Titan Hardtail 2024

[nicklej]

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.

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 and thats a good enough reason for me.

The total price will end up being about $1200 which includes 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 40 miles per day and I don't ride so frequently on my days off.

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Frame geometry is outdated but it is based off the Cannondale Flash from 2013.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 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.

I've opted for BB30 bottom bracket shell and external cable routing. I just doing like internal routing personally and I have lots of frames so changing stuff between bikes is a lot easier like this.

The 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.

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 but I am not in a rush.

[nicklej]

Anita sent the frame drawing. Overall, I am happy but there were a few things I have asked to be changed:

Move the bottle cage on the downtube upward and put rivnuts onto the seat tube so I can have two bottles.
Asked to have eyelets on the chainstay and seat stay bridges so I have the option of full mudguards in the future.
I've also queried the ISP length. My saddle is at 740mm from the centre of the BB to the top and the drawing shows the ISP as 400mm. I imagine that should be okay once the seatpost topper is in place but best to check.

Also the ISP is 34.9mm, so that is gonna be quite stiff. I don't think that'll matter for the riding I mostly do though.

[nicklej]

Okay, so I did change a few things and have received my final frame drawing that I have now approved. I opted to go for a T47 BB in the end. BB30 wasn't such a great idea in hindsight and I think T47 will give me lots of felxibility in the future as to what cranks I can run.

I also asked for a longer ISP, now 740mm instead of 700mm - too short is a big problem, too long, not so much!

I also had fixings added to the seat-stay and chainstay bridges for mounting full mudguards. Although this is very much going to be a hardtail for most of the time, having options for a rack and mudguards is just sensible. I also had additional rivnuts added to the seat tube so a second bottle can be used on the bike.

Final drawing attached

[TidyDinosaur]

Why not mount that second bottle cage lower so you can use a bigger bottle?

[nicklej]

Why not mount that second bottle cage lower so you can use a bigger bottle?

It is something I asked them to revise It is a slightly odd position to put it when there is plenty of clearance below.

[tripleDot]

If it's not too late, I would suggest a third water bottle mount under the down tube. It might come in handy, and it's not a bother if you don't use it.

Here's what I used with mine, a tool cannister...

[nicklej]

I suppose its not too much to ask but I think it's too late. I did consider it but I've never had to use one before so doubt I'd need to. Thats a cool shot of your bike. Although yours was not made by Titan, have you been happy with your frame?

[tripleDot]

Very happy with my 3 units from Waltly.

[nicklej]

Don't have my phone on me, but my frame was despatched about 2 weeks ago. I think they quote abotu 45 days for shipping so I should have an update in late May.

Although my plans were to originally run a lefty fork, my decision has drifted. I had another front wheel built up to match the existing rear but this time with a non-boost front hub. I sourced a nice set of secondhand Rockshox Reba's and will try these too. I guess, i do like my lefty and how it looks but it makes sense to change to something standardised now.

The bike is being supplied with a titanium headset so thats something I don't need to source. I plan to order my KCNC seatpost topper shortly.

When the bike gets built, I'm gonna do a spruce up. Replace gear cables, rotors, pads, chain, cassette and chainring. I did get some Hope brakes to fit but I've never liked them...these were no different so up for sale they go.

[nicklej]

My KCNC ISP topper arrived on wednesday so on my break I got to work building up the bike.

Getting there! Brake hoses defo need shortening at some point.

I took a long time measuring the cut in the seat tube. My topper only has 20mm of adjustment so definitely didn't want to take too much off! I had to cut 65.5mm off.

[nicklej]

I couldn't finishing get everything put onto the bike on my break and had to finish it off at the end of the day. Really happy with how the bike came out. It weights about 10.4kg in total so not unhappy with that. Sub 10kg would be possible by replacing saddle, grips and bars for carbon. In fact, I intend to get carbon bars anyway but not yet. I will also replace as many bolts with Ti as possible. I just want the bike to be as corrosion resistant as possible since I am committing this to be my last bike for some time (he says!)

The fork steerer could be trimmed a smidge. I rode the bike home and back to work today. Only about 30 miles total. I have to say everything feels great. The frame is solid and the 34.9mm ISP is not as unforgiving as I had expected it to be!

I have not ridden non-lefty suspension fork for years and its odd - my balance feels slightly off. On the second ride, I didn't have the feeling nearly as much as the first ride. The geometry was meant to be an exact copy of the Cannondale Flash but i am running a 100mm stem instead of 110mm and the axle to crown on the Flash was a little shorter than this bike so my position feels a bit different but certainly not uncomfortable.

As with all builds, I need to make a few tweeks. Saddle nose needs to come up a degree or two and the saddle needs to come back a tiny bit too. I think I could also trim another 10mm off the ISP so that I have adjustment. I cut it perfectly and with the seatpost topped bottomed out my position is correct but it means I can only increase the saddle height from here and cannot lower it at all.

I will also get a carbon rigid fork at some point. I don't ride off road nearly as much as I should and when I do, even on rigid forks, i'm alright. Plus it'll lightly the bike up a chunk for commuting and nipping around the New Forest.

I've not had good luck with bike frames. 5 of my last 6 have cracked or snapped so I am hoping for better news here. I suppose there is always a gamble when buying something which will be hard to warrant, purely based on distances involved. However, my experience with Titan have been great and hopefully the only thing that goes wrong with this bike will be due to an accident instead of workmanship.

[gcartelli]

hows this working for you? Been thinking of doing the same, was torn between speccing for a dropper or running an ISP but then saw this...https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnprolly/15797734126/in/photostream/...and then found this thread and I'm feeling pretty on the side of ISP (have a gravel ISP from waltly already). Going to be running a fox 32 tapercast 50mm travel fork and feel like combined with the ISP it'd be the underbike supreme.

Wondering if you have taken it out on the trails at all, and if so if you felt you missed a dropper?