TMonk

Hi all. I am looking to start saving money for the purchase of a quality Ti road bike frame. What I hope to gain out of this thread is some suggestions from members about off-the-shelf products before I consider custom. I’m looking for something (somewhat) specific.

About me as a rider:

I’m a young, competitive crit and track racer (27 years old – cat3) who wants a bike to use for my everyday riding and training. I currently own two road bikes: a caad9 and steel lugged bike. Additionally, I spend about ~10hrs/week on my bike on average, throughout the year.

Intended use:

The Ti frame will be built to replace the steel lugged bike for my daily driver. This frame will see most of my miles. It will see nearly all of my solo training, most of my group rides, and even some races here and there.

The steel bike is too sluggish. I want something lighter, with geometry more akin to my caad9. This will make riding the bike more enjoyable for me.

I plan on outfitting it with some custom wheels (kinlin xr300 build) and an ultegra groupset, 6600 or newer, and ofc a carbon fork (suggestions also welcome here). Eventually I’d like to have a Ti post, stem and cages for a very clean look, but I will likely ride whatever is in the parts bin for a while.

For reference, the steel bike is a (1990?) powdercoated Centurion Dave Scott Ironman road bike that has been retrofitted with 10-sp ultegra 6600, 10sp indexed downtube shifters, and open pros.

Specific requirements:

BSA threaded bottom bracket – no fancy press in assemblies please. I use shimano cranks.
1-1/8” headtube – no fancy tapering
Brushed bare titanium – no paint
Aggressive geometry

No eyelets or mounts for racks, fenders required.

Thanks!

RoadMike

Are you budget conscious? A full custom build is the way to go. Who you go to is going to depend on how much you want to pay. I will tell you this though. Steel is real, but Titanium is flipping magical.

If you are looking for a production bike check out the Salsa Warbird Ti. It's marketed as a gravel bike, but all that means is it can run wide tires and has a road geometry. Disc brakes may be a deal breaker for you, I'm not sure.

TMonk

Don't need disc brakes or fat tires - will be running standard road calipers and 25c tires (or 23 but I prefer 25)

This is a like 6-month goal for me so I guess the budget is somewhat flexible - I am ready to do custom if I can't find something I like enough that is readily available.

Having said that there is no way that I am going to spend more then ~$4k or so for the frame.

rpenmanparker 

I'm not sure you can still get it in BB68, but the Everti Falcon out of Canada(designed in Canada, produced in Asia) is a great frame and excellent value. Adrenaline Bikes sells them for around $2,000 but only in BB30. I love my older model (2010) with BB68. I hear what you are saying about wanting to use Shimano cranks, but I understand the adapters to use Shimano with BB30 work fine. Folks who install press fit cups and adapters in BB30 BBs according to the latest standards (Loctite, etc.) seem to have no problems. Just my take, but why not go with BB30 adapted to Shimano in case you ever want to make the switch later? Who knows what the future will bring?

Anyway, I love my frame. I have had it paired with both Easton EC90 SLX and Ritchey PRO forks. Great ride in either case.

Nice weight for the money.

Good luck.

fa63

I would suggest keeping an eye out for a used frame; there are plenty to be had out there if you are patient. I was in a similar situation and found a Seven Elium with Campy Record for an outstanding price (paid way less than the price of the frame alone for the entire bike).

Looigi

Are you looking for titanium, or would Taitanium be OK? I have one of the latter for ~12 years now and it's been great.

datlas 

Consider Hananero if you are on a budget.

Of course, if you have plenty of money, consider Spectrum, Moots, Seven, etc.

rpenmanparker 

fify

GP

https://www.hollandcycles.com/

TMonk

^
Oh! He's a local too.

marqueemoon

Dean and Ti Cycles do stock geometry with a good selection of sizes.

Nachoman

Bill Holland is really easy to work with. He often has used frames for sale, which would clearly be in your budget. I'm not sure what the prices are these days for his exogrids, isogrids or straight up titaniums, but they may also be within your budget.
And I heard recently that his shop is relocating from Spring Valley to Clairemont Mesa (near the REI).

hueyhoolihan

i had a custom Ti bike made for me back in '95. it's okay, but the narrow (oversized compared to traditional steel tubes of the 80's and early 90's, true) tubes of that era were woefully inadequate (read flimsy).

i recently contacted Habanero about a new Ti frame. the new tubes have a much, much larger diameter and although i have never tried one, i would think that they should be at least better as far as stiffness is concerned.

i liked the guy at Habanero, and couldn't be nicer to me when conversing over email. they are very accommodating and the resulting purchase experience would have been semi-custom at least, IMO.

i would want to try a recent large tubed Ti bike though before i put any money down. i've come to like the stiffness i have in my CF and butted aluminum frames and would be disappointed if the Ti frame didn't measure up.

BTW, i've had cause to buy three used CF forks off of Ebay and have been more than satisfied with all of them. average price was about 75. lightspeed, orbea and look.

enjoy your purchasing experience, just remember, that if you get a Ti frame that you like, you may never again be able to justify the purchase a new frame because you need one.

TMonk

^
good points, and stiffness is a concern for me. I guess I should have mentioned that as in important factor in ride quality in addition to weight, and geometry. All three (stiffness, weight, geometry) are contributors to why I'm looking for a new frame in the first place!

Well I'll be darned - that's where I live! (Mesa College area).

Also, nice bike.

Added in edit: It's also where I work too - (Kearney Mesa - Ronson)

Grambo

Engin Cycles in Philadelphia. Drew and the frames he builds have been featured many times in NAHBS. I believe his Ti frames are in the mid $3K range and it would be totally custom to your specs. , body dimensions, flexibility etc. I believe the current wait is over 6 months but it doesn't sound like your in a real rush (the wait time is indicative of his reputation and demand for his work). He is a master craftsman and does beautiful work.

https://engincycles.com/

datlas 

Thanks. It's haBanero...was typing on my iPhone. Such a facepalm.

Anyway the Hab is a good choice if you are on a budget. I am very pleased with mine.

surgeonstone

This would be my choice.
https://www.baumcycles.com/bikes/corretto

Painted is nice or brushed ti like this one....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/baumcycles/10831202114/

Really like this one too....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/baumcyc...n/photostream/

la rosa 

Lynsky

rpenmanparker 

Yeah, speaking of facepalms, I was thinking, "Wow, that's a name I haven't heard of." So I Googled Hananero. Google comes back saying, "Dunno about that, but maybe you mean Habanero." Duh! Yeah, I've heard of that! So I thought I had better straighten it out. Funny. Yep, I hear it is a good choice on a budget.

rpenmanparker 

My choice too when I win the lottery. LOL. They are so beautiful. When I buy mine, I'm gonna go down there to pick it up. "Think big," is what I always say.

TMonk

If I do end up dropping the scrill on a full custom, Bill Holland is looking like my first choice.

I love the idea of being able to meet in-person to discuss my frame.

MegaTom

I'm not biased or anything, but THIS.

himespau 

Those exogrids of his are really sweet looking. Way out of my price range, but sweet looking nonetheless.

TMonk

Yeah it is kinda cool I suppose, and they do look nice IRL. I've seen more than a few of them out here before.

I just want plain ol' titanium tubes for mine, which lowers the pricepoint.

deacon mark

To me this is a no brainer get a Motobecane TI frame from Bike Island 990$. It Moto TI gets great reviews and out whatever you want on the bike . Another plus is a standard English Bottom bracket and I think much better than the press fits.