Why we only weld titanium

I learned to weld titanium on aircraft parts, where nothing is allowed to fail and nobody cares what it looks like. Bicycles turned out to need the first part and enjoy the second.

What it does on the road

Titanium is about half the weight of steel for the same strength, and it damps the buzz of rough roads in a way you only notice after three hours. It doesn’t rust, so it doesn’t need paint, and scratches brush out with a pad.

What it asks of us

It has to be welded in a purge of argon, inside and out, with clean hands and a clean bench. It’s slow. That’s fine: we make one frame at a time, and we’d rather make it once.