FROM CARBON TO TITANIUM: MY LITESPEED TOSCANO AFTER 3,000 MILES
Over the winter, I visited the Litespeed factory and subsequently ordered my dream titanium gravel race bike: the Litespeed Toscano in a beautiful Ano Blast colorway. I had a lot of good carbon gravel bikes to choose from, too, but I went with the Toscano this year because I wanted to experience a season of gravel racing on a premium titanium bike. Could it be the bike to finally break my decade-long addiction to carbon?
I’ve had the good fortune to ride, race, and test countless gravel bikes over the last ten years, so I like to think that I have a good idea of what makes a gravel bike good or not. After 3,000 miles of riding, and several races including UNBOUND Gravel, BWR CA, and SBT GRVL, I’ve come away pretty impressed with my Toscano. It's now become the gravel bike I reach for most, and with my season coming to a close, I’ve decided to reflect on why I like my Litespeed Toscano so much, and why you might like one too.
Discover the Litespeed Toscano
I Chose Titanium. Should You?
It’s the ideal frame material for me because I ride my bikes hard and put them away wet.
When I entered the UNBOUND Gravel lottery and got selected to race, it kick-started a months-long obsession with acquiring new gear to ensure I’d have the best day possible in Emporia’s notoriously rough Flint Hills. My main concern was getting a new gravel bike, since the bike I had ridden in my previous two UNBOUND appearances had developed a nasty crack in the chainstay.
Gravel racing can be incredibly tough on equipment, especially when you’re doing events that feature rugged terrain or brutal weather conditions. If you’re trying to keep up at the sharp end of races or just push your limits, then you’re probably going to experience a few crashes too. This season alone, I’ve hit the deck hard three times in racing in training. At GRODEO this year, I went over the bars on a gnarly descent and tomahawked my Toscano into a rocky talus field. This is a moment where I was incredibly thankful to be riding a titanium bike. I hopped back on, a bit bloody, but with full confidence that my bike was intact.
After trashing (and breaking) several carbon bikes over the years, I’ve become a bit disillusioned with this space-aged frame material. I’m not a sponsored pro who can get new bikes easily. I’m a regular guy racing for fun, so I need my gear to be reliable and to last a long time. With that in mind, a rugged titanium gravel bike quickly became my top pick.
So, should you choose a titanium gravel bike? Well, that depends on what’s important to you. If, like me, your biggest concern is durability and longevity, nothing is going to beat titanium. Its strength-to-weight ratio is unmatched, and it doesn’t corrode. It’s the ideal frame material for me because I ride my bikes hard and put them away wet.
A slightly more unexpected benefit to this titanium’s durability is that it also continues looking great after extensive abuse. I’m the obsessive type who feels gut-wrenching pain whenever the paint on my pristine bike gets scratched or chipped. But I have yet to feel that way about my new titanium bike. Not only does the titanium finish resist damage, but it’s also easy to maintain. The anodization might fade, but I’ve seen firsthand how easy it is to redo the anodization and make it like new. Litespeed can do it, but there are also several amazing anodizers that I can go to for a glow-up in a few years.
The Toscano Is the World’s Lightest Titanium Gravel Bike
During my bike shopping journey, the Litespeed Toscano became my top pick because it’s currently the lightest titanium gravel frame on the market.
It sheds grams by using Litespeed’s most advanced Superform SL6/4 titanium tubeset. This tubeset uses superlight 3AL/2.5V tubes—which are custom-formed and cold-worked into multi-dimensional shapes with variable wall thickness that reduce weight—and combines them with a unique top tube formed from a single ultra-thin sheet of 6AL/4V titanium. This “sheet-formed” top tube weighs less than a standard 3AL/2.5V tube, but also has higher tensile strength and lateral stiffness.
