Softail titanium MTB 29/27.5+ (all mountain - bikepacking)

[QuentinLL]

There is an air valve that allows to use a rigid bottle (PET, water bottle or metal like mine).
I find it less hard to pump than a bladder in a framebag.

It is a bikepacking setup, I won't use it on day trip.
I also use it while hiking.

[QuentinLL]

Mini 2 days trip +3 000m elevation in the French Alps

Everything to sleep in a drybag under the downtube.
650 mL of water ( )
Food and night clothe in the framebag.
Rain vest in a food pouch of the handlebar.
Rain pant in a ziplock under the saddle.
All the tools in the One Up pump.

[QuentinLL]

Yo,

I mounted a rear 27.5+ wheel.
DT Swiss 180 ceramic hub 12x148
Pillar X-tra 1420 spokes
Chiner 27.5+ carbon rim, without holes in rim bed 





Mounted with a Schwalbe Nobby Nic 3.00" => complete rear wheel + 400g
It fits perfectly.





It sucks the road when climbing.
But it rides sooooooo good on technical downhill.
Definitely the rear wheel that I will bring most of the time in the mountains trails.
The front tire will be replaced by a Maxxis Assegai => +300g







The 29x2.35 will only be mounted for light bikepacking or fast rolling events.

[Silverado123]

Love your frame! Thats basically what l want but with a 130 mill fork

[QuentinLL]

Hey,

Some news : i built a 27,5 wheel and mounted a chinese 3" mid-fat front tyre (to ride snowy trails).
It fits perfectly, the grip is very good for a cheap tyre. The bike feels amazing in the snow.

This is definitely a good all rounder 








Coming soon : a moto handlebar. Tu be continued... 

[ottoreni]

So is there a website for Titan?  I tried Google, but no website.

Anyone have a website?

Thanks!

[QuentinLL]

They used to have an internet website, but they face webmastering problems for several months and told me that the website can't be back online for the moment.
You can still contact them by email, they do answer and produce.

[ottoreni]

Thanks,  Plan to contact in the summer with the email I found online.

[QuentinLL]

the contact is : anita@titanproduct.com

[ottoreni]

Okay, I have started to get my frame.  Working on the design.

The one thing that is throwing me off is the bottom bracket drop. 

I plan for my frame to only have 120mm front travel.  I like the amount of rear travel you have on your frame.  Is it 80 or 90mm?

Do you have a fairly certain idea of how much travel you are getting in the rear?  How much sag are you running on the rear shock?

I ask because I want my bottom bracket drop to give me that "IN the frame feeling".  One of the first frames I had made for me had very little bottom bracket drop, and I had the feeling of always being on top of the bike.  Never had a pedal strike, but never felt one with the frame.

[QuentinLL]

Rear travel is hard to measure because of elasticity of ti plate.
I tried to release air from shock, bike upside down, push down the rear wheel and measure the vertical travel.

It is around 60mm.

I made a calculation, considering it is a single pivot, same result 60mm.


If the seat stay angle is low, the travel is bigger.
Some says they have 95mm rear travel with 38mm shock on softails. This is marketing, not truth.

If you opt for a softail, keep in mind that this is not a full suspension bike, but something between a hardtail and FS.


SAG
I ride 25% SAG on shock, and get full travel on jumps. That's perfect to me.
I lock the shock on every uphill, because i like very reactive bike when pedaling.


BB drop
I think you should have a look at hardtail BB drop with same geo, and reduce it by around 20mm.

Mine is 42mm BB drop, whereas Kona ESD hardtail is 62mm (geo quite similar).
I do have pedal strike sometimes on rocks when climbing, but i have the feeling that I am "in" the bike.

I still have the ability to manual when i want.

[noodleshop]

bit of a noob question but how do you build/service a wheel without access to the nipples? Thank you

Yo,

I mounted a rear 27.5+ wheel.
DT Swiss 180 ceramic hub 12x148
Pillar X-tra 1420 spokes
Chiner 27.5+ carbon rim, without holes in rim bed 





Mounted with a Schwalbe Nobby Nic 3.00" => complete rear wheel + 400g
It fits perfectly.





