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Well...hello again.
I've put a few thousand miles on both...more than I care to admit...as a Cat 3 road cyclist. I've had 3 Columbus equipped frames; 2 out of SLX (old tech) and 1 out of EL (flexy). My most recent frame was a Litespeed Ti made from 6Al 2.5V, which was swaged and butted. I also own a Cannondale 2.0 aluminum for velodrome use. Currently I ride an old Bianchi with SLX.
My thumbs go up to the Ti if you can swing it cost wise. Yeah, "unobtanium" is more exotic, can be poilshed, etc, but Ti has inherent road dampening and shock absorbing properties that make it for me. I was always happy with the Litespeed, but sold it because the gemoetry was just a little off for me. They are light in weight of course, but also very strong. It always seemed like the Ti was snappier (less flex across the length of the bike) for me when I got on it in a sprint.
Tough to compare apples to apples in reality tho. If everything is as close to identical as possible, go Ti. But if the steel frame is stiffened and butted in the right places, has swaged rear seat stays, an exotic downtube...and the Ti is the basic frame design, might be a toss up. You almost need to compare with the same set of wheels too which is tough to do. Anyone at the shop that says "oh yeah you'll feel better on the Ti right away" is full of crap. It takes many miles and dialed in bike fit to make an objective opinion about it.
You could always start with a Ti frame, go say Campy Chorus (last years Record group usually) and hold the cost down to upgrade later. Nothin' beats a polished Ti frame either for appearance IMO...
Good luck-
BG
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'84 Carrera Coupe
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