Pact ti fixed audax/commuter

Just placed an order for my first custom frame, designed by Brant at Pact Bikes. Geometry was based loosely around the Planet X Kaffenback 2 which he also designed - I used to own one and liked the way it rode. Frame is being made by Waltly Titanium in China.

Other bits of the spec:
Long 44mm HT (no spacers under stem, tapered steerer)
Same reach and stack as my Synapse
CX fork (400mm A-C, 45 mm offset)
Long-ish chainstays
Short seat tube, long post
Clearance for 32mm tyres + guards
Single chainring at 53mm chainline
Disc brakes with adjustable dropouts
High BB
Rack mounts, 3x bottle mounts, external cable routing

Frame drawing:

I added routing for a rear derailleur just in case I want to run it as 1x at some point in the future.

Have got the following parts already:
Wheels - Surly ultra new fixed/disc rear, Shimano XT dynohub front, Stans Alpha 340 rims
Panaracer 32mm Gravel Kings
B+M Luxos U light
Thomson post and Cambium saddle
Truvativ stem
FSA Vero bars, SRAM S500 levers
17T cog
Mechanical disc brakes from the Synapse (Bengal MB700T) + 160mm rotors
SPD-M540 pedals

Frame should be here by the end of next month and I still need to get:
Kinesis Tripster fork - only full carbon tapered fork I could find with QR dropouts, mudguard mounts and a through hole in the crown for a dynamo light bracket
Cane Creek ZS44/28.6 EC44/40 headset
Mudguards
Cranks, BB - have got a pair of old Shimano 600 road cranks on the way, will probably have to use a 125mm BB to get the chainline I need.
43T or 44T chainring
Seat clamp
Chain, cables, etc
Might upgrade the brakes to TRP Hylex - have got BB7s on another bike and they're OK, but fancy trying the hydraulics.

I used go mountain biking with Brant out of Todmorden 10 or 15 years ago.

I'm really interested to see how your build turns out, it looks like just the kind of frame I could be in the market for in the near future.

Would love to see result and impression of the frame once you get it, am looking into custom ti myself. Any reason you chose Waltly over others?

Any reason you chose Waltly over others?

Only that they're who Brant works with. He designs it, acts as middleman and arranges shipping. They build it, and I think have worked with him for years on various frames.

I'm excited to see how this goes too - I've been thinking about this kind of frame for a few years now. There are plenty of similar ones out there, but nothing that ticked all the boxes exactly. I just hope I've got the spec right.

Looks very well thought through. Sub'd

Managed to wrestle some Challenge Strada Biancas onto the Stans Alpha 340 rims for this build without using tyre levers last night, so it'll have gumwalls instead of the Gravel Kings. Wheels are a bit heavy at 3.5kg for the complete pair (inc. QRs, discs, tyres and fixed cog) but they'll do. I don't think there's a much lighter solution without changing to a minimally spoked SON Delux dynamo. Fork, headset and seatclamp are scheduled for delivery this week sometime.

Boring photo of current pile of bits:

Decided to go for 44cm Nitto Noodles instead of the FSA compact bars - arrived from Hubjub this afternoon, and got some urban camo splash tape to go on them. Going to see if I've got an adaptor to fit a 140mm rotor on the back, otherwise I'll use the 160mm I've already got. I'm sticking with the ugly silver Spa compact double cranks that are currently on another bike at the moment - at least they've got the right chainline and I can re-use the existing ring and BB. Just waiting for a Ø26mm stem, some compressionless brake outer and some decent cable for the dynamo light.

And the frame - hopefully it'll be finished next week and on its way to me the week after.

Frame is done:

Looks great! Consider building it up indoors though.

Thanks, I won't be able to ride it in the snow now.

Frame arrived today (5-7 days delivery. Yeah, right).

Looks good - welds are tidy, came with all the screws and cable guides I need - weighs exactly 4lbs, which is about right I guess. Seems to be plenty of adjustment on the dropouts. The head tube isn't perfectly round - the reaming has only cleaned up about 95% of the ID at both ends - I don't think it's a problem. The pump peg isn't parallel to the TT either - it's parallel to the ground, which is a little annoying. Should be able to get the fork and wheels on later to see if the geometry is right.

Too late for a decent pic, but this'll do for now:

Looks ok so far - headset went in fine, seatpost slid in nicely and there's plenty of clearance for fat tyres and guards.

Looking good!

Done. Not the ideal first ride (75 damp hilly-ish miles) but everything worked nicely enough. Only needed to tweak the saddle position once, and I reckon that the handlebars are either a little low or a little too far away. More experimentation needed. The ride is really good - stable and comfortable - and the build went well too. Weighs 23.3 lbs with lights, guards and pump.

Super nice! Pretty much exactly what I wish my commuter looked like

Can't you get a rhs dropout without the mech hanger?

Thanks! I'm very pleased with it.

@dancing james Yes, I think so. The hanger doesn't bother me though.

I really like this. With the hanger you could always make it a geared bike later on.

Great result!

I have a lynskey mtb with sliding dropouts, and it came with both geared and ss right hand dropouts. I would guess that the dropouts for this will be available in both configurations and not having the hanger looks a little cleaner.

This bike is another example of a great modern path racer. What is really neat is this bike could be done up as an etap hydro geared bike too (though am not certain as to the rear spacing). Have just checked and rear spacing would allow for a geared hub.

Thanks guys. I'd planned for this to be as adaptable as possible, without making too many compromises. The rear dropouts are 135mm, it's got the derailleur hanger and guides for a cable for 1x?? or a hub gear, and will take 45mm tyres or 35mm with guards. Will do pretty much everything I need a bike to do and, assuming the welds don't fail ;-), should last me for years.

Shamefully, I've not been out on this much in the last couple of months - I've only put a couple of hundred miles on it. But now I reckon I've finished tweaking the saddle position and got the bars where I want them.

Have got a new stem on the way so I can cut the steerer to its final length, and need to re-fit the rear mudguard and a rear dynamo light, but it's pretty much done.

Yeaaahhhhhh looks really great. Was so unsure of the original frame only photos but this is lovely.

Ta. Was a bit worried about how it was going to turn out - particularly the steeply sloping TT but I reckon it's come together pretty well. Ti + all black is always going to look good.