Forum: bicycles.stackexchange.com
Tags: <wheels><skewer><titanium>
Title: What's the benefit of a titanium skewer?
Question: What's the benefit of using titanium skewer beside the fact that it's light?Is it strong enough to hold my weight?

Answers:
sents: text: Aside from weight, there is no real benefit.
text: Titanium is an alloyed steel, and has no limitation on weight or riding style, generally, although there are likely ultra light versions which do have limits.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/1259/zenbike
score: 7
sents: text: Titanium alloys are typically made of Aluminum and Vanadium:
text: e.g. on a 3AL/2.5V Ti bike Frames for instance there is 3% Aluminum, 2.5% Vanadium and the rest is Titanium.
text: Main benefits of Titanium is no corrosion, immense resistance to fatigue (material failure due to cyclic constraints), and weight indirectly (i.e. stronger material allows to use thinner tubing, for bike frames for instance).
text: Titanium parts are usually very very long lasting, mainly due to resistance to fatigue and corrosion.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/19148/petiot
score: 3
sents: text: I have broken a Ti stem that held my handlbars.
text: Ti seat rail Ti frame (in 3 places now, alas)
text: So Ti is not magical, but this is on a 18 year old frame now, so not that surprising.
text: I have broken several axles, but steel ones have been sufficient for the last few years for me.
text: I suspect weight is the only benefit, however when you care at the level of a few grams, it seems silly when a full water bottle weighs almost a kilo.
text: (1 litre of water weighs 1 kilo)
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/19/geoffc
score: 2
sents: text: The rear wheel (with a Ti skewer) on one of my road bikes would flex and rub against the frame when I stomped on the pedals or climbed a steep hill no matter how tight I made the skewer.
text: I fixed the problem by switching to a steel skewer.
text: No more flex and even the rear derailleur shifts better.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/5105/mike m
score: 2
sents: text: For skewers, weight.
text: That's it.
text: Ti skewers will make your bike and your wallet lighter.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/2598/joelmdev
score: 2
sents: text: Ti = really expensive = really light = usually racing parts = shortened lifespan due to the gram saving which actually weakens the parts for the long haul.
text: If you race and need every ounce shaved off and your sponser is paying
text: then they're great.
text: If you don't race or are paying your own way then you'd be better off spending your cash on something meant for longer life and trying to skip that post ride beer to save on long term weight.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/3291/Chef Flambe
score: 1
sents: text: It is light, and doesn't corrode.
text: The skewer doesn't take weight at all - that is all held on the axle.
text: The skewer just provides compressive force to stop the axle dropping out of the forks.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/1161/brendan
score: 1
sents: text: For skewers, other than weight and durability, one unmentioned advantage of titanium is its resistance to corrosion .
text: Rusty steel skewers can get stuck inside your hub, forcing expensive replacement which is much less likely with titanium (you should still grease them though).
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/19001/zeFrenchy
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Titanium parts are light, do not corrode and have great fatigue resistance, but they are expensive. They are great for racing but for normal use maybe not worth the money. 
The main advantage is weight, although this is insignificant compared to other potential weight savings. Titanium parts resist corrosion and fatigue, and could eliminate potential costs caused by rusted and seized parts. Titanium parts are sometimes built thinner and can therefore be more liable to fail.