One of those nasty moments ...

[gajinoz]

After I had moved into my new house I was replacing the lock on the back door which required a little bit of work on the hole in the wood. Out with the trusty Sebbie and I'm carving away when.. OOPS, knife throws itself out of my hand, flies throught the air and lands on CONCRETE. I had this instant vision of the handle shattering into a zillion bits but, much to my relief, not a scratch.

For some bizarre reason I always imagined that titanium was brittle and would easily shatter. I'm glad I was wrong.

 

[Roodog]

Ti is used to make bicycle frames because it is flexible, strong and light. Steel flexes about as much (maybe more) but Ti will have a longer lifespan under bending and torsional forces. Steel is also much heavier. High quality Ti frames can last a lifetime, aluminum frames are also light but much stiffer and will eventually break.
Pros use carbon fiber now a days but its so expensive and also has a limited lifespan. CF frames are also very fragile when subjected to impacts (ie-crashing) which is OK if youre a pro cyclist and have like 10 more of the same bike waiting on top of your team car.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I always imagined that titanium was brittle and would easily shatter

Asamatterafact, titanium won't even get brittle when it's so cold out that steel could shatter.

But you don't have cold to worry about, do you?

 

[gajinoz]

Asamatterafact, titanium won't even get brittle when it's so cold out that steel could shatter.

But you don't have cold to worry about, do you?

Well, it gets a bit chilly in Winter, even snows occasionally, but nothing like what you crazy buggers choose to live in! Speaking of which, it's about 35C and 80% humidity here today. What's a good handle material for sweaty hands?