Oddos Raleigh Ronniewagon, Brexit Crust Wanker Hybrid, Gravel Bieks and anodized aluminum

And some "Action shots"

(new page fail. all info one page back)

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That bike is sooo good. Looks like a completely bespoke project (which basically is at this point), but i wouldn't change a single thing. Bravo!

Doesn't this overlap a bit with the Inbred tho?

Thank you!
Yes, there is a certain overlap especially as they currently share a wheelset and some other bits.
The differences are details really.
The AWOL has slightly less clearance. 29 x 2.1 XC tyres vs 29 x 2.3 knobby tyres.
The Inbred will receive a new dynamo wheelset soon and also now sports a nice Pelago front rack. And some cockpit changes that makes it a really nice rigid rugged touring MTB.
With the AWOL being a bit lighter and less loaded I see it more as nifty travel ATB (flat bar gravel bike) vs Touring MTB.
It is definitely a luxury to have both though.

Both the AWOL and the Eldridge are absolutely top tier.

Nice collection and cool content! Great job on the Inbred too!

With autumn creeping in, wet days are becoming more of a thing, even in sunny Vienna. In fact, it was just very very wet if you followed the news.
So to make the Marin even more practical and useful it will get mudguards. Nothing fancy. Stealth SKS Bluemels. Currently dialling in fit before cutting and drilling.

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God, what a finicky job.
Pro-tip to my future self: If you know you want mudguards on it anyway install them before you install all those extra bits like dynamo lights and baskets with custom mounting etc...

Finished this yesterday ready for the bad weather and today is the sunniest day in a week :D
I recently signed up for a maker space which gives me access to a workshop with some extra tools. So I decided to go the extra mile meter and drilled the guards in the right places for neat mounting and make some DIY flaps.
Bought an IKEA desk mat which is gonna give me at least 20 more flaps at less than 5€. Which is good as I might have been very conservative and made them too small. At least based on these infographics kindly provided by @spotter.

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Flappy pics:

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Lovely jobs on the flaps, will be borrowing from your inspiration! Think I'm going to need to do a similar trim on my new guards around the BB chain stays, what did you use to cut that so neatly?

Oh, the trimming left and right was already there. I just had to extend the hole to a slot. For that I used a table drill, drilled multiple holes and then some files.

You could get a sheet metal nibbler to use with a cord(less) drill.

Or you could use a diamond blade for a small scroll saw.

Another thing that is happening started with seeing a Uncle Rons Alumalith in real life at BITW this year.
I believe it belongs to Ben / bhughes808.
I do like the bike. It has a nice retro modern klunky vibe to it. What I am having a hard time with is that it's a 2K frame before import which literally looks like any raw 2000s cheap alu 26"hardtail.
I was almost a little bit angry. After Crusts nicely lugged elegant steel frames with nice paint jobs this felt like taking the piss. How much can we get away with and you idiot customer trend slaves will still buy it.
I know now these are hand-crafted by a beardy torch wizard in the mystical forests of Vermont and that they are built around 650b wheels and feature internal dropper routing.
But that's about all the difference. Right?
Okay, forks are cool too but they are also just a remix of Tange switchblade forks et al.
So kudos for making such a stupid product so cool.

I am really intrigued by the platform. A cool but able and fun bike, not too large (29ers), not too heavy, ready to ride some shit and throw it around and due to the lack of paint that can scratch and the overall rougher aesthetic you are just not too precious about it.
Just not for me at that price tag though and if you follow along here you can also tell that I have absolutely no need for it. However, if an opportunity came around, maybe ;).

I felt a bit cheeky. What If I am taking the piss at it. Since I already identified it as a 2000s alu mtb for myself, I could just keep an eye out for a cheap-ass suitable alu frame and built it up with some stuff from the parts bin. I even happen to have one of Ronnies favorite 9 speed XTR rear derailleurs lying around.
Maybe strip the paint off a frame if I have to. Maybe drill a hole for internal dropper routing. Fuck it, it's alu. Put some tape or a rubber grommet around, done.

So I went along at setting up alerts on eBay etc. and checked offers coming in. Nothing that really fancied me. Until a badly advertised full bike turned up in the search results.
Light Aluminum Bike - 220 Euro
Raw frame, no branding but quality components. Full XT 8speed group and something that used to be a fancy suspension fork.
I got curious. A full bike wouldn't be too bad. I was helping a friend to build up a retro MTB at that time and could utilise some of the parts.

Looking at the photos I got skeptical. Didn't look like alu. Skinny tubes and much finer welds. The photos were quite bad so I wondered if it was just a grey-painted steel frame mistaken for aluminium. Especially since there were some places around the cable guides that looked quite rusty. Zooming in on the dropouts it clicked.

PLOT TWIST: Could this be a titanium frame?

I messaged and met up with the seller at their place and got my hunch confirmed. This is indeed a ti frame. It belonged to the seller's father-in-law and has been gathering dust for quite some time. He was happy to pass it on and even went down in price by another 20€.
I rode it home, stripped and cleaned it.
I never owned or held a ti frame in my hands before. Felt like holding a can of Coke very light and thin in a way.

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With the frame being superlight I got triggered and the plan now is to build a (sensible) weight-weenie-ish SSMTB.
I already knew I wasn't going to try to restore that old sagged-in suspension fork.
I was close to pulling the trigger on one of those new Cyber Cycles rim brake Ti forks but a friend told me about a reputable Ali Express Ti seller offering bespoke options and I was hoping to save a few bucks here. He ordered three of their forks already and took them bike-packing off-road here in Austria so I have considerable trust in them.

Spoiler: I got hit hard by the import tax. That's not even cutting it. I got fucked over. Paying 90% on top again.
This is due to an anti-dumping price extra tax for bike forks (yes, it's that specific) coming from China because they want you to buy locally.
Nobody f**king makes (custom) Ti forks here...
And the best, there was no way for me to look up that extra tax rate until they presented me with it.
Whatever, rant over.
The fork is here and it looks cool and it is light. Minor annoyance the surface finish is different to the frame.

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This bike deserves the @Oddo 's treatment!

Do you have a link/name for the reputable Ti seller?

@Marcootsee haha thank you. We'll see. The lightweight parts I am looking at are mostly black. So very little of my usual little colour touches.

@moog Its TIRIS

Hah, I saw this on Willhaben too, actally almost bought it but you were faster :P
Very curious to see how you'll build it up!

Just caught up on your CP. Didn't know you moved to Vienna!

Thanks, I’ve been thinking about some ti bars for my Stooge. Won’t be happening anytime soon but good to have a recommended supplier in my bookmarks.

I inquired about them. One thing to note is that most of the sellers on Ali don't seem to be able to get a lot of backsweep going. So 6 deg is max on most of them which is way too little for my fucked wrists.

I would be after 30-40 degrees so maybe my plan won't work

Looks a bit like a Diamond Back Axis TT frame - they had the same top tube routing - tho I think they used a seat clamp...

BTW on colour match- have you tried cleaning / rebuffing the frame with a green scouring pad?

I believe it to be a Heavy Tools Equipe TI. All frame details look very much the same. It's a brand that isn't uncommon here, the period and groupset matches and the pedals on the bike were heavy tools branded. The Diamant Back is definitely too posh. This is a nice frame but I assume on the cheaper end of the range.
Buffing is actually a good call. I think that could work.

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While I was waiting for the Ti forks to arrive from China I already made a component wishlist.
For all weight weenie stuff, I like to check out R2 Bike. You can sort by weight and then apply a price range. Very nice way to find the lightest parts within budget.

However, after I spent over 200eur more on the forks than initially planned I decided to utilise the parts bin for now before buying all the crazy expensive lightweight bits and then realising I don't actually like the bike. It's also a bit on the small end of the range for me. Perfectly rideable but it shouldn't be any smaller.

Here I quickly put frame and forks together.

1. KCNC headset advertised as 82g
   
2. SPA cycles TI stem and spacer
   
3. Generic black alu riser
   
4. Wheels that came with the bike with some new Race King Rubber
   
   
   

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looking sharp