At 1,280 grams for a size medium, the frame is shockingly light. To give you a sense of how impressive that weight is, most high-end titanium frames are in the 1,400-1,600 gram range. Many popular carbon gravel race models claim unpainted frame weights in the 1,000-1,200 gram range. “Unpainted” is important because paint generally adds 100-250 grams to a frame, depending on the number of layers or type of paint used. This means the Toscano’s frame weight is comparable to many carbon gravel bikes. Of course, titanium is never going to beat high-end carbon in a weight-weenie battle, but the Toscano is definitely light enough to be competitive, which was incredibly attractive to me.
When I got my Toscano home and fully built, it weighed nearly the same as my two previous carbon gravel bikes: the Orbea Terra and Lauf Seigla. With my Cane Creek Invert SL suspension fork, pedals, bottle cages, computer mounts, 50mm gravel tires, and a generous 60ml of sealant per tire, my Toscano build tipped the scales at 20 lbs 6 oz. This is only 2 ounces more than my Lauf Seigla, which has a very similar build but came equipped with a slightly lighter leaf spring fork, and 4 ounces more than my Orbea Terra, which had a rigid fork! With a rigid carbon fork, my Toscano should easily come in under 20 pounds. For a metal bike that can survive the most brutal terrain, that is pretty darn good.
The benefit of this low weight is that I have a nicer time on climbs. Of course, bike weight isn't everything, but there is at least some psychological benefit to knowing your bike isn't a tank. Also, when I have to pick up my bike and hike, I definitely appreciate the lightness!
Comfort and Stiffness Match the Best Carbon Frames
The Toscano has the stiffness I want for intense racing, but also the comfort I need for spending hours in the saddle.
Before I ordered my Toscano, I had heard A LOT about titanium’s ride quality. This was often presented to me in two ways. Proponents would describe it as “magical.” Because of titanium’s unique properties, it provides a bit of “spring” with every pedal stroke and absorbs chatter and vibration so you can cruise along in comfort for mile after mile. Detractors might describe it as “flexy.” While this trait is great for endurance riding, it might not be what you want for racing. This is where the stiffness of carbon can provide that almighty “power transfer.”
How does the titanium Toscano actually ride, though?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the last 3,000 miles, and if I’m honest, it really just feels like a high-end carbon bike. That might sound like a disappointing answer, but it’s actually an incredible compliment. The Toscano’s titanium frame is extremely comfortable. It kills road buzz and effectively dampens impacts from bumps. This is just like the best carbon frames I’ve ridden, too. On the flip side, the Toscano also feels lively and efficient, springing forward with eagerness whenever I stamp on the pedals on a climb or in a sprint. Again, this is true of the best carbon frames I’ve ridden, too.
In short, the Toscano has the stiffness I want for intense racing, but also the comfort I need for spending hours in the saddle. It’s the perfect balance.
With the engineering that goes into producing modern high-tech carbon lay-ups, it’s kind of impressive to me that this same ride feel can be achieved with metal tubes. I suppose that’s the power of multi-dimensional tube shaping and decades of bike-building experience. The tube shapes and wall thickness are manipulated along the full length of each tube to achieve stiffness and flex characteristics that a basic round tube can’t, and I can feel it. I’ve never once felt like I lacked anything when rubbing elbows with riders on carbon bikes.
This led to a sort of epiphany. Since I’m in my 30s, I missed out on all the years when titanium was the most advanced frame material available. As a result, I might have the order of events backwards. Maybe I shouldn't think of it as titanium bikes matching the ride quality of carbon bikes, but as carbon bikes matching the ride quality of the best titanium bikes.
Off-Road Handling: the Unexpected Highlight
I’ll launch the bike into a gnarly section with the brakes fully off, without flinching at all the rocks pinging off the downtube.
I consider descending to be one of my strengths. I love technical and gnarly sections in races because I feel like they give me an advantage. Ultimately, I feel like all modern gravel bikes handle pretty well. The industry figured out gravel geometry long ago, and everything is just small refinements of a formula that we know works. It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden a gravel bike that I’d call out for feeling nervous or uninspiring.
