Faux Orange; Ti, Ti & more Ti.

My_Teenage_Self

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This was going to be my main ride for Mountain Mayhem this year. It seemed apt to finish it, even though we're not riding this weekend :(

Last winter I was pondering my bikes & parts. 2 things occurred to me;

1. I've never had a titanium bike frame.
2. I've got a very lovely set of cranks being unused, begging to be hung on something equally lovely.


So, with that in mind, I started the search.

I found a badly described oddity on facebook; it was described as an Orange Vit T (and had been confirmed by orange themselves!!). It clearly wasn't. But, I thought I recognised what it was having almost bought one a few years ago; American, made by a very reputable builder, and in this case, very, VERY cheap. Not boutique, but with masses of promise to be a great ride.

Some haggling happened and a week later a large box showed up at my door. What was inside was brilliant and awful at the same time. The frame was *perfect*. no dinks dings or scratches! The parts hung from it were akin to forcing Scarlett Johanssen to wear a burlap sack to the Oscars. The cheapest forks suntour have ever produced, a saddle the size of Mongolia, and some of the most abused finishing kit I have ever come across. The poor thing limped out of it's box and fell over, ready to die, pleading to be put out of it's misery.

Most of the parts for this I've hoarded over the years, a few have been bought, and I only now need a few parts to finish.

Today, I finally married the frame to her new forks. I'm sure someone will quickly figure out what it is :)


Frame & Fork.jpeg

Ignore the wheels and stem, they won't be staying.

I hope to finish with lots more Ti, (Seatpost, Bars, Hubs, Saddle) , and some slightly exotic cranks :)

Edit - mk one guessed right - 1994/1995 KHS Ti Lite. Made by Litespeed.
 
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The dropouts look familiar, but not sure myself what it is.

Great choice of fork though :)
 
There weren't that many made, although there have been a few on here. Made a by a large american builder famous for their Ti, but made for and sold under a rather 'normal' brand.

Never tried a Girvin - always wanted to :) Love the look and theory of linkage forks.
 
Ah, the one thing that made me unsure when purchasing; there's no canti bridge on the frame, and there should be one. When it turned up, I realised that someone had removed it (quite well, although you can tell). Didn't bother me as I hate Cantis. I've got a NOS set of Maguras, or my old XT V brakes to go on it - haven't decided which yet.
 
A little progress this evening

Nice USE ti seatpost and a Bonti Ti saddle - I have mainly Flites, so I'm interested in how this shapes up. Some X-Lite (Ti) bars and what I *believe* to be an Azonic ORC stem. Yeah, I know, but have you SEEN the price of Ti stems? Might have to attack the Ti bars some to match the finish of the frame a little better.

Bars & Stem.jpeg Saddle & Post.jpeg
 
stumbling across a 'blank canvas' ti frame of worth and pedigree is quite something. I look forward to seeing what this will emerge as.
 
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