Why titanium?
material from another galaxy
available on earth.
We use titanium for its mechanical and physical properties, and the nobility it gives off in the raw state or once refined.
Titanium appeared in 1791 in Great Britain. It will take more than a century and a few decades to be able to exploit its true qualities. Initially titanium was used unalloyed (raw titanium) but it was already lighter than steel and much stronger than aluminum. His physical performance was then very (too) flexible.
Aeronautics will bring grade 9, a titanium alloy with 3% aluminum and 2.5% vanadium. This precious alloy, once transformed into profiled tubes, will be used by certain bicycle manufacturers for the production of their frames or their components.
We admire and work with titanium not only for its extraordinary mechanical properties but also for its timeless appearance. Where other materials will eventually wear out until they break, titanium will retain its mechanical properties indefinitely, almost forever. Its resistance to fatigue, flexibility, elasticity and volume / weight ratio are significantly superior in quality to other metals. Aeronautics and the medical field are very fervent users of this incredible alloy.
But the material is not everything ... The best materials shaped in an anarchic or incoherent way will fall short of a cheaper competing material with lower mechanical capacities but technically better thought out. We had to work extensively on the technical development and design of our frames so as to fully exploit the properties of titanium. Our geometries and welding points have been designed according to the material and its end use, so as to exploit it in order to bring out only the qualities.
"In the gravelly terrain,
grab your handlebars in the low position,
step on the pedals,
appreciate the nervousness and response of your mount ... "
Our frames are made in constant thickness. There is Double Butted or Triple Butted (2 or 3 dimensions of material thickness per tube) but this is of no interest in titanium for the simple reason that the constant thickness of our tubes is very thin, including at the ends. Welding becomes more complex but remains 100% reliable. As a result, the tube cannot become thinner in its area with the least mechanical stress ...
Very often the materials are put in opposition in the world of cycling : aluminum, steel, carbon and titanium... Taking the example of a vaulting pole, it will store the energy of the athlete during his flexion. to give it back the mechanical energy at the end of the movement and allow it to push it into the air and finally achieve its performance. Imagine the same athlete with a pole that is too rigid… This one will not return any energy at the end of the race and will not allow the expected performance to be achieved. For titanium it is identical, the energy must be restored in an optimal way by using the nerve and keeping the comfort.
We therefore use the sublime of the material titanium, the very one that gives the answer to the cyclist when he asks his frame to work perfectly, when he invests himself physically and wants to go faster, further and more for a long time without exhausting himself since the flexibility of his mount helps him in his adventure.
Titanium: a material from another galaxy available on earth.