With impeccable timing...New bike day!

[Bedmaker]

As my riding has shifted more and more over the past few years towards longer distance bikepacking stuff and longer/less gnar day rides, I fancied a bike geared towards this type of riding.

I had a gravel bike for a short while a couple of years back, but found it far too limiting for off road stuff. I just don't get the drop bar fashion for offroad bikes, I find they really limit control and enjoyment on any downhill. After that, it has been mostly a Singular Swift with Rohloff. This is a great setup. I covered many happy, comfy miles on that bike. (Framest for sale...)

The frame was made by Waltly, fork is a Maxlight carbon Boost.

Stuff what I wanted from a bikepacking specific (ish) bike -

- Light. I'm no weightweenie, but I do think that the less weight getting lugged around on longer rides really makes a difference. Ti frame and carbon fork. Rohloff adds some back on, but is worth it imo.

- Long and stable geometry. This bike doesn't need to be chuckable, poppy or twitchy - it's for mile munching. That said, it is pretty standard.
65mm BB drop
Chainstay from 440 - 460mm on the sliders. It also has a PF30 BB, so could be tweaked further using an EBB.

69 HA, 75 SA, 500mm reach. These numbers work for me, and have been well tested on my fatbike.
180 HT, I like the front end high for touring type stuff. Obviously, aero suffers

High front end and Jones bars on a 30mm stem should be a recipe for a wandery, unweighted front wheel. The steep seat angle and long chainstay shift that weight forward though, leaving things nicely balanced.

- Versatility.
IT's suspension corrected so I can stick a 120 sus fork on there if I fancy.
Drivetrain wise, It's ready for Rohloff, SS or geared 142x12. I ordered extra inserts and a pair of axles. I expect to be Rohloff most of the time, and SS otherwise.

- Carrying ability.
The gert big long frame with long HT leaves space for a mahoosive custom framebag in time.
I've had mounts added on for racks similar in style to the Trek 1120. I'm going to make mine mount direct to the headtube though, rather than fork.
A normal rack will fit on the back too.

Other stuff - SON dyno hub, ancient Stans flow rims with Cushcore inserts (highly recommended!), Jones carbon bars, super comfy SMP saddle, XT brakes.

Now it's a lockdown waiting game...
Meantime, it'll be used for my daily dose of excercise locally!

IMG_20200401_145151

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[redefined_cycles]

Thats beautiful. I've told myself that once I get chance to start riding happily again am gonna get myself/save up for a Ti frame... Thanks to one of Colins (ScotRoutes) posts I had/have my heart set on a Burls but Waltly I'd never heard of... was it over 1k for the frame (might be a silly Q sorry).

Enjoy it as you should rightly do so (obviously without comprosmising that rule they call #1)...

[Lazarus]

what was the cost ? I have been toying with basically getting a frame that would do everything - like a genesis longtitude only not very heavy and like the idea of an EBB so therefore a frame that will do 650 650B+ , 29 er and SS to boot

edit: walty frames can be seen on alibaba and ther eis a link from thier website
i am going with over 1k just once shipped and with all costs for frame no idea re forks

http://waltlytitanium.com/

https://waltly.en.alibaba.com/

[Mart]

Got to love new bike day

[Bedmaker]

Cost wise, my other two frames have been £800 and £850 all in.

This one cost £975 all in, including post and customs.
It was more due to three sets of slider inserts, a spare axle, the tanking pound, and having to use DHL instead of EMS shipping because of the virus.

[Lazarus]

good to know its still sub 1k as i assume that was to your specifications ?

I assume you are impressed with quality seeing as its your third

[voodoo_simon]

Nice that! Looks a great build

Can’t quite get over the saddle...

[techno]

Nice that! Looks a great build

Can’t quite get over the saddle...

I'm a convert to the selle amp. Great for long days in the saddle.

[ScotRoutes]

That's lovely.

Digging the white rims too. I once had white rims on a Ti Ragley and really liked that look. I still have the rims and was thinking of lacing them up for my wee Ti SS. Your photos have convinced me to do it!

[Bedmaker]

I'll not hear a bad word about my Gonzo saddle
When it's as comfortable as it is, the look is totally unimportant.
Agreed, the white rims do go well with Ti. I'm just using them because they are there. I'd quite like to use narrower rims for this bike, but the Flows are tough and have always worked flawlessly tubeless.

Quality wise, Waltly have been consistently excellent for the money. The frames are nicely finished and build easily.
The only fault is there seat tube is slightly oversize each time. Just needs a decent clamp done up tight.
The welding is lovely, really tidy. It's not mind bogglingly perfect like Bingham Built or Moots, but then it doesn't cost £3K...

[pistonbroke]

When I worked in the "trade" I was told that Waltly employed women to weld their Ti frames as they have steadier hands and better dexterity than males. It's interesting to know how many so called boutique brands use Waltly and add a 100% markup. Their achillies heel does seem to be seat tube tolerance though, as the recent Broken Road thread and Titus Fireline issues have shown.

