When only the best is good enough and you want your bike to last a lifetime, it's got to be titanium.

Our unashamed dream do-it-all machine, the Croix de Fer Ti comes with a full carbon fork to drop over a kilogram against its steel counterparts.

It's not just weight though - the sublimely smooth ride quality and unmistakable zing you get from any quality titanium build is present and correct. Not to mention the fact that the raw finish is a thing of unmatched beauty.

Tube profiles are carefully selected and designed to give the new double-butted titanium platform a stiff and efficient pedalling platform, retaining the same connected feel and 'in-saddle' comfort for which the steel Croix de Fer is famed.

The fully oval 28.6/35mm toptube and cleverly swaged seat tube are all engineered to deliver high levels of comfort.

The large diameter 44mm oval-rounded trapezoid downtube, beefy S-Bend mountain bike-derived chainstays, tapered 56-46mm headtube and 34.9mm lower seat tube OD help ensure direct and efficient power transfer and pinpoint sharp handling.

The ability to run up to a 45mm rear tyre and a 50mm front tyre on 700c rims increase the all-terrain ability of the Ti Croix - and it doesn't end there. If you want to experiment with 650B wheels, you could run up to a 45mm rear tyre and a 54mm front tyre.

Thru-axles front and rear, flat mounts for disc brakes, a third bottle mount, rack and guard mounts and fixings for Anything Cages on the forks complete the package.

Finish it with carbon wheels, electronic shifting and ti finishing kit for a lightweight, high speed go-anywhere explorer that gives away nothing to comfort

Or go for something more understated - or eclectic - the choice is yours