When it comes to refined handling, though, the Toscano impressed me. After one or two rides, I felt so confident that I quickly set several new Strava PRs on some local singletrack trails. I was only 1-3 seconds faster, but I beat PRs that I originally set years ago. I’ve ridden these trails on countless gravel bikes, so why was I faster on the Toscano?
The geometry is dialed. The frame flex is well-tuned so it's easier to maintain traction when things get loose, and pumping through rollers and out of corners is a pure joy. The biggest factor though is simply confidence. I attribute my Toscano's extra downhill confidence to two things: the gravel suspension fork and the psychological advantage of titanium.
The advantages of gravel suspension forks are pretty obvious, so I won’t go too deep into it, but it's worth mentioning that the Toscano features suspension-corrected geometry designed to maintain the ideal geometry numbers with the taller axle-to-crown height and sag of a suspension fork. This means the bike always stays nimble and reactive, like any good race bike should, but thanks to the extra suspension at the front, it can smash straight through rough stuff. It only has 30mm of travel, but combined with a nice 50mm gravel tire, it makes a huge difference!
As for the psychological advantage of titanium, part of me just isn’t afraid to send it on this bike. It's a similar feeling I’ve had in the past when I’ve switched from carbon to aluminum enduro and downhill bikes. A small part of me believes my frame is indestructible, so I’m a bit more willing to push the limits. When trying to beat downhill Strava PRs or KOMs by a couple of seconds or less, that small psychological edge can be enough. I’ll launch the bike into a gnarly section with the brakes fully off, without flinching at all the rocks pinging off the downtube. I feel invincible.
Potential Considerations: Tire Clearance and Cost
There are two things in particular that I might want to change about my Toscano.
The first is tire clearance. The Toscano clears big 50mm wide gravel tires. In the modern gravel landscape, that’s perfect. But I’m always one to push the limits when it comes to tires, so I did try to stuff a set of 2.2” Continental Race Kings into my bike because that’s the tire that many gravel geeks love. I expected some rub, but sadly, they rubbed my chainstays too much and weren’t practical for training or racing.
This isn’t a real critique, since I’m exceeding the stated official max tire size, and 50mm tires are plenty big for most riders and most gravel riding scenarios. However, if you’re someone who wants to ride gravel on MTB tires for maximum comfort or to handle the gnarliest terrain, you might be better off purchasing a Litespeed Flint, which has a more generous 54mm tire clearance.
My second concern is the cost. The Toscano isn’t the most expensive gravel bike around. It’s not even the most expensive titanium gravel bike around, despite being the lightest. But when a frameset retails for over $4,000, it isn’t exactly accessible to budget-minded riders. To be fair, though, this is the most advanced titanium gravel bike around, and the cost reflects that. If the Toscano isn’t within your budget, then again, I’d point you toward the Flint.
Final Thoughts
I like my bikes to feel special. I don’t want to ride a bike that feels like a (literal) carbon copy. Fortunately, novelty is something the Toscano has in spades. I LOVE showing up to group rides on this bike. I love letting people pick it up and feel the weight. The Ano Blast finish and sheet-formed top tube are instant attention-getters. Besides how well this bike rides, this has been my favorite part of owning this bike. I always feel like the world’s most special gravel snowflake.
Ultimately, while I think the Toscano is the best gravel bike I’ve ever owned, it’s likely not for everyone simply because of the price. My top-of-the-line build, with SRAM RED XPLR and Industry Nine carbon wheels, is over $10,000! To quote Ferris Bueller, though, “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”
If you want to save some cash, I think choosing one of the new SRAM Force or Rival XPLR gravel drivetrains would be a great option. Besides some bling and a few grams, there’s really no performance difference.
If you want a high-quality titanium bike but don’t want to sell your car or rely on financing to get one, then the Litespeed Flint is the bike I’ll be recommending until the end of time (or until Litespeed replaces it). It’s not as stunningly light or aggressively stiff as the Toscano, but the Pure LW tubeset is still butted and size-specific, so you get the same amazing ride quality, and of course, it’s indestructible. I actually bought a Flint for my wife, who plans to take on the UNBOUND Gravel 200 next year!
