Custom Waltly Titanium 29er

[bxcc]

3 years and 500 miles later, the frame is retired. Not overly happy about this as I was really happy with the geometry and ride. It developed a seatpost creak within the first 150 miles or so. The hole is a bit bigger than it probably should be as the seat post will slide down on its own if the clamp isn’t tight. I’ve tried shimming the post with aluminum and teflon, but nothing would prevent the creak from coming back. Not sure which came first, the creak or the crack.

I haven’t contacted Waltly yet as I’m sure there’s no warranty at this point.

[jannmayer]

That is a real shame!


Maybe there is a local framebuilder that works in titanium and can repair it? Seems like a small enough crack where that could be an option.

[carbonazza]

@bxcc, sorry to read it wasn't a good experience at all

[bxcc]

There’s a local machine shop that I’m sure would be able to fix it. I’d want to add a bridge behind the seat tube to help stiffen that area up. I think if the crack is welded and nothing else is done, it will just crack again. For now I’m going to hang it on the shop wall of shame. I’ve ordered a carbon frame from Spcycle that will be its replacement.

[tripleDot]

Sad to see that happen bxcc.
I actually have 3 Waltly bikes now and all have seen more mileage than yours and still going strong. Here's hoping Waltly would still honour their warranty.

[jefflinde]

Sorry if this has been asked but i was not able to find it.   what does a basic Ti frame from Waltly cost?  i know this is a loaded question as there is a lot of customizing that can be done but just a run of the mill gravel frame or road frame?  I would really like to go this route but i kind of want to have a ball park before i get going.  Thank you in advance.

[bxcc]

Sorry if this has been asked but i was not able to find it.   what does a basic Ti frame from Waltly cost?  i know this is a loaded question as there is a lot of customizing that can be done but just a run of the mill gravel frame or road frame?  I would really like to go this route but i kind of want to have a ball park before i get going.  Thank you in advance.

$700 to $1000 plus shipping which will be about $200 to the US.

[bxcc]

Sad to see that happen bxcc.
I actually have 3 Waltly bikes now and all have seen more mileage than yours and still going strong. Here's hoping Waltly would still honour their warranty.

What size seat post on your Waltly frames? This one has a 31.6 post and it's a sloppy fit. My gravel frame from Waltly has a 30.9 and it fits much better with no slop.

[tripleDot]

Sorry if this has been asked but i was not able to find it.   what does a basic Ti frame from Waltly cost?  i know this is a loaded question as there is a lot of customizing that can be done but just a run of the mill gravel frame or road frame?  I would really like to go this route but i kind of want to have a ball park before i get going.  Thank you in advance.

My 3rd one, commissioned on 2022 was US$1300. Excluding shipping & duties. My frame costs more as I had ovalize top tube.

[tripleDot]

What size seat post on your Waltly frames? This one has a 31.6 post and it's a sloppy fit. My gravel frame from Waltly has a 30.9 and it fits much better with no slop.

My gravel bike & touring bike are 27.2mm while my ht mtb was 31.6mm. Never had any issues with any of my seatposts (cf, titanium & dropper post).

[bxcc]

I've emailed some pictures to Waltly and they have been very responsive. They have offered a discount on a new frame rather than shipping this one back but I haven't been told what that discount will be yet. My wife does want a gravel bike to replace her Trek Domane so I'll have to see what my options are. I'm just happy that Waltly isn't ghosting me and they are trying to come up with a solution. Much better than some of the horror stories on here of various carbon vendors.

[LiGuangming1981]

Sorry if this has been asked but i was not able to find it.   what does a basic Ti frame from Waltly cost?  i know this is a loaded question as there is a lot of customizing that can be done but just a run of the mill gravel frame or road frame?  I would really like to go this route but i kind of want to have a ball park before i get going.  Thank you in advance.

The road frame that I have on order (which is almost finished - they are doing logos and then it's going to be done!) cost me 8100 Chinese Yuan, or about US$1200 including Chinese domestic shipping and a carbon fork.

[bxcc]

Round two should be here by the end of August. The geometry has some slight changes but nothing major as I was happy with how it was for my riding style and location. Hopefully I get more than 500 miles out of this one.
Changes:
30.9 seatpost from 31.6
67 degree headtube angle from 68
sliding dropouts from EBB
62mm BB drop from 60mm
440mm seat tube from 450mm
640mm TT from 635mm
115mm HT from 110mm
Internal cable routing

[ottoreni]

Wow.. your frame looks very similar to my frame ... I had mine built just as the pandemic was starting.

In similar, I mean the twin-top tube design.  My inspiration came from the Vassago MooseKnuckle frame, but with custom geometry.  I chose external cable routing, as I am not a big fan of internal routing and dealing with brake fluid.

Couple questions ...

Did Walty try to convince to not use two seat-tube to top-tube connecting tubes?  They wanted to do it with one, but I convinced them to do it with two, but there was a 20-40 dollar fee.  Even then, that is the only part of the frame where the mitering is sloppy and there is a fair bit of filler weld material.

How much of a discount did they give you on this new frame?

Cheers

[bxcc]

The MooseKnuckle is a super cool looking bike. When I did the original frame in June of 2020, I was torn between the MooseKnuckle design or the Kona Honzo Ti design. I ultimately went with the straight lines of the Honzo as it gives me just a bit more stand over clearance.

They did recommend the single tube but it just didn't look right to me. This time around, they didn't mention it at all. Probably since I asked to make the same frame with just a couple of tweaks.

As for the discount, it was roughly $200 or so. Doesn't seem like much but they were willing to fix my current frame if I sent it to them. I'm assuming that discount is reflective of what time they would have into the repair. Better than nothing I guess.

How is your frame working out?