Why dont you ask yourself how come the very high end bike frame and component are 100% titanium? Why high end glasses frame are titanium? Come on, use your head.
Some of them do, the Cab 8 has been released with Ti mesh included. Just to add to this, SBP rackets that has Ti mesh don't, its just a normal racket with a graphite frame. Why? because it vibrates too much
Use of 100% titanium in racquets If racquets could be made substantially or fully from titanium, it would not be 100% titanium in any event, but an alloy. The most common alloy used in bicycle frames and golf shafts is known as 3Al- 2.5V, which is an alloy of 94.5% titanium, 3% aluminum and 2.5% vanadium, to give the titanium more stiffness. A less common alloy is 6Al- 4V, which is only 90 % titanium and is stiffer than the more common alloy, but more brittle and harder to work. I am guessing that it would not be feasible to construct a racquet out of titanium alloy. First, I am not sure that ti tubing is manufactured thin enough for a racquet shaft - the thinnest I saw on a titanium manufacturer's product list was 9.5mm in diameter, whereas the typical badminton graphite shaft is around 7.5mm. I also don't think it would be easy to cast a racquet head from ti - it is much more difficult to work with than aluminum or steel. If such a racquet could be made, I think it would probably weigh more than most graphite racquets - the lightest graphite bicycle frames are about 15-22% lighter than the lightest ti frames. I also think that a ti alloy shaft might be too flexible. Finally, I imagine that the cost of a titanium alloy racquet might be prohibitive - extracting titanium ore is a very complicated process and the difficulty of working with this metal also drives the price up. I have sent an e-mail to a major U.S. titanium manufacturer of bicycle frames and golf club shafts, Titanium Sports Technologies, Inc,, requesting information about the feasibility of making a titanium alloy racquet, as well as estimates for weight and cost of such a racquet. Hopefully they will respond to my questions and I will post any response; I have wanted a ti bicycle for years and I hinted to them that in the next year or so I might buy one from them. Here are some specifications on titanium alloy tubes: TST Ti -3Al-2.5V Tubing Properties Strength 135,000 psi ( 930 Mpa) Ultimate Strength 115,000 psi ( 790 Mpa) Yield Strength About 10 - 15% stronger than Cr-Mo steel And three times as strong as 6061 Al - T6 Density 0.162 lbs/in³ (4.48 gm/cm³) 45% lighter than steel and 65% heavier than aluminum Strength to Weight Ratio Based on Yield Strength divided by Density 74% higher than 6061 - T6 Aluminum 102% higher than 4130 Cr-Mo steel Elastic Modulus 15.0 x 106 psi (10.3 x 104 Mpa) 50% higher than aluminum alloys and 50% lower than steel alloys
Cooler, I am thinking that the answer to your question about the lack of ti-mesh in bike frames is that it is not necessary. I used to be a bicycle nut about five years ago, but haven't been subscribing to the magazines for several years. I read an interview with a carbon (graphite) frame manufacturer and he stated that a carbon frame was infinitely adaptable to the particular preferences of a rider, as they could easily add or remove additional sheets of carbon fiber, or change the direction of the carbon sheets (carbon is a directional fiber with different strength and flex characteristics depending on the direction of the weave). I have a vague recollection that various other substances including boron, kevlar and maybe titanium were used in carbon bicycle frames in the early to mid '90s, but I could be wrong and in any event, currently most major carbon frame manufacturers use only carbon and an epoxy resin in their frames. As for bicycle components, most high-end bicycles do come with some ti components, such as full sets of ti nuts and bolts, dropouts, derailleur hangers, hubsets, headsets and the like. Ti parts save a lot of weight and do not corrode like steel or aluminum parts and a number of manufacturers produce them for upgrading existing bikes. Ti parts are damn expensive - I think just a pair of typical nuts and bolts are at least USD $2-3 each. I always figured that the best weigh to lighten up a bicycle for peddling uphill wasn't to spend hundreds of dollars on ti parts to save a quarter kilogram, but to lose a few kgs off my stomach.
Re: Use of 100% titanium in racquets i'm quite in tune of Ti physical attrbutes and its many commerical application. I was a bike nut once also. Can't keep up with the constant innovation of bike changes so i stop following it. However, i will upgrade my bike to a full suspension with full disc brakes when they are common and cheap like chocolate chip cookies. The mountain bike i like is around 4000 US$. I rather buy a real motocross motorcycle instead (which i do have). It rides (float) so smooth like a cadillac over bumps and dirt trails when compare to a mountain bike. You can see that all mountain bike suspension makers want to emulates motocross suspension. In motocross, the bike is close to perfection. There is no gimmick components in them. I used the term 100% ti loosely so pete and other would understand my basic point. As i have said many times over and you have too in your last post, the partial ti-mesh in badminton racquet is technically negative but extremely positive in term of marketing.
Re: Use of 100% titanium in racquets Cooler, isn't it funny how a simple piece of equipment like a bike, whose design has remained essentially the same for the past half century (maybe with the exception of better shifters and frame materials), can easily cost $2000 to $6000 or more, yet CD-RW drives, which cost $1000-2000 five or six years ago, can now be purchased for under $100 and are at least four times faster? I guess automated robotic production lines and the more competitve market for computer equipment are the reasons. I would be curious to know the actual manufacturing cost (materials, labor, factory overhead) of a basic Cab-20 (w/o gimmicks) and an MP-100 (loaded with gimmicks and marketing hoopla). Then I would like to see those production costs compared to the actual cost to Yonex of those racquets after adding in corporate overhead and marketing. Maybe we should recruit a spy in the Yonex organization.
