The PBK Titanium Frame has been tested by the good people at Bike radar and we’re delighted to say that they gave it 4 and a half stars, which is high praise indeed. They test a lot of product and to get the thumbs up from them means that we’ve got this frame spot on. We recently put a pair of Reynolds Strikes Carbon Clincher wheels on to complete the look and we were very happy with the outcome. Why? Because we can!
Here’s what Bike Radar had to say: ‘Good value and very racy Titanium frame.’
PBK’s TITANIUM BIKE is supplied by the online retailer ProBikeKit as a frame only. The frame costs £785.99 (£707.39 with a discount). Ours was supplied by PBK with kit that it supplies, based around SRAM’s second string Force groupset and Fulcrum’s excellent Racing 3 wheels.
At just 7.64kg the PBK was one of the lightest bikes on test. Everybody agreed that it was nicely finished too, with just a minimal touch of PBK branding on an otherwise naked titanium frame. In spite of titanium’s reputation for offering comfort over performance, all our testers felt that the PBK was more a machine for the competitive rider rather than the casual cyclist. “Strictly for racing, very fast, very stiff out of the blocks, with an aggressive position and nippy handling,” said resident racer Jeff Jones.
Other racers in the test team also appreciated the stiff, racy frame and the excellent Ritchey fork. Specced with Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels, the PBK was described by one tester as a “very raceable bike, one that induces pedal-mashing excitement”. Of our team of testers only our workshop manager George Ramelkamp – generally a fan of all things titanium – was less than totally impressed by this bike, having issues with heel clearance on the rear triangle.
The 27.2mm seatpost helps to take the sting out of road buzz, but even this bike’s fans reckoned that the ride is on the firm side, Jeff suggesting that it wouldn’t look after you on a long ride. Overall this is a good looking bike that shows titanium still has a place as a racing bike. The weight is comparable with carbon fibre and the ride is just as fast, but titanium has the advantage of longevity too. Theoretically and barring a catastrophic crash, a titanium frame should last you indefinitely.
Bike radar’s scoring explained:
They rate every single product they review on BikeRadar with a score out of five.
In doing so, they take into account its performance relative to its rivals, its cost, its durability, its ‘I want’ factor and opinions of different reviewers.
They are well aware that ratings mean different things to different people. They can also change over time as scoring systems are updated, as they have done in the latter part of 2009.
5 stars – Exceptional: a genuine class leader
By definition, this is a rare occurrence – you can’t have more than one class leader.
4 stars – Very good: one of the best you can buy
Again, by definition, quite rare – not everything can be one of the best.
Their overall opinion was that the PBK Titanium frame was 4 and a half stars: ‘Good value and very racy Titanium frame’
