The El Mariachi is a pretty sweet ride.

Thanks.

Yes it is.

I ended up in 29er bliss this weekend with a new Fargo and an El Mariachi.

Both were 2012 closeouts and really well priced.

C'mon man you know how it works around here. PICS! Congratulations on your score and many happy and dirty miles in good company.

My Fargo and El Mar?

Fargo is at home and the El Mar soon to follow when they finish a few upgrades at Angry Catfish.



Alpkit and Revelate seat/handlebar bags on their way, along with Kenda Small Block 8s.

The El Mariachi 29er still is at the shop. Swapping out a few things here and there.

Gonna be a beast.

Titanium has kind of fallen out of favor since the latest aluminum and carbon fiber bikes have come around. These newer bikes are finally as light or slightly lighter than Ti, at a more approachable price point. That being said, I have seen some good deals this year on Ti bikes whose owners were being drawn to the latest-greatest. I have seen several respectable Ti road and mountain bikes selling for $700-1300. Personally, I think anyone who would give up one of these bikes for a soda can or fishing rod is kinda nutty, or highly vulnerable to marketing. But their loss is my gain.
I picked up two used Ti bikes this year at a small fraction of their original price: a One-Off handbuilt Ti road bike (even with a Ti fork) and a Miyata Ti MTB. They are both rare, awesome, fun, and equal to bikes costing much more.

I love that titanium frame/fork/rack combo.

Nice!

May I ask where you got the One Off bike from? Is the frame also made by One Off or just the anodizing?

I have heard of them because they do some pretty nice looking titanium anodizing, but I did not know if they made frames as well.

I would like a hardtail ti mountain bike

I bought it used from a lady who had this bike custom built in '92. She had saved all of her original correspondence and everything! (Lucky for me I'm kind of "lady-sized") One-Off was a one man shop started by one of the original founders of Merlin Metalworks, and prided himself in making every bike custom. As far as I can tell from his website, he now spends his time building handcycles for the handicapped. I would not want to presume his intent or financial disposition however, so he would be the best one to ask about a frame.
I have seen someone post a photo of a One-Off MTB in a different forum, and his Ti MTB forks gained a fair bit of notoriety in the pre-suspension days. But his bikes appear to be few and far between.
Sidenote - the lady was also selling a much newer carbon-Ti bike, but I feel like I got the gem.

Nice! a pair of absolute badasses. enjoy the ride.

Oh wow, I didn't know that. I suppose that explains a lot (why the titanium work is so impressive).

Its interesting that all this posting about Ti bikes comes at a time that I'm looking into a custom Ti/Carbon frame. This is going to offend many C&V members because it is anything but classic or vintage. But I think it fits in this thread. So here is the story.

I've seen a lot of Holland custom frames around where I ride (Bill Holland's shop is just 4-5 miles from my home) and recently decided that I'd stop in and see what all the fuss is about. After several conversations and brief fitting he sent me home with this bike as a demo. Its Bill's personal bike, and I've had it this weekend (unfortunately it rained everyday since I picked it up) and I'll take it back the middle of next week.

Sorry for the crummy lighting....I'm hiding it in the guest bedroom so my wife doesn't see it because I already have too many bikes.

You can see some of the detail here.

The "Holland" and diamonds is laser cut out of the butted Ti tubing. After the cutting evidently carbon is rolled and slid inside the tubing before being treated/heated and "fused" to the titanium.

Here is the Headtube and Di2 shifters.

Rear triangle. I like the beefy chainstays.

I thought this was interesting, the frame can be disassembled for travel/shipping, there is another sleeved release above the bottom bracket on the down tube here.

All in all the bike is a beautiful piece of art/work. As soon as I've had a chance to ride it, I'll see how it compares to my full Ti framed roadbike. Supposedly the Ti and carbon combination dampens more of the road vibrations, while still not feeling "wooden" like a full carbon frame.
CMC

Those Holland's really are something special. I'm not 100% with his choice of kit on this build, but the frame, the frame!

I just finished remaking a 2000 Litespeed Classic bought off Ebay for $850. It had Ultegra 6500 and Mavic Open Pro Wheels. I replaced the shifters, stem, handlebars and seatpost. I'm very pleased with the results, it's a smooth and comfortable ride.

Re: awesome Holland...

Calculon: "I'm not familiar with the... type of thing I'm seeing."