It sucks the road when climbing.
But it rides sooooooo good on technical downhill.
Definitely the rear wheel that I will bring most of the time in the mountains trails.
The front tire will be replaced by a Maxxis Assegai => +300g







The 29x2.35 will only be mounted for light bikepacking or fast rolling events.

[ottoreni]

Rear travel is hard to measure because of elasticity of ti plate.
I tried to release air from shock, bike upside down, push down the rear wheel and measure the vertical travel.

It is around 60mm.

I made a calculation, considering it is a single pivot, same result 60mm.


If the seat stay angle is low, the travel is bigger.
Some says they have 95mm rear travel with 38mm shock on softails. This is marketing, not truth.

If you opt for a softail, keep in mind that this is not a full suspension bike, but something between a hardtail and FS.


SAG
I ride 25% SAG on shock, and get full travel on jumps. That's perfect to me.
I lock the shock on every uphill, because i like very reactive bike when pedaling.


BB drop
I think you should have a look at hardtail BB drop with same geo, and reduce it by around 20mm.

Mine is 42mm BB drop, whereas Kona ESD hardtail is 62mm (geo quite similar).
I do have pedal strike sometimes on rocks when climbing, but i have the feeling that I am "in" the bike.

I still have the ability to manual when i want.

Thanks for the detailed response!

My backstory:
I do not know if you are familiar with the Salsa Dos Niner, but that is the softail that made me like this type of frame.  Seeing your thread, made me want to get back on one.  The Dos Niner is one of my all time favorite bikes.  Unfortunately, Salsa made these out of "scandium" which was some kind of enhanced aluminum.  They only had  three model year productions of the frame.  Green color, orange and finally silver.  This scandium metal they used cracked around where the stays met.  When Salsa reinforced this area, cracks started to happen around the shock mount.  I had an orange model that cracked after just over a year of usage, but that frame rode great for an XC bike, and I have always wanted to be on a bike that took the edge off the ride, but didn't make me feel like I was riding on a sofa as full suspensions feel like for me.  Plus full suspension has the hassle of having to change the pivots.  Now that I am well into my 50's, I am confident that a softail of this type is the frame will let me ride hard, feel in tune with the trail, have minimal maintenance, and not beat me up so much so I have quicker recovery time.  One other aspect to note, I like about your frame design, is the rear tire clearance, having a large rear tire, takes off some of the harshness, too.

I have been doing a lot of geometry research, and as I mentioned the rear travel, bottom bracket drop is the one area where I am a bit unsure on. 

A difference that I have seen in many Funk frames versus the Leon frames is the dimples at the end of seat-stays.  I believe this allows for additional upward flex / travel, maybe 5 to 10mm. Do you think it is accurate to make this assumption?

Also, your model is showing 35mm of stroke on the shock = 60mm of travel.  I plan to use a shock with 40mm stroke.  Would this equal about 70mm?

Thanks again for your insights!

[QuentinLL]

The shock is 40mm stroke on my model. With 30° angle. Once compressed, it equals 35mm horizontal movement, what gives 60mm vertical travel.

If the dimples are at the end of seat stays or a little bit higher, will not change a lot the vertical travel. Having the dimples higher will add maybe 1mm vertical travel, not a lot more.

[carbonazza]

bit of a noob question but how do you build/service a wheel without access to the nipples? Thank you

First, cut the thread of an old spoke.

Screw it to a nipple.
Put them in the rim by the valve hole.
Use a magnet to drive them through the spoke hole, and get the spoke bit out.
Squeeze the nipple with your thumb.
Unscrew the spoke bit.
Screw the spoke.

Repeat this between 19 and 31 times per wheel
It is easier than it looks, after a couple of wheels it is very fast.