Thomson ti

[Elefantino]

Thomson's titanium seatpost made its debut at Eurobike, but so did this:



"Thomson is doubling its frameset range (a MTB hardtail was first) with the addition of a gravel bike. About six months away, the new frame will be made from 3/2.5 titanium tubing and offer room for up to a 700x42mm or even wider 650B tyres. It’ll be available in five stock sizes and cost approximately US$3,000. For those that know Thomson as an American-based aluminium stem and seatpost manufacturer (they’re far more than that these days), this frame is not made in America."

Verrrrry innnnnnnteresting.

[weisan]

Nahhhh....they have so much waste material coming out of that newly-designed seatpost, they figured they will go ahead and build a bike out of it, that's as far as it goes...

[FlashUNC]

It have the same ability as other Thomson stuff to be beautifully machined but crack if you even look at it wrong?

[Duende]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

It have the same ability as other Thomson stuff to be beautifully machined but crack if you even look at it wrong?

Ouch! But this did make me laugh!

[colker]

Thomson´s big deal is their longer craddle which gives better suport and grip for saddle rails. Saddles don´t slip and rails don´t bend.
Titanium or aluminium makes no difference if you have a 30.9 seatpost.

[zzy]

The finish on that frame is awful - some polishing and a fine scotchbrite pad is badly needed. Is the post CNC'd?

[Dekonick]

Originally Posted by zzy

The finish on that frame is awful - some polishing and a fine scotchbrite pad is badly needed. Is the post CNC'd?

I was thinking the same thing. Serotta would NEVER have let a frame leave the shop looking like that.

[sonicCows]

Originally Posted by zzy

The finish on that frame is awful - some polishing and a fine scotchbrite pad is badly needed. Is the post CNC'd?

Looks more like smudged oily fingerprints to me

[Dino Suegiù]

Weren't these unveiled already at NAHBS in March?

A First Look at Thomson’s New Titanium All Road Bike and New Titanium Seatpost

LH Thomson goes titanium with prototype gravel bike, new ti seatpost

I wonder if these frames or seatposts will sell. Apparently the very few Lynskey-built bicycles did not do well at all. I don't quite understand why Thomson is entering this market, not being a titanium fabricator at all. It seems curious.

Originally Posted by zzy

The finish on that frame is awful - some polishing and a fine scotchbrite pad is badly needed.

It might well be just another prototype, and then also handled by Eurobike visitors at that.

[Butch]

They showed this at NAHBS this year and they had a Ti MTB frame a few years ago. This one looks like it might be made by ORA Engineering in Taiwan, they use a similar internal routing weld on. Having toured their facility and knowing the materials they use, the frame will be much heavier than a US made frame and I would estimate it will feel that way. Another company I know that used ORA for road bikes a few years ago had a fair number of issues with cracked chainstays.

IMO the cost of US built from one of the better builders is worth it if you plan to ride a lot and keep the bike a long time. The ride quality, aesthetics and longevity make it worth it.

[GonaSovereign]

I suspect those are fingerprints from people touching the bike as they fawn over it. That's a good sign of interest.

Having said that, you can get a ti bike with domestic tubes made in Mass by Seven for a similar price, or a custom bike with butted and shaped domestic tubes out of No22 in upstate New York for a few hundred more. IMHO you'd need to be batsh*t crazy to not go the domestic route for essentially the same price.

Happy to see more brands building with ti.

[zzy]

If that much oxidization is a result of fingerprints, the reps really need to wipe it down with some frame polish more..