I currently have two titanium hard tails and a cx bike. They're nice.

In contrast to someone above, I had an early Seven Sola (15? years ago) that I seriously wish I had not sold.

My front shock
 

Yup, my suspension fork taking a poop and dying is my second biggest worry about having a 26er. Will be a real bummer if this happens. Can't imagine there are many in good shape to be found that aren't too expensive. Good thing I mostly road ride.

For flat or riser handlebars, it's true.

The titanium ones last forever, are very comfortable, and for 25.4/26.0mm stems (can be easily shimmed to 31.8mm stems) there are many on eBay for very cheap, in many rises and sweeps, that a Scotch-Brite pad will make look like new.

For 31.8mm brand new, the Thomson ones are beautiful but expensive, Ti-Cycles more affordable, Jones (his H bar, I think are expensive also), a few from other titanium frame builders like Moots, and at least several other options (many of these might come from Control-Tech, etc. initially (even the Thomsons might be) but I am not sure about that, and anyway Control-Tech is good quality).

Good ones out there if you look long and hard enough. I tend to prefer the alt styles with some extra sweep.

Groovy Ti Luv Handles
Jones H and Loop Ti

My current favorite is an old set of Fatback Titanium bars. Shaped very similar to the Luv Handles but nice and wide. Picking up my new custom steel Long Travel HT frame tonight designed around these bars.

I would love a slacked out, short chainstay Ti hardtail with room for a 2.35-2.6 in back. 66.5-67 HA with a 130 fork - oh yeah!

My carbon hardtail is awesome for fast "workout" rides but it beats my old body up.

Great, now I have to call Erik and get another frame...

There are many cheap chinese ti 560mm /580mm bars but those are way short, ain´t they? Then there are Thomsons at the new 31.8 standard and the right length but you will spend a bit more. Anyways hbars make the perfect application for titanium.

I want the old Fat Chance ti bars at 24in length and 8 degr. sweep. Made by Merlin?

I can attest that Erik gets that kind of bike!

me likey

I am probably not a good one to ask because I am not a racer and do not have endless budget.

I bought the titanium cross bike because I never had a ti bike before and wanted to see what it was like. My bikes have all been steel or aluminum (been riding for over 30 years). But the ti bike rides great and is the smoothest riding bike I ever had. The bike was built custom for me, but having ridden it for the past five years, the bike always feels great. Not worried about dings, rust or fatigue life.

Haha, exactly!

Went for a ride with him last fall and I used his hard tail. Slightly older but still was so awesome!

I liked mine, which I did race (although that's in the past) -- loved it, really, because it was responsive, balanced, and fit like a glove (after a 3-hour fitting with Tom Kellog) -- a great riding, great handling bike. Killer paint, too. That is, my cross bike. My mtb is stock, and steel, and my mtb experience is relatively limited.

The Potts 29er with Potts stem, bars and Eriksen sweetpost is coming up on 5 years old this fall.....it seems like it was yesterday we drove up to Black Mountain to pick it up after Mike did the build on it.

I'd yearned for a Ti Mtn. bike since the '80s when I first rode a Merlin and then a Moots in the Santa Monicas. The Potts is a dream come true.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

I have a bunch of Ti bikes going back to the 90’s- Ti is a great material for riding in the dirt.

I have a Ti Indy Fab and a steel Indy Fab- similar build blah-blah
The Ti bike speaks to me in a different way: the way it rides (it flexes a little more- there is a little rebound coming out of corners), the emotional connection (all my heroes rode Ti bikes back in the day: Wiens, John Funk, Furtado, Grewal- the list goes on) and the feeling that Ti will get me through the apocalypse when the plastic bike might melt.

There is some permanence in Ti that is unlike any other material.

I remember being my fastest on a Ti bike. (That May not be true- but I like to believe that)

Im putting a deposit on a Bingham Built hardtail. I should get it in time for Fall. Whole Athlete in San Anselmo, CA is doing the fit and and build out.....this bike is going to be a bad boy