Show us your Titanium! - Ti and Stainless bikes

Loving some of the bikes on here, that Sturdy above is gorgeous! And a couple of really nice Sevens! I just missed out on a Pretorious Oteniqua but stumbled across the following which came at a pretty good price.
My new bike which I bought a few weeks ago and swapped out the Campagnolo groupset for something a bit more familiar to me... Loving it so far (second road bike after the previous steel Sigma I'm currently selling), have done a Kent loop and Windsor, and commute 25km a day. Not sold on the white decals which I believe are painted so might give the frame a refresh at some point! Cheers.
Leon

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97' Merlin extralight Neo retro style :)

Lovely. From Merlin's heyday too, just around the time everyone left to form other companies and before they were being sold left right and center. That fork is nice. Reckon it'd look better with a 'normal' set back post in black/Ti but otherwise, really nice.

Could be on Gravel topic but lets keep it/ti here.
Reilly Gradient, one year old. Loving every ride with this.

I've done quite a bit of research, and opted to try and order a titanium frame from Mike Desalvo. The only problem is that I can't get in touch with him. I've tried phone, email and the form on his website, with no luck. Maybe a sign.

The only problem is that I can't get in touch with him. I've tried phone, email and the form on his website, with no luck. Maybe a sign.

Lack of communication is definitely a sign...

... of him being a genuine framebuilder ;-)

Ha!

I'm not in any hurry, and I would really like a frame from him.

With an ISP, I hope?

No. But if I can't get through to him, i might get a speedvagen because I always wanted one. Want to try to try ti though.

Ti is joyous. I still lust after a Firefly, but if Matt continues on his current rate of progress, maybe an Isen. As long as he can do anodised fades.

It's pronounced thi.

We're playing with anodised Ti fadez, but the boss fucked up his back and everything like that is on hold.

Me too, courtesy of a variable voltage power supply from a friend and a fuckton of scrap Ti from Enigma. I think it's fair to say it's a work in progress though.

His order books are closed acc to the paceline. Can’t remember where I read it.

Cross posting this from my current projects because I crave internet validation.

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Oh no.

Another option is to copy you and get one of these.

These were the last playtime photos, think it's meant to be blasted back to a logo or something daft.

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There's an electric box and some chemicals that say "do not drink" on them, I'm not too privy to the process but reckon it'll look pretty sweet when he's able to walk again.

With that said, his video for the Enve show clearly states: ‘if you like the paint, get in touch’. As he’ll continue to offer it.

Perhaps he’s away or something.

I know you know all the guys and have probably considered them already but just in case you haven’t thought about everyone - how about these master frame builders?:

Hampsten (unsure on wait - Ti frames welded by Max of 333fab)
Kelly Bedford (~12-16 week wait)
333fab (~16 week wait)
Firefly (13 month wait)
IF (~12 week wait)
Bingham (~16 week wait - I know their branding is not as cool as Eriksen’s was, but they’re flexible on how they brand the frame)
Strong (unsure on lead time)
Holland (unsure on lead time)
Sycip (unsure on lead time)

Also - have you considered any Italian frames? The new Ti Stelbel is incredible. They’re at about 7 months.
Bixxis could be worth a shout too. Unsure on time frame there for them. Not that long though.

All those options are good I think. The biggest priority for me is experience with the material. If I can't get through to DeSalvo, I might try and go on the Firefly waitlist. In the case of Bingham, I really can't deal with the brand at all - other wise I would love to buy from him.

The appeal to me about DeSalvo is the quality of the welds and the curvy seat stays. And the price. I basically want to get a ti bike that looks and rides like a speedvagen og1, but without the integrated seatpost.

Might be worth reaching out. When they redid my seatpost they offered Eriksen branding. Maybe, just maybe they’d do the same for a frame? Unsure, obviously.

And yeah, all of the above have worked with Ti for at least two decades I think. Bedford is the best value for money out of those IMO. I like his branding too. Genuine master of his craft.

But FF is undoubtedly the smartest. Waitlist was 13 months as of April by the way. That may have changed slightly now.

Just looked at Stelbel. They look really nice, but I am dubious over paying top dollar for a frame when there isn't any obvious track record of working with titanium and you don't know who is building it.

Passoni?

I'd get in touch and voice my concerns, saying that when I did ask I got a very vague answer.

The most experienced builders in Italy are probably unknown anyway, and work for manufacturers as opposed to brands (like Billato, say).