[Fat tyre kicker]

Very nice....did Waltly design it or build to your design ?

[jameso]

Good stuff.... Interested in those head tube bosses - do you have a stock or custom rack in mind for them? Got a city bike project on with a similar arrangement and was debating the side bosses or a KF mount. Or both. A lot depends on what's available aftermarket.

When I worked in the "trade" I was told that Waltly employed women to weld their Ti frames as they have steadier hands and better dexterity than males.

Nice story but even if they do employ women the reason sounds like BS.. More women doing lay-ups in carbon factories though, more of them with the textile trade experience and smaller hands/fingers can be an advantage there.

[pistonbroke]

the reason sounds like BS

BS from Brant, surely not
I'm not a metallurgist but it's common knowledge that Ti has to be welded in the absence of oxygen. I've also noticed that having had 2 frames crack just by the headtube, the supplier, which sources from Waltly AFAIK, has changed the shape of the downtube so that it meets the headtube at exactly 90° Have I just been unlucky or is there a known issue with some designs?

[jameso]

He'll know the factory well enough. I've heard a similar story before but there's not a lot to back it up. Something about natural movement differences between men and women iirc but nothing that can't be learned or overcome - by the time you're a skilled enough welder to work on Ti or thin steel you'll be well past anything like that.
On the cracked frames, a bit of both maybe? Ti does need a lot of care in the join design and the process.

[FLV]

New Bike day is always a good day. Lovely stuff mate, hope it brings you many happy miles.

[Bedmaker]

Thanks guys, I'm delighted with it?

Women welders - I've also heard that about the Ti factories but have no idea if there's any truth in it. It makes sense to me. This very fine welding seems closer to traditional wimminz factory work than heavy industry. More craft than heavy lifting.
I've asked the question directly to Amy at Waltly, so will update tomorrow!

Front rack - It's not made to fit anything off the shelf. I'm planning to mock one up in steel to try out, and then get a locl fabrictor to copy with ally once I've tried it out. I normally strap my tent to the front of the jones bars. I'm hoping that having it mounted lower down and isolated from steering will improve handling.
I don't find strapping the tent to the bars too bad anyway tbh, but thought I may as well get these mounts put on to experiment with.

The frame is entirely to my own design. Waltly are great to deal with in the design phase. I don't use any CAD programme or anything too technical.
I just gave them the spec, 29er, BB drop, reach, HTA, STA, chainstay length, sliders, PF30, etc , and they return a drawing.
You can spec tube sizes, bottle bosses, cable guides and whatnot. They will put stuff wherever you want it.

Cracking at the headtube, I have also had a Ti frame crck at that joint years back. A Lynskey built On one Ti 29er. The tubes on that were tiny in comarison to these frames.
This frme has a 50mm DT welded to a 44/56 headtube. There's a huge weld area at that joint. I'm not worried about it.
My understanding of Ti failing is that more heat = more brittleness and likelihood of cracking.
I've seen the phrase relating to Ti that gussets show the crack where to start. That makes sense to me, it's one of the reasons I like to spec the dropped TT on my frames. The seattube doesn't have that concentration of welding all the way round. That joint seems to be a common fail point too.
I'm no expert, far from it.
Ti frame building seems a bit like diet choices in the online world. Folk join one camp and spit hatred at the other
I don't know what's right or wrong, but I know what has worked for me.

[ScotRoutes]

I'm not a big fan of the aesthetics of curved downtubes and they eat into the space a frame bag might use but I believe the downtube/headtube weld is stronger.

[Lazarus]

As a welder[ never of bikes and not for years with this eyesight]I suspect its just easier to weld a tube that come in at nearer 90 degrees than to weld in a cut /angled tube which is more likely to have gaps
If you are filling gaps you will be welding longer and therefore hotter
as for stronger i dont know about ti but weld is generally stronger than the metal it just welded - not an engineer and I know nothing of building bikes so happy to be corrected by those who really know

@bedmaker was was the rough weight of the finished frame?

[Bedmaker]

@bedmaker was was the rough weight of the finished frame?

About 4.5 lb with the inserts in. Rubbish scales though so not entirely sure.

[stevenshand]

Looks like a great bike BM. It's not a million miles away in concept from the Tam I did at Shand. I think a lot of people designing an off-road touring bike from scratch are going to come up with something very similar. Look forward to hearing how you get on with it,

[omedunk]

Nice bike!

Any reason you don’t use a Gates belt?

[Bedmaker]

Cheers Steven, the Tam was top of the shortlist, but I wanted to tweak every dimension just a wee bit, basically meaning a full custom build.

On the Gates, on a commuter bike I see a list of positives, but the list of negative aspects on a MTB override it. I think a good old fashioned chain has a lot going for it.

I had my first proper ride today and it is just spot on. Everything I hoped for really. I'm delighted with it.

[omedunk]

What negative aspects of a belt on a mtb do you think of?

[ScotRoutes]

Paging John Climber