Who has experience with titanium forks?

[krink]

Looking into a Ti gravel rig as a "Forever Bike" and have seen many Ti framesets with carbon forks and relatively few with Ti forks. There are a number of fabricators that do make Ti forks for their framesets and wondered if it was more aesthetic or functional? Has anyone had any experience with Ti forksets? I know that the stiffness of carbon means less flex and more responsive handling, but dont know how the ride quality of Ti would change, a little or a lot? Online blogging sounds as if there is significant flex and torsional "looseness" that makes the bike less sure-footed at speed or in technical terrain. And, for some reason, I trust the expertise on this site probably more than I should. Remove price from the equation and give me your learned opinion on functionality and ride quality alone.

 

[Jeremy]

I think a carbon fork has better road dampening. It absorbs the chatter better.

 

[Steve Vai]

Just an FYI, the second your “forever bike” gets delivered every frame and component standard will change and you’ll be stuck with whatever it’s built with…Forever.

 

[qclabrat]

I don't have experience with titanium forks but have owned 3 titanium frames (2 MTB, 1 road) and if they were painted I wouldn't know the difference to a similar steel frame. Steel forks are harsh and would think the same for titanium. Maybe if you throw on a Redshift stem it would smooth things out but I'd start with a good carbon fork

 

[mattybfat]

If your avg to above avg size, steer clear. Haha see what I did there. It will be like noodles unless your going over built custom from waltworks. Stick to steel or carbon and snag some Ti bars. I had Ti fork for a minute on a litespeed. Especially with disc brakes imo.