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Its been a long **** last couple of years as Im sure most of you can relate. My world has slowly started to open up again and I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel, I have not had a personal project for over 2 years and its been killing me..............So..........I can't afford to do a 356 yet, I can't find an oval that is priced right for a restomod, I finished my motorbike project (https://www.bikeexif.com/custom-husqvarna-701-enduro) so boredom has set in, after a fun ride on the dog walker the other day I decided it was time to build something a little special again. This will be my 4th fully custom ground up build. 1st: https://forum.bikehub.co.za/topic/134550-first-ever-ssfixi-build/ 2nd https://forum.bikehub.co.za/topic/140980-2nd-ever-ss-build-belt-drive-9er-dog-walker/ 3rd https://forum.bikehub.co.za/topic/162718-n1-the-third-attempt/#comments I have decided on the following: Stay True to my design philosophy “ Clean, Simple, Minimal” The idea is to take all of my learning from my last three builds, then design and build one bike to rule them all. Based around a raw Titanium frame, Black carbon forks, front disk brake with full 360 rotation of handlebars running Crank Bros Wheels and a belt drive. I have persuaded a seasoned pro to help walk me through the process and plan to keep my updates here. Its fun for me to go back and read and remember the journey I took!! I appreciate that all my builds are "Marmite" - you either love em or hate em and this has never bothered me, I do them for me, for my pleasure, for my creative outlet, to remove the stress and drama of my work life. I have just finished my fairly extensive design brief so now all the hard work, home work and sourcing begins!! I will keep you posted as the story unfolds. As always please free to add value and offer advice, I have a very clear picture of the end result in my mind and I am not willing to sacrifice it!!

I recently got a Gravel frame custom made for me by the awesome guys over at Calculus Bikes. The frame arrived the other day, and after a fairly effortless build of my old parts across, I took her for a spin. The bike immediately feels right, like how you would imagine a bike that was made for you to feel. Being a gravel bike, the fit won't be super aggressive, but it's far from a lounge chair. It's comfortable but also feels like it's rearing to race. The power transfer is great. I loved getting out the saddle and pushing up some of the gravel climbs, and on the road is no different. On the looks side of things, it's gorgeous. Both the titanium itself and the actual lines are beautifully simple. There are places to fasten panniers and ample space for wider tires for long more technical adventures.

We're looking for some ideas about building the ultimate titanium dream bike. Any recommendations from the room given it's Friday?

We are keen to hear what you guys think of Titanium frames and this option through the various disciplines in the SA cycling. We will soon offer Titanium frames and complete bikes from Skyde, a French manufacturer http://www.skydecomp.fr. Your input will help us determine our approach to this market. For your most valued input , we will choose one lucky poster for a prize/product of their choice valued at R500 from www.performancebikes.co.za Winner will be decided at our discretion on 1 March 2015. The prize is not cash redeemable. Below are pictures of a couple of Skyde bikes as well as an interesting chart on the different frame materials and their properties. Please feel free to also post pictures of your own Titanium bikes and the reason Titanium is your choice of frame material. Cheers from the Performance Bikes team!

Hi guys/girls Calculus bikes are a South African handmade titanium frame company and I am a brand ambassador for them. I got my new frame from them a few days before my race and rushed to finish the bike build...I was worried that I would be uncomfortable on the bike because the bike was not setup and just roughly setup. I was wrong it was the best ride i’ve ever had on a bike as these frames are built for you according to your body and I can say that this is realy a massive + for the company. So the frame is what we al realy want to know about...the finish on the frame looks amazing and the fact that the name and logos aren’t paint or decals but are lazed edged into the frame, the raw ti look makes it even more of a winner. The overall quality of the frame is just amazing the feel and I think it is probably the litest ti dual sus frame on the market. The rear triangle is what realy lets the bike stand out. It only has on pivot and that is at the shock the bottom is a titanium flex blade and that takes out the “bob” you usualy get when riding a dual sus. So if you are a fan of unique bikes and like S.A companies then you should absolutely check them out.

Hallo Everyone The newest project being built up. What would you do on a build like this? Full retro or combination? Kona King Kahuna 2007/8 Parts from a 1998 Kona Kula. Looking for the rear brake bosses if anyone has this odd size lying around. Any other good quality (XT/XTR) 8 speed stuff that anyone wants to