I've wanted a Ti bike ever since I befriended a couple of Yanks from Cali who were cycle touring aroud NZ back in ~ '93. I remember the Guys & their bikes like it was yesterday! Jim rode a gorgeous '89 Merlin Mtn resplendant in Suntour XC-Pro with a Ritchey unicrown fork. Joe rode a brand spanking Litespeed, draped in the first M900 groupset i'd seen & a Manitou II! Being a wide-eyed 17 year old I was in awe of the Guys' bikes.
Nearly 20 years later, I still hadn't come into posession of a Ti bike in spite of the fact that i've now owned over 100 bikes! This situation had to be remedied... Enter my 'experiment' with purchasing from a Chinese bicycle manufacturer. After some negotiation, 'too & fro' & a bit of product design, i've taken posession of not one but two new Ti frames & an impessive list of Ti add-ons!
1) Ti MTB hardtail frame:
I decided to go for a classic Ti frame. Compact geometry, standard headtube & B/B. This will be an M970/975 build with thumbies. Ti bars, pillar, skewers etc:
2) Ti Road frame:
Following the same principle as the MTB frame, i've opted for standard headtube & B/B. Semi-compact geometry on this one. 7900 DA build:
3) Custom designed Ti Unicrown (my salute to the Accutrax ):
I went through a few design revisions before arriving at the design of this fork. Can't wait to see how it rides! 430mm axle to crown, 45mm offset.
4) Ti 31.8 x 680mm flatbar:
Wide is good.
5) Ti seatpillar (for the MTB):
This is an absolute work of art!
6) Ti 'windup' skewers:
A bit of bling to finish the builds off.
I've got a busy long-weekend this weekend.
Nearly 20 years later, I still hadn't come into posession of a Ti bike in spite of the fact that i've now owned over 100 bikes! This situation had to be remedied... Enter my 'experiment' with purchasing from a Chinese bicycle manufacturer. After some negotiation, 'too & fro' & a bit of product design, i've taken posession of not one but two new Ti frames & an impessive list of Ti add-ons!
1) Ti MTB hardtail frame:
I decided to go for a classic Ti frame. Compact geometry, standard headtube & B/B. This will be an M970/975 build with thumbies. Ti bars, pillar, skewers etc:
2) Ti Road frame:
Following the same principle as the MTB frame, i've opted for standard headtube & B/B. Semi-compact geometry on this one. 7900 DA build:
3) Custom designed Ti Unicrown (my salute to the Accutrax ):
I went through a few design revisions before arriving at the design of this fork. Can't wait to see how it rides! 430mm axle to crown, 45mm offset.
4) Ti 31.8 x 680mm flatbar:
Wide is good.
5) Ti seatpillar (for the MTB):
This is an absolute work of art!
6) Ti 'windup' skewers:
A bit of bling to finish the builds off.
I've got a busy long-weekend this weekend.