Show us your Titanium! - Ti and Stainless bikes

Where do titanium frames 'generally' sit in terms of frame weight? I've been looking around, and a lot seem to have a higher claimed frame weight than my Planet X Team Alu. I was always vaguely under the impression they sat between Alu and Carbon in terms of weight. Is that wrong?

Generally they weight little more than aluminium frames (but with v different ride qualities of course).

^^ if you buy Chinese get some warranty or something.

I know 3 people who bought unbranded ti from the far east. Two have failed in the last 18 months.

Spa Cycles and Planet X do cheap ti (with backup).

Lovely workmanship.

Sick!

Such neat work.

Got to say I think the blue saddle /tape is onetwo steps too far though...

The BB welds are the best. To be honest the strut across the seatstays is the least neat. I just like the shape.

Looks so rad, would love to have a go on it. Forgive my ignorance, but what is the advantage of those single sided forks?

Got to say I think the blue saddle /tape is onetwo steps too far though...

You cant see the tape under my pogies.

I discovered I loved Tioga Spyder saddles even more than the Gobi. So eventually it'll be swapped. Not untill its well used though. Because I cant imagine I'd manage to sell it. I'm the only person I know will to part money for such ugly parts.

^^^ I'd guess it's a fairly tricky place to work.

One of the things I find impressive is how well balanced it looks for the small size.

Spyder looks well ventilated ; )

Looks so rad, would love to have a go on it. Forgive my ignorance, but what is the advantage of those single sided forks?

Weight.

They put the weight saved into roller bearings, all the way up the strut. This gives the fork awsome small bump compliance. On a fatbike the compliance from the tyres seamlessly blends into the compliance of the lefty. Giving an amazing ride, and great traction over refrozen snow melt.

It also means I can vary my fork rake.

All the fat suspension forks so far have more flex, and would'nt fit that tyre combo. This is changing somewhat though.

^^^ I'd guess it's a fairly tricky place to work.

The strut was added some days after everything else was finished. Its nicely done as you can see. Just not as amazing as the rest of the work.

One of the things I find impressive is how well balanced it looks for the small size.

Cheers. This is pretty important to me. I love my 29er. But it looks odd. My BMC does an amzing job of looking balanced. I wanted to combine the BMCs natural size look (if youe get my meaning), with the offroad fit and rider position of the 29er (but slightly more stable for snow/ice). Seems to have worked.

You could definitly get the front end where I want it, and have 110mm of fork travel with those tyres. So MendonCycleWorks deserve credit for that.

You need to bring that to the UK so we can all have a go!!

I'd need one hell of a bike case.

Havent ridden it properly yet. I want to do some nice photos first. Which is a shite reason. But its a pretty special bike to me, considering I designed it myself. I also dont want to damage the steel carbide studs, riding sans snow. They were expensive, and the fit into the small Larry treads is tight work.

Weight.

I think the stiffness to weight ratio is the killer feature. It's basically a long travel dual crown fork with the weight of a cross country weenie fork with hardly any stiction.

If you are interested in how they work checkout my discombobulation thread. I was going to write a method-behind-the-madness explanation to the design whilst waiting for replacement parts.

You get a lot of travel for your stack height. More important to me than most I guess.

Fat bike is phat. Such a good project.

Can you get some action footage on the trails at some point?

I only really ride the trails on my own. My cycling buds are all roadies.

?

(fashioned from a ti walking pole odvs)

I watched a load of free ride skiing vids shot like that, when choosing skis.

NIce glasses though.

Thanks.

As you are all lovers of the magic metal I thought you might be interested in a short video on a titanium factory in Beijing (where Van Nicholas and many other brands are made). It's part of a series of videos for the Tour of Beijing. Hope you like it.

Beijing Cycling Stories - Titanium Factory - YouTube

this is great, thanks

.......

It doesn't have the finesse or awesomeness of some bikes in this thread, but here's my Spa Audax just before heading of to the Alps with the polo crew. It is a bit of tank, but I love it.

Are they the standard Spa crabon forks?

What tyres and guards can you get in there?