Titanium facilitator

[sam]

When I was last in the market for a bike I looked hard at Waltly. The main thing that turned me off was fear of getting it wrong, as this is the DIY option when it comes to design. They'll do a CAD drawing, but it's up to you to make sure it's actually what you want, and that there's not something lurking in the details that might end up being an unpleasant surprise. "How wonderful it would be to find someone who could handle this little issue for me," I sighed, moving on.

My question, which comes too late to help me, but may help others, is: do you know of someone who is able to examine a drawing of a frame and render an expert verdict? I realise this is essentially what you pay the middlemen who sell frames under their brand to do, but this is of course the budget option.

(As it happens I ended up on a Waltly anyway, and under much better terms than buying direct, but that's another story.)

[Little Jim]

There is a chap who runs a website called Spanner Bikes who does exactly this.  I have not looked at the site for a while but he started off as just a blog type site for builds that people sent in that they had done using the likes of Walty.  He has now expanded to doing designs or consultancy for people wanting to buy a bespoke from from China.  I have never used or contacted him, I just used to look at the weird (and not so weird) designs that people came up with and had built.

[mike]

It looks like a much better marketed version of http://www.xacd.com.cn (who it looks like also now do a bamboo frame with Ti joints! - http://www.xacd.com.cn/product.asp?rpag=6&rootcl=1&cls=1#)

I've used them a couple of times and been very happy - I sent them a drawing of a frame that I knew fit me, they built it beautifully out of Ti.

[vorsprung]

if you get a custom ti frame made on the cheap in the far east then you are rolling the dice on getting a good result

The one I got, from a short lived company called Setavento, was a loverly design, a great fit and super comfortable but the welds failed after a couple of years.  I got it repaired and then a year or two after that it failed again in a different place

If you read up on how Ti welding works you will find that it is a difficult thing to do, requires specialized gear

If I got another Ti frame it would have to be welded up by someone with a good rep that was prepared to do a long term guarantee on their work

Of course if you get a cheap frame and only expect it to last a couple of years that's ok
But custom frames aren't usually like that

[sam]

Of course if you get a cheap frame and only expect it to last a couple of years that's ok
But custom frames aren't usually like that

Laughs bitterly without going into details (seriously, I will neither confirm nor deny the maker of that frame. And I get that the operative word is "usually".)

[zigzag]

a lot comes down to personal preferences, some people are more particular than others. e.g. i prefer shorter chainstays and no toe overlap, so pay attention to those. tyre clearance, cable/hose routing, locations of bottles/cages, size and type of headset, mudguards/rack and lights integration etc. - they can be made to custom spec.
(i wouldn't need a middleman myself, but a good builder should be willing to go through all the options. i heard some (very particular!!!) customers go through several hundred emails before agreeing on their custom build, way ott, but there are people like that..)

[De Sisti]

I bought three frames from xacd between 2004 and 2006. I considered all of them
to be relatively cheap, as the £ > $ exchange rate at the time was heavily in favour
of Sterling. Xacd deals with dollars and none of the frames cost me much more than
about £400.

First frame:
I sold the first one of a clubmate friend (who still uses it with his favoured components).

Second frame:
Developed a crack around the seat tube (above the bottom bracket), so decided to take it to a council recycling centre (as the xacd warranty was non-existent).

Third frame:
The third is still going strong and has successfully completed two Marmotte sportives, many Semaine Federale weeks and countless club and solo rides.

Edit:
The first frame was their 'off-the-peg' small. The second and third were with my input on
dimensions. If I was to order a fourth one, it would be spot-on.

[sam]

I went through the custom building process three times, if an aborted attempt counts: twice with ti and once with steel.

The first was simply a measuring up of me and a short conversation, which resulted in a great ride for as long as it lasted.

The failed attempt was with Burls and deserves a longer post, but I'm going to skip that except to say this isn't meant as a knock on him.

The third, steel, was with Woodrup, a well regarded builder. There were a few dozen emails back and forth. Full story here.

[Paul H]

I had XACD build me a Rohloff touring frame in 2010, going custom was the only option for what I wanted and their price was half that of the cheapest UK steel framebuilder. I paid £425 including delivery, wasn't taxed, though that should have been £120.  I enjoyed the process, did a fair bit of research, both on materials and frame geometry, few emails back and forth with their pushy rep Porter (Who may be more than one individual).  Frame was exactly as drawn, though I'd failed to notice the chainstay bridge was measured to the centre rather than edge, which restricted maximum tyre size to 35mm when I'd expected 40.  Apart from that it lived up to all expectation other than longevity.
Headtube cracked after eight years of almost daily use, repair wasn't viable. Disappointed of course, though I feel I got good value and I enjoyed the experience of designing it.  Price had nearly doubled when I enquired about a replacement. I'd have probably gone for that but some non custom options had become available, so back to steel. 
Has Ti welding improved?  I know there's still tales of woe, but Spa give the impression the failure rate is low and they've been offering them a while. It was apparently the failure rate that put Setavento, as mentioned above, out of business. 

[sam]

the xacd warranty was non-existent

As is the Waltly's, practically speaking.

Has Ti welding improved?

I'd think if anything ti has become more unreliable thanks to the relentless drive to shave weight, thus earning a place in the Room 101 thread.

I know there's still tales of woe, but Spa give the impression the failure rate is low and they've been offering them a while.

Sabbath, now sold by Spa alongside their own brand, seems to have gone from a lifetime warranty to 10 years after the transition. Probably sensible. My Waltly/Sabbath, at £750 f+f, was as unsexy as it gets what with being straight gauge, but a beauty in my eyes.

I feel I got good value

The elusive sweet spot. The Planet X I owned for the blink of an eye (didn't like the look of the fork, among other things), at £500 with a 2 year warranty, seemed a risk worth taking. My Sabbath, costing 50% more but with a warranty 5x the X's, even more so.

[Identicalbutlighter]

I've had three XACD Ti frames, bought before I could weld Ti and build my own, they were very reasonably priced  but the dollar was weak way back then.
They're all still going strong but I did chop the head tube off one and replace with a 44mm tube to fit modern forks, I also lopped the dropouts off and converted to thru axle and flat mounts.
Ti can be a bit fickle, I've repaired a few brands, some of the more expensive ones are not immune to failure either. Cracking it isn't always build related, I've seen some cracks in tubes well away from weld zones, poor quality raw materials presumably.
For what it's worth I understand Bingham who builds the most fantastic frames in Ti only uses straight gauge tubes, I'm not sure how many builders actually bother with butted Ti. My feeling is that chasing weight reduction in Ti is a bit risky.
Usual swings and roundabouts story as with all materials.

[Ian H]

I got my Omega off Mark Reilly about 20 years ago. It's a Russian Ti frame designed by Mark (he claimed he built it himself, but that's another story).  It's done 2 PBPs and loads of miles in addition.  I also have a Qoroz designed as a road-going fixed-wheel (none of your track -end rubbish). That is 9 years old and I had the chainstays repaired - made with too extreme a cross-section, so flexed when I was lamping it up hills.
Latest bikes are both steel from Richard Hallett.  They're about as good a fit as possible. The 'fun' bike, mostly for club runs, is stainless and lighter than the Ti ones.