Re: Ti Cons 'n such(DON'T READ UNLESS you are absolutely interested)

[orin@netcom.com (Orin Eman)]

> Speaking of questions, Scott, if you were racing a car at 10 10ths in a
> race, a long race, what would hold up the best?  Which would be less
> likely to fail and save you weight? And before pneumatic valves were
> developed in F1, what type of spring was used? Titanium.  
> 
> By the way, dentistry, especially orthodontics uses a significant amount
> of titanium.  Titanium springs used in orthodontics are not "coveted"
> for their light weight(which is irrelevant), but rather their superior
> force characteristics over stainless steel springs.  FYI

>From my rather limited knowledge, I thought the advantage of Ti was that
you could get the same strength with less weight, hence its use in many
high end bicycle parts.  However, I seem to remember it is more brittle
than steel if you aren't careful... So in F1, same strength with less
weight... Ti is obviously better.  Similar for the orthodontics, you
get greater strength for the same size wire.

BTW: the best way for most of us to lighten the bicycle/rider combo
is to lose the weight from around the waist ;-)

Orin.