Titanium Bikes - SA market

[SKYDE Titanium Bikes]

Hello South Africa !! 

Wow that just made me feel like a rock star, minus the face melting guitar solo ...

 

We truly appreciate all of your comments and impressions regarding titanium frames / bikes as it pertains to your experience and your ride. 

This is especially poignant considering that we're working hard towards introducing our brand in South Africa. 

 

I guess you can say that we're biased, and to a certain degree we are. We love our bikes and we love what we do and it's this passion SKYDE has towards cycling that has fueled us over the years to continuously produce high quality yet affordable titanium hand build frames. So i’d like to take this opportunity to address the many interesting points that may benefit from some precision and clarification. For example on cost, our frames are often less expensive than high end carbon frame, responsiveness, the “magic effect” of titanium vs. Carbon vs. aluminum and the specs on our tubing and expertise. 

 

Personally i tend to agree with the statement regarding a good steel frame. Often Steel frames are considered as a poor man’s Titanium as they share many mechanical characteristics at a much lesser price tag. 

 

Also a little precision regarding us. SKYDE conceives and designs every single frame / bike. Ronnie, the founder of SKYDE, has an aerospace mechanical engineering background during which he designed titanium parts. So his technical background and his extensive experiences translates to being able to design a truly outstanding frame. Working titanium takes expertise and knowledge about the strong and week points of titanium, you don’t just weld tube together. Choosing the right tubes, the right thickness and density and the way to assemble a frame with the right geometry really makes a difference. That’s why each one of our frames is built by our european frame builder who has over 25 years experience working on high end bike frames. Even our titanium tubing comes from the leading european titanium provider to ensure the highest standard in quality and production.

 

There’s titanium and then there’s SKYDE and believe me the difference is noticeable.

 

When it comes to “fixing” a titanium frame, well there’s another strong point that titanium has on Carbon and Alu frames which cannot be fixed. Alu frames need to be heat treated during the welding process, so you couldn’t just switch out a section of the broken frame by a new tube without compromising the integrity of the frame and frame memory. Carbon, by it’s nature, is a woven material, so simply “patching” a problem zone with more carbon and epoxy will not fix the issue. (granted this is a very simplistic view of the more technical process actually employed)

 

I like to use the following example to better illustrate my point : imagine that your carbon frame is a cashmere sweater and that thru wear and tear you get a hole in your sleeve. The hole is due to the threads breaking apart. 

So how do you fix it? you sew in a patch to hide the hole and reinforce the area but the truth is, your sleeve is still damaged, the threads are still disconnected and the hole is still there. 

Over time that patch will not prevent that hole from getting bigger and it sure won’t maintain its form. More importantly, you have masked the issue and unless you turn your sweater inside out, you cannot see the extent of the damage beneath the patch.

 

A Carbon fiber frame is no different, perhaps more technical, but no different as it is composed of interwoven fibers.

 

On the other hand you have a titanium frame that can be fixed, you can go as far as replacing a complete tube with a new one and not change a single thing. 

Titanium doesn’t undergo a heat treatment process and as such you never loose frame memory or performance. Now finding someone who can fix it is a whole different story and luckily you’re talking to the brand that can design, build and fix any titanium frame.

 

I want to bring up cost again. Yes titanium as a material is expensive, but as i mentioned earlier our frames are no more expensive than a high end carbon frame, in some cases we are even less expensive. 

Titanium represents a strong up front investment, but it’s longevity makes for an incomparable return on investment. Also, our full bike prices are very competitive with their carbon counterparts. In some cases we are better equipped for a similar carbon product. But, they are indeed high end and top tier products and not meant to compete with entry or mid level bikes.

 

Demographically speaking, our customer is a person, a cyclist with some km behind him and is generally a well informed and experienced rider who knows exactly what he or she is looking for in a bike. When you put that consumer on our bikes, then you get magic. 

 

As i mentioned before, you really need to experience titanium, and more specifically a SKYDE, to fully appreciate it’s one of a kind performance.

 

Be sure to check out our website as it will soon be available in English and be sure to answer most of your more technical questions and remarks. Be sure to also keep in touch with the great people at Performance Bikes as they will also be eager to answer any request you may have.

 

Thanks again for this opportunity and keep on cyclin' !

 

Thierry

Managing Director at SKYDE 

www.skydecomp.com

 

SKYDE, Simply Authentic

[the nerd]

All the guys that think Ti is a niche... I see quite a few Lynskeys on the trails and people love them so hopefully with another provider they will get more popular. 

 

PS I am biased towards Ti and think its the greatest material to build frames... 

[NotSoBigBen]

My boet has a HT and FS Litespeed, loves them .... They look a bit old school to me but it doesn't bother him.

[NicNacDH]

More or less, everyone with a  "solid" cycling background, knows that Titanium wins against aluminum and carbon.   

 

To bring it to the masses: I think .... it is all about marketing.

Look at the "Specialized Brand ", the have such a brilliant marketing, the can sell a plastic bike and people will buy it, because it is a "Specialized".

 

To bring it to the ambitioned cyclist: It is all about quality, support and service!

 

Just my 2c.

[Matchstix]

Since I started riding I have always perved over ti frames, moots, seven, van nicholas/airbonre, dean and the frame I always wanted a merlin xlm with the falcon stamped into the drop outs and parts of the frames. Thhe kona explosif ti was also a beaut. Litespeed road frames got my attention.

I have not heard of skyde but there are quite a bit of companies that the south african market has not heard of.

But untill I own a ti frame I will always want one.

[Brian Fantana]

I had a Bianchi S9 Matta for about five years. I sold it in 2010 as I did not have a use for it anymore after I stopped road cycling. It gave an extremely smooth ride. Of all the frames I ever owned, it is the one I miss the most.

 

Magnus Backstedt won the 2004 Paris Roubaix on a Bianchi S9 Matta.

[TrackGuy]

Besides the price tag Ti is awesome in every aspect, or at least that is what I think. I love the that 29er frame, Ti and steel has a certain aesthetic value that I can't seem to get over. Classic or old school whatever people call it, I prefer that simplistic look.

Is Ti like steel's big rich brother? How does Ti absorb impact and how does it handle vibration? I recently had a lengthy discussion with my dad who has years of experience with material and manufacturing.

I recently got me a steel frame (Momsen STR) and my dad told me that it would handle impact and vibration much better than my alloy frame, the ride would appear to be smoother and softer, after riding it I completely agree with him. Carbon according to my dad will be a bit harder on impact and vibration, never rode a carbon can't tell, I have a carbon rigid fork and it seems like it might just be true but can't tell. Alloy is just hard and rough all over.

But how is Ti in this aspect? Something I might take up with my dad tomorrow.

If I could, I would get me a Ti frame.
 

[rouxtjie]

Great post SKYDE! Love the passion 

 

Look wrt cost, if its quality(materials / R&D / ride quality / manufacturing processes) you can charge a premium and yes people will buy...Look at black sheep as an example. I would love a Ti bike in the stable completing then every material except bamboo..  but before a I pull the trigger I would love to ride one first. 

 

OP if you can organize ride days at venues and post it here it will be awesome. 

[Marius]

I'll stick to carbon thx

[tunariaan]

coming from Europe it will be in Euro and too expensive for most, work in shipping ect.

would love a frame like that to build another SS

[Origin Cyclery]

coming from Europe it will be in Euro and too expensive for most, work in shipping ect.

would love a frame like that to build another SS

Hi Tunariaan

You are correct it will be purchased in Euro. But pricing versus US$ are relative. The benefit of dealing with European suppliers who manufacture is that SA has a trade agreement with the European Union with regards to goods manufactured in Europe and imported into SA. All goods manufactured in Europe supplied with the necessary certification are exempt from duty. Now that is an effective 15% on complete bikes. Do not confuse manufactured in Europe with sales from Europe i.e. buying from European online stores. We will be giving a few price indications on the Skyde Ti bikes on this thread very soon.

[LOOK695]

Will you be selling only complete bikes or frames on their own as well?

[rouxtjie]

Hi Tunariaan

You are correct it will be purchased in Euro. But pricing versus US$ are relative. The benefit of dealing with European suppliers who manufacture is that SA has a trade agreement with the European Union with regards to goods manufactured in Europe and imported into SA. All goods manufactured in Europe supplied with the necessary certification are exempt from duty. Now that is an effective 15% on complete bikes. Do not confuse manufactured in Europe with sales from Europe i.e. buying from European online stores. We will be giving a few price indications on the Skyde Ti bikes on this thread very soon.

Nice and good to know...

 

I imported a frame from the US(http://www.vassagocycles.com/verhauen/)....shipping was a big cost which I presume you will get down a bit.

 

How does you frame stack up (geometry, weight, specs) against this one?

http://www.vassagocycles.com/optimus-ti/

[Origin Cyclery]

Will you be selling only complete bikes or frames on their own as well?

Hi LOOK695

 

We will do frames as well.

[rock]

Hi Tunariaan

You are correct it will be purchased in Euro. But pricing versus US$ are relative. The benefit of dealing with European suppliers who manufacture is that SA has a trade agreement with the European Union with regards to goods manufactured in Europe and imported into SA. All goods manufactured in Europe supplied with the necessary certification are exempt from duty. Now that is an effective 15% on complete bikes. Do not confuse manufactured in Europe with sales from Europe i.e. buying from European online stores. We will be giving a few price indications on the Skyde Ti bikes on this thread very soon.

 

all the bikes would have to have Campag groupsets then....?

[Spinnekop]

As NicNacDH pointed out......if you have been around cycling for a while, you will know that Ti is in Lance's category of "sh$tt that will kill us"

 

I have cycled many a frame in my 21 years, all except a Titanium frame.  Purely because they are too expensive.

I have had my eye on a Ti Baum now for years but at $8200 for the frame only, this is not going to happen very easy.

 

So that said......

Trek had a very good stint at one stage in SA.

Also Spesialized and Cannondale.

Why?  Because you can buy one of their frames for around R20k.  And they are drool worthy if you stand amongst your clubmates.

Both Spez, Dale, Scott and Trek came in with a bang, "low" price point, made a market and then pushed prices up.

Maybe something to learn?

 

But Ti frames, I guess, are never going to be cheap in comparison. 

One day..........

 

Good luck on your venture!  Will be awesome to see these frames in the local shops.