Originally Posted by
Smooooth
The titanium welds are very large (like aluminum). Further more the beading on the welds is globby and inconsistent. This is noticeable at < 3 foot inspection of the frame.
Sorry, I'm not a Beyond owner either but....
IMHO, you're suffering from Co-Motion steel frame TIG weld withdrawl.... noting their TIG welds are perhaps the nicest TIG welds you'll see on any frame.
What you're seeing on your Beyond sounds par for the course for the big S on all of it's frames / materials. I'm not sure why Santana has never focused more attention on raising the bar on the attention to detail that most other frame builders do, e.g., tighter and more uniform weld pools. As an example, here are two photos that compare catalog shots of Santana's Beyond to a Co-Motion Robusta which, because it's aluminum, will almost always have a fat weld. However, note the difference in the uniformity of the pools and overall shape of the weld.
Finally, and more specific to your frame's titanium material, I'm at a loss as to why they have always used the same size and type of TIG welds on their exotics and, in particular, the titanium. Ti can definitely be welded with nice tight pools just like steel and that's exactly what you'll see if you look at the ti frames produced by Seven and Lynskey. Here's a shot of a bottom bracket on a ti Lynskey:
