I had a guy, Paul , come in the shop yesterday to buy a mtn bike. Nothing special there, it was why he's here that is cool. You see, Paul is from New Zealand, and is here at UT-Pan American on a grant studying the process of turning titanuim into a usable metal.
I learned a few things yesteday about ti. There are actually more minerals out there to make ti than there are to make aluminum. It's the process of turning those minerals into a metal that is so costly. Hence the outragous cost of a ti bike frame.
So Paul is here for the next year, under the eye of the worlds foremost expert on this process(yes, right here in south tex), trying to make it affordable for you and me to obtain a ti bike frame for cheap. Well, maybe not for that exact purpose, but you get my drift.
So after I helped Paul with his new purchase, of an aluminum bike, I gave him a ride back to his extended stay hotel, exchanged #'s and told him if he needed any help at all to give me a ring......so in a way I have officially contributed to the price reduction of titanuim in the world as we know it. Too bad I won't see the effects for the next 10 years or so. Good luck Paul. Give me a ring when that new ti frame is ready....two-9er of course.
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