Titanium Gravel bike: PYTitans build thread

[ChrisB]

I felt tempted to build a Titanium gravel bike after checking the offers of on Aliexpress, I decided to pull the trigger on following PYTitans frame in October:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001085459477.html?spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.7cfc1333bqHRlA

It took until beginning of January to arrive, but the seller was communicating clearly it would take more than two months for the frame to be ready to ship. Communication with the seller was good.
The weight including seat post clamp is just shy of 1600g.

Below some pictures of the frame.

[ChrisB]

Here the build details:
- PYTitans Gravel frame Size 52
- Zerace RX4 crankset and BB with 42 Tooth
- Sigeyi Power meter for SRAM
- Juintech F1 break calipers
- OG Evkin: Seatpost, Stem, Handlebar and Headset
- Toseek Saddle (Prologo copy)
- Elite Wheels 32mm/35mm with RD13 Hubs and Panaracer Gravelking SS 38mm Tubeless tires.
- Shimano 105 brifters and GRX RX812 Derailleur
- ZTTO 11-46 Casette
- Garbaruk Deraileur Cage with 15Tooth Meroca Pulley to get the 11-46 cassette to shift smoothly

Total weight including pedals, bottle cages and garmin mount: 9.2kg
First short test ride was good, now waiting for some warmer weather for a longer ride.

[QuentinLL]

FYI I can't see any of your pictures. When i click, i downloads it and my viewer can't display it.
You should post your pictures on https://imgbb.com/ and insert it via "[ img]URL[ /img]"

[FullCarbonAlchemist]

FYI I can't see any of your pictures. When i click, i downloads it and my viewer can't display it.
You should post your pictures on https://imgbb.com/ and insert it via "[ img]URL[ /img]"

I get the same problem. They all load as blank pages.

[ChrisB]

FYI I can't see any of your pictures. When i click, i downloads it and my viewer can't display it.
You should post your pictures on https://imgbb.com/ and insert it via "[ img]URL[ /img]"

Sorry for this oversight... and thank you for the tip.
It has been a while since I posted, so things may have changed.
Using IMGBB works perfectly.   

[stumpym4]

Looks a lovely frame ... Did originally order a Ti sonder Camino , but after waiting months , they cancelled my order as they had complete bikes to build rather than sell me a frameset id paid for etc months ago !!
 may look closer into the Ti market

[00Garza]

Thats a great looking build! Did you have to source your own fork or was that part of the deal with PYTitans? Paint job on it looks fantastic.

[ChrisB]

Thats a great looking build! Did you have to source your own fork or was that part of the deal with PYTitans? Paint job on it looks fantastic.

I chose a different fork from the Aliexpress seller Cwind:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003127524864.html

The quality was not as good as I hoped, I had to clean up the threads and the contact area for the flat mount calipers.
But with some elbow grease the problems were solved.

I decided to give a home made paint job a go and used the "marble" look. Automotive "Blue metallic" spray paint and a plastic foil were used to transfer the pattern to the fork.
The original matte black was sanded slightly with 800 grit sandpaper in preparation of the paint job.
To finish the surface I gave it two coats of clear 1k automotive grade lacquer.
Here is a video where I got the idea for the paint job:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PuX8LNhLNTI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>



Maybe a full frame paint job in the future....   

[stumpym4]

Whats the rear tyre clearance like ?

cheers

[ChrisB]

Whats the rear tyre clearance like ?

cheers

Officially 42mm with a 700c wheel, this seems about correct.
My Panaracer Gravelking 38mm measures 40mm wide with my wheels and there is still plenty of space.

BR Chris

[gravity]

Awesome bike! Did you just simply get the frame in their Aliexpress store or did you come up with your own design?

[Flying Trunk Monkey]

Nice build, hopefully I'll have something to share in the next few months. Who did you but the brakes from? I'm also in the market for some GT-F's.

[ChrisB]

Awesome bike! Did you just simply get the frame in their Aliexpress store or did you come up with your own design?

I ordered the standard frame off of Ali, then they sent me the drawing to check.
All looked good so I gave them the green light for production. So far nothing I would have changed, the build went really smooth.

[ChrisB]

Nice build, hopefully I'll have something to share in the next few months. Who did you but the brakes from? I'm also in the market for some GT-F's.

The breaks work perfectly, so I can definitely recommend thr Juintech F1, not sure if the more expensive GT-Fs are really necessary.
I got them from Aliexpress as most parts, the shop is called „Cycling House“

[ChrisB]

After 2600km the bike is still going strong.
The only modification I am considering is replacing the Zrace RX4 crankset with the Racework N1 carbon crankset. The DUB Bottombracket starts to get noisy again, it took me already some time to get it right when I built the bike.
A standard BSA with 24mm spindle may be the better option due to the increased bearing size?






Here some pictures from last week Nova Eroica Switzerland, where the bike was really put to the test on some technical downhill sections. The Juintech F1 Hydromechhanical discs did well, even they were very hot at the end of the descent.

BR Chris