Keeping Aesthetics

Well I spent a week plus trying to make myself happy with a Ti rear assembly and ultimately I gave up.

One of the unfortunate things about Ti is in a normal world it cannot be brazed (it can be brazed but the real way to do it is in a controlled chamber that is oxygen free which is unrealistic) and since it cannot be brazed I need to make some compromises or find solutions that will maintain my aesthetic. What I did was make a bunch of constant diameter rear ends out of steel so as to not toss a slew of Ti. I tried bullets, 3/4", 7/8", 5/8" (for seat stays), hoods, plate style and a few other things but at the end of the day (well week actually) I did not like any of them and junked the project.

Steel offers more than one option in a nicely tapered seat stay and chain stay that can be bent to whatever clearances I want (also not easy without the correct tooling). Ti does not have these offerings so I need to get to work on getting Ti in the tapers I want to maintain the look of my bikes. I need to be happy with the end product and excited to build them. Once I tossed the rear ends for this steel beta bike I felt so much better. I maintained big tire clearance (which is not for everyone but needs to be available), clean lines and most of all a super nice transition into the drop out. This is the big issue with me, I love the look of a finished drop out.

I have some friends in the right line of work that are willing to give it a go and we are going to work on tapering some Ti tubing. It puts the project on hold for another day but I still need to build the 3 bikes that I had in the queue that were going to be beta bikes (beta being the loose term used--basically bikes for people I trust to give me quality feedback). One is Ed's new geared 29R (with a tapered headtube, pressfit 30 BB and a direct mount front der), then Shawn's geared 29R and lastly Adam's 29R single speed. These guys are animals on the bike and ride really hard. I figure it is a good opportunity to try out a few of the new items on the market and see how I like them. The direct mount thing seems like a really slick idea. I am already a huge fan of the pressfit 30. This will also be the first hardtail I make with a tapered fork.

One would think of the week as wasted but I felt it was a good project and I am glad I got it out of my system. I don't like having an opinion on something without fact to back it up. Now when people ask "why don't you make Ti bikes?" I can answer with honesty.

Here are some photos of Ed's bike after I bailed on the constant diameter stays and went with what I know and love:

If there seems to be a sudden lack of postings assume my baby was born and I will be back in a month or so.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Drew