Hey guys.
I've done my research into getting a custom Ti hardtail frame made. Lots of choices in China and many more elsewhere but my budget doesn't allow for that right now.
In the end I have gone for a frame to be made by Titan. I intended to order a frame a few years back and didn't get round to it but paid my deposit yesterday and looking forward to updating you guys on how the frame comes out when I get it.
I have opted for an integrated seatpost this time. No real reason other than I like the look of it and never tried it before.
The total price will end up being about $1200 which includes, both sets of interchangeable dropouts, the Ti seatpost topper and shipping to the UK which is about $260 - so in terms of cost, if the frame lives up to what I expect, then it will be great value. My rides are mostly tarmac and paths because the majority of my mileage is commuting I don't ride so frequently on my days off although when I do, its mostly in the New Forest.
Spec wise:
Frame geometry is outdated but it is based off the Cannondale Flash from 2013. I have this bike right now and the fit is perfect for me, so i thought I'd better not mess with that.
I intend fitting the majority of the stuff from my Cannondale onto the Ti frame. This includes a lefty fork and I also have a titanium lefty fork on order from Van Nicholas. Again, no purpose other than aesthetic. The fork will cost more than the frame when I get my customs bill, probably £1200 all said but it's unique and they sent a diagram over too which they took some time to find.
I've opted for BB30 bottom bracket shell and external cable routing. I just don't like internal routing personally and I have a few frames so changing stuff between bikes is a lot easier with cabling thats external.
The Canndondale lefty fork has a spacing of 135mm between clamps, so I asked for headtube to be 134mm and I have shims to remove any gaps. I just wanted that extra mm to account for any tolerance stacks. I didn't want a 1.5" heatube (upper and lower) like my Cannondale so opted for tapered instead and gonna use standard IS42 and IS52 bearings and then I will use a lefty adapter to fit that on.
Rear of the bike will have exchangeable dropouts for 135mm QR and 142mm TA.
Anita has come back to me lots of times confirming small details like the types of cable stops and direction of cable routing I want. Small details I had overlooked initially so I'm pleased with her attention to detail to capture everything how I want it.
Experience with Titan so far:
I have always heard back from Anita when emailing and she had been at Titan for over a decade, perhaps even from the start.
I like that the replies are helpful and fast. There is a time-zone difference of course but sometimes we have exchanged emails minutes which is great when finalizing details.
So that's it for now. I expect to get the frame probably in late-March and the Van Nic fork will arrive at some point but I am not in a rush. I plan on keeping my carbon Flash frame as a backup. I am a chronic seller of parts that I have replaced and many times regretted doing so. Hopefully not in this case but I'd rather no chance it in case the worse happens.
I've done my research into getting a custom Ti hardtail frame made. Lots of choices in China and many more elsewhere but my budget doesn't allow for that right now.
In the end I have gone for a frame to be made by Titan. I intended to order a frame a few years back and didn't get round to it but paid my deposit yesterday and looking forward to updating you guys on how the frame comes out when I get it.
I have opted for an integrated seatpost this time. No real reason other than I like the look of it and never tried it before.
The total price will end up being about $1200 which includes, both sets of interchangeable dropouts, the Ti seatpost topper and shipping to the UK which is about $260 - so in terms of cost, if the frame lives up to what I expect, then it will be great value. My rides are mostly tarmac and paths because the majority of my mileage is commuting I don't ride so frequently on my days off although when I do, its mostly in the New Forest.
Spec wise:
Frame geometry is outdated but it is based off the Cannondale Flash from 2013. I have this bike right now and the fit is perfect for me, so i thought I'd better not mess with that.
I intend fitting the majority of the stuff from my Cannondale onto the Ti frame. This includes a lefty fork and I also have a titanium lefty fork on order from Van Nicholas. Again, no purpose other than aesthetic. The fork will cost more than the frame when I get my customs bill, probably £1200 all said but it's unique and they sent a diagram over too which they took some time to find.
I've opted for BB30 bottom bracket shell and external cable routing. I just don't like internal routing personally and I have a few frames so changing stuff between bikes is a lot easier with cabling thats external.
The Canndondale lefty fork has a spacing of 135mm between clamps, so I asked for headtube to be 134mm and I have shims to remove any gaps. I just wanted that extra mm to account for any tolerance stacks. I didn't want a 1.5" heatube (upper and lower) like my Cannondale so opted for tapered instead and gonna use standard IS42 and IS52 bearings and then I will use a lefty adapter to fit that on.
Rear of the bike will have exchangeable dropouts for 135mm QR and 142mm TA.
Anita has come back to me lots of times confirming small details like the types of cable stops and direction of cable routing I want. Small details I had overlooked initially so I'm pleased with her attention to detail to capture everything how I want it.
Experience with Titan so far:
I have always heard back from Anita when emailing and she had been at Titan for over a decade, perhaps even from the start.
I like that the replies are helpful and fast. There is a time-zone difference of course but sometimes we have exchanged emails minutes which is great when finalizing details.
So that's it for now. I expect to get the frame probably in late-March and the Van Nic fork will arrive at some point but I am not in a rush. I plan on keeping my carbon Flash frame as a backup. I am a chronic seller of parts that I have replaced and many times regretted doing so. Hopefully not in this case but I'd rather no chance it in case the worse happens.
