weight
of steel... but there's always a weight savings.
Alloys: Bicycle parts made of titanium
are actually made of a titanium alloy. Typically the most common
ones are Ti 6-4 (6% aluminum & 4% vanadium) and Ti 3-2.5 (6%
Al & 4%V). Both are high strength aircraft grade titanium. Although
the Ti6-4 is the stronger of the two, the Ti 3-2.5 is the most common.
It is easier to manipulate as bike tube. Some suggest it is a waste
of money to purchase the Ti6-4 as its felt it is a bit of overkill....
maybe necessary for an airplane fitting but not necessary for a
bicycle handle bar.
Since titanium has a reputation of sometimes having a little too
much flex, manufacturers often beef up the diameter of the bars
to compensate. Bigger tubes reduces flex.
End Plugs: some mountain bars like the X-Lite XLR Titanium
Pro include turned end plugs to allow clamping of barends without
damaging the tubing.... a definite plus if you expect to install
barends.
Issues: The titanium handlebars can flex enough that they
can cause an annoying creaking noise where the bar fits into the
stem clamp. Some handlebar makers down size the tube at the clamp,
reinforce from the inside and then include a plastic shim to buffer
the torsion and eliminate the creaking.
Further Information:
Aluminum
Handlebars
Carbon Fiber Handlebars
Bicycle Handlebar
Features
Bike Handle Bar Designs
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