Van Tuyl Ti Cyclocross

I've been looking for a nice cross frame to build up for a while now, and since I've never built a bike from scratch I thought I'd give it a current project thread.

So I bought a van Tuyl Ti cross frame last week. It's painted and since I want that titanium look, I'm going to strip the paint and ask van Tuyl for some new downtube decals. Just bought some paint stripper and put some on the bb area to try it out.

As for the parts, I'm thinking of slowly getting a 1x11 group together, preferably sram force, but I guess I'll have to wait and see what I can come by relatively cheap. Since I bought it without a fork, I'm having to make decisions on that as well, which is kind of hard since I've never done a cross frame before. I have decided I want a straight fork, in carbon and after a first couple of searches I'm thinking of waiting until I can get an Easton EC90X somewhere second hand. If someone knows any forks of the same type, tips are very welcome, including where to look for them.

Anyhow, a pic of the frame now:

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Very seriously considering this fork now:

It seems like I can get it for cheap on ebay (99,99 gbp)

Get a Woundup CX fork, it'd look boss on this.

Nice frame, subscribed. Yes to Ritchey fork!

Not really a fan of those wound up forks really

All my other bikes run campagnolo, so having a 1x11 campagnolo gruppo on this one would be great, however, there are no shifterless campag brake levers as far as I know.

I just found an image of a 1x11 campag cross bike though and the left lever seems to still be with shifter parts, would they be rattling like crazy this way? Anyone any experience with a 1x campag setup?

http://www.abovebike.com/news/2013/10/post_220.html

Looks great with that woundup fork tho...

There was a pair of shift-mechanismless shifters for sale here a while back, so they have been made.

You could also remove the shifting part from the shifters yourself?

I have a pair of record brake levers thats just sitting in my parts bin ..

You mean the 10speed shape record levers?

I'm kinda wanting 1x11 and a non-matching left levers wouldn't work for me.

Yeh I know those, but if I'd go for campag I'd be going for the new shape levers, because they suit my hands quite well.

Stripping the paint is turning out to be more of a hassle than expected.
The paint is so thick it needs about 3-4 go's before it completely lets go.

Plus, I just figure out it might be a good idea to remove the bb as well.

The sanded titanium that is showing does look nice though

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I got my ti painted frame bead blasted for not much money..
Quick option for you..

If you have any questions about this bike, my friend owns Above Bike Store (in Tokyo) and worked on this I presume (given that he owns it and is the only one working on it).

His English isn't amazing but I can communicate in Japanese with him to clarify anything you need to.

i bought some broken 'new shape' campag shifters and removed the shifting gubbins for a single speed. They cost me 20 bucks and 45 minutes.

Cool, no rattling noises and stuff?

Ti + wound up = winner, agreed

Awesome - looks like the brother to my frame: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/276247/newest/ you should buy it and build it up as a pit bike :)

Lovely frame.

If I recall correctly this was the VT350 model. I sold one of these a couple of years back with the original decals still in place and it looked great against the polished titanium tubing. If I remember correctly though the frame takes a 1 inch fork, so that pretty much rules out the Easton fork.

I bought a second one this summer painted in orange. I ended up removing the paint with paint stripper like you and like you it took forever.

I run 1x10 campag on my commuting bike.

Race Face narrow wide up front, veloce rear derailleur and veloce shifters. No parts removed from the left shifter, no rattling.

I keep imagining that I will one day remove all the shifting parts (would be an easy job) but have never got around to it.

Ritchey forks are nice but I'm with the masses in saying a wound up would be boss! As for matching brifters, but a pair and remove the shift componentry from the left hand one. Isn't too hard to do provided you don't mind butchering it, no return there after.

unless you spork it,

Shit I just realised, after receiving the ritchey fork that I made the novice mistake of switching up measurements and that it does actually only take a 1 inch fork.

Better look if I can return the ritchey fork asap then.. And maybe then I will go for a wound up, as it seems to be the best 1 inch option as far as I know. Any suggestions maybe?

Second hand (4za, aprebic etc) on marktplaats? They're usually curved though.