Titanium or Reynolds 953?

I'm currently riding a titanium road bike, but I'm intrigued by some of the new stainless offerings. Which is better?

953 and Ti are completely different. Neither is better or worse- it all depends what you expect from a bike.

The titanium bikes I've tried had a really sweet ride. The only way to find out if the stainless bike's ride is better is to hop on one and try it for yourself. Personally, I went for a carbon frame and really love the ride. Frame material is important, but the execution of the frame-builder's art is more important.

HTH

I have an Eddy Merckx Ti frame built by Litespeed for about 8 years now. No problem with it and great ride.

I would guess the Ti bike may end up being a bit lighter but it all comes down to what the other posters said, a well built frame from any material is better than a poorly built frame or one that doesn't fit you.

Both frame should never rust. Also steel and Ti don't fatigue over time. Ti may have the edge in weight since they can make the tubes thinner for the same strength.

Carbon fiber seems to be the material of choice now since it can be customized to be stronger in one direction, more flexible in another. Tubes can be shaped to be more aero and built up where more strength is needed. The knock used to be that carbon fiber frames could fail but it is a long time since I have seen that. However if a frame gets cracked in a crash, you pretty much need a new frame.

Aluminum tends to make stiff light frames. The only knocks are that the frames tended to be stiff and aluminum can fatigue over time. Engineering different shaped tubes coupled with a carbon fiber fork has greatly improved the ride of aluminum frames in recent years.