By Simon von Bromley

Published: Friday, 11 March 2022 at 12:00 am


Lighter than steel and stronger than aluminium, titanium has long been considered one of the best – and most luxurious – frame materials.

While carbon fibre is clearly the material of choice for top racing frames, titanium is no slouch either when put to good use. Titanium might give up some weight compared to the best carbon frames, but the ride quality is excellent, with a renowned smoothness over rough ground.

Beyond those enticing qualities, titanium also boasts excellent fatigue life, and thanks to its inherent corrosion resistance, can be left unpainted for a unique, elegant finish that will look as good in 25 years as it does now.

Titanium does have a reputation for being expensive, and that’s not undeserved, but if the prospect of a titanium frame is appealing, it’s worth taking into account the complete lifespan of a bike. If it lasts you the rest of your riding life, then the value proposition starts to look a lot better for titanium.

We’ve rounded up nine of the best titanium road bikes as reviewed by the BikeRadar team.

The best titanium road bikes in 2022

  • Reilly Gradient: £3,249
  • Reilly T325: £3,798
  • Ribble Endurance Ti: £3,299
  • Sabbath Mondays Child Mark II: £2,880
  • Dolan Titanium ADX Disc Ultegra: £2,402
  • Kinesis GTD: £4,000
  • Moots Vamoots Disc RSL: $14,505
  • Enigma Escape: £3,888
  • Spa Cycles Elan: £2,180

Reilly Gradient

4.5 out of 5 star rating
"Pack
It really is the chassis where the Reilly wins big.
Robert Smith
  • £3,249 (as tested, international pricing N/A)
  • Awesome handling
  • Beautiful frameset

Built up with a selection of smart components, Reilly’s Gradient is capable of tackling all kinds of on- and off-road adventures.

The frameset is the real star of the show though. As well as being stunning to look at, the Reilly Axis ‘ultra-butted’ tubing and frame angles imbue the bike with a lively ride that balances speed and comfort incredibly well.

As befits an adventure bike, it also has mounts for luggage, mudguards and a third bottle cage as standard. Reilly backs its workmanship with a lifetime warranty on the frame.

Reilly T325

4.5 out of 5 star rating
"Best
The Reilly T325 is a titanium bike with a racy edge.
David Caudery / Immediate Media
  • £3,798 (as pictured, international pricing N/A)
  • Fun and fast
  • Wonderful ride quality

A titanium bike for the person who wants one bike to race forever more, Reily’s T325 has a semi-compact frame for added stiffness and an aggressively short head tube to help you get into a long and low position.

It’s not quite as light as an equivalent carbon race bike, but unless you’re only riding hill climbs or a real weight weenie, you probably won’t notice this, so good is the ride quality.

Reilly also offers a lifetime warranty on the frame.

Ribble Endurance Ti Disc

4.5 out of 5 star rating
"Pack
The Endurance Ti Disc is available in three models: the ‘Pro’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Enthusiast’.
Robert Smith / Immediate Media
  • £3,299 (as tested, international pricing N/A)
  • A well-mannered ride
  • Great value for money

Ribble’s Endurance Ti is built from top-grade, seamless double-butted titanium and its silhouette closely resembles its carbon sibling. Although it has endurance geometry, it’s skewed more towards the sportier side of the spectrum, coming up a little longer in reach and a little lower on the head tube. It is a titanium bike designed with wet weather in mind, with eyelets for mudguards included.

With a mechanical Shimano Ultegra R8000 spec and Ribble’s own-brand components under its Level moniker, the Endurance Ti has an impressive ride quality. It glides over poor surfaces and it has lively handling.

Sabbath Mondays Child Mark II

4.5 out of 5 star rating
"Best
The Sabbath Mondays Child Mark II will tackle out-of-the-saddle climbs with no problems.
David Caudery / Immediate Media
  • £2,880 (as tested, international pricing N/A)
  • Fast, efficient frame
  • Quality wheels and groupset

With its oversized head tube and bottom bracket, as well as a semi-compact frame design, Sabbath’s Mondays Child is stiff enough to race, with its confidence-inspiring geometry making it a particularly noteworthy descender.

Its high-stiffness does mean a little sacrifice in ride comfort, but the smartly specced tubeless-ready wheels and tubeless Schwalbe Pro One tyres soften the ride enough for all-day comfort.

The frame also comes with a lifetime warranty, so you needn’t worry about it lasting the distance either.

Dolan Titanium ADX Disc Ultegra

4.0 out of 5 star rating
"Best
Dolan has a reputation for producing value-packed bikes.
Dolan
  • £2,402 (as tested)
  • Smooth-riding frame with good-value spec
  • Clearance for chunky tyres

Dolan has a well-earned reputation for producing good-value bikes, and its Titanium ADX Disc reinforces that.

The smart-looking frame and Deda carbon fork come kitted out with Shimano’s excellent Ultegra groupset and a host of other quality components, all at a very reasonable price for a titanium bike.

With its tall head tube (205mm on our tester’s 58.5cm bike), it has a sportive-focused geometry, but this is a bike designed to pamper you over long distance. Unless you have the flexibility of a professional road racer, you’ll likely appreciate the elevated position.

You’ll also probably appreciate the generous tyre clearance – thanks to the addition of disc brakes, the Dolan has clearance for up to 35mm tyres, so you can go big enough to smooth out rough roads or take on light gravel.

Kinesis GTD

4.0 out of 5 star rating
"Best
An all-year, titanium mile-eater and bags of fun, too.
David Caudery / Immediate Media
  • £4,000 (as tested)
  • Lovely frame with great kit
  • Plenty of customisation options available

Though Kinesis is better known for its range of aluminium bikes, it has quietly offered a decent titanium road bike for a long time. The GTD name is an abbreviation of ‘Go The Distance’, which is just what it’s designed to do – this is an ultra-endurance, mile-munching machine.

Its disc-brake setup allows clearance for up to 34mm tyres, meaning you can comfortably fit big rubber, too. 

At £2,100 for the frameset alone, it doesn’t come cheap, but built up with quality components it offers a brilliant package for audaxing, fast touring and all-year-round road riding.

Moots Vamoots Disc RSL

4.0 out of 5 star rating
"The
The Moots Vamoots Disc RSL
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
  • $14,505 (as tested)
  • Exquisite craftsmanship
  • Very pricey

Sitting at the racier end of the spectrum, the Vamoots Disc RSL has stiff, oversized tubing and aggressive angles and fit, but still maintains that classic, smooth titanium ride quality the material is so prized for.

Unlike many small frame builders, Moots is able to incorporate modern manufacturing processes such as 3D printing (which is used to make the dropouts, for example) into its process. The result is a beautifully constructed titanium bike that blends the best of classic and modern production methods.

It all comes at a cost though – whether you spec it with the latest and greatest components or go for something more workmanlike, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a rather expensive bike, to say the least. If your pockets are deep enough though, you’re unlikely to be disappointed.