Description
- Superior 6AL4V titanium
- SRAM eTap AXS or Shimano Di2 only
- Frame weight from 1.4 Kg
- Up to 32c tyres
- Tapered head tube
- Optimised double butted tubing
- Formed seat stays and chainstays
- CNC’d lightweight dropouts
- T47 threaded bottom bracket
- Flat Mount disc brake mounts
- Thru-axle
- 8 year warranty
- Choice of custom frame finishing available
Nick Cooper –
A titanium bike has been on my wish list for several years, so the big decision was which one to choose once I had the funds in place. Due to the unique nature of the material it is a bike that should last decades, so getting the right choice was crucial or I’d have many years to regret it! Several of the big US manufacturers were on my radar and also some of the smaller UK ones, but my preference is always to support an independent frame manufacturer if possible. Months of research on frame and components were starting to spin to my head, but I was pretty SRAM Red AXS was what I was looking for as a chainset. About the same time I started reading about Vaaru and their new use of 6AL/4V Titanium to manufacture a rigid/compliant frame and that got me hooked. My riding style is very much the grinder/rouleur; never going to outgun the big blokes in a signpost sprint, too big to be first up a climb (unless its a really long one!), but tuck in behind me on a 100 or 200km ride and you’ll have an easy life. Anyway, it sounded like a match made in heaven, so I bit the bullet last December. Unfortunately I then had a series of long overseas trips and horrendous weather whenever I was back in the UK, so it was not looking great and I’d only done about 2 rides by the end of February. When the weather cleared up a bit in March I finally got a few rides in and this is a bike that takes a few rides to get used to. At first I definitely was being too gentle and worrying about the price tag (I didn’t want to take a titanium bike out in the rain!!), but once I started to really throw it about a bit the rewards were amazing. The bike can cope with the absolutely terrible potholed, flint strewn surfaces that even my gravel bike (Mason, Bokeh) struggles with sometimes and has such brilliant balanced control that you can get away with a few misdemeanours. Even now I’m used to it, I sometimes go into a corner thinking “definitely overcooked this!” and it just grips, bites and turns as if laughing at me for ever doubting. Part of this has to be the unbelievable performance of the Vittoria Corsa Control tyres which are phenomenal in their own right. The deep rim Enve wheels with Chris King hubs are super smooth and surprisingly easy to handle in cross winds, but do tend to get hit/sucked rather hard by passing trucks if I’m ever on a main road. The most pleasing thing for me on reflection after several big days out is that the fairly aggressive riding position its pretty manageable and even after 100 miles+ I’m still ready to get in the drops and give a bit more.
So, I guess we have to mention the elephant in room that it is also the most gorgeous bike I’ve ever seen, let alone been able to ride. It’s kind of easy to forget this when you are just enjoying a big day out, especially now cafe stops are not a thing, but I will get people desperately trying to catch me up (or hanging back!) to get a better look. When I first started to talking to James at Vaaru and looking at some of the pre-built bikes he had, this was the only one I wanted, just pure simple titanium and the perfect spec. This bike is not to impress anyone, just me, and it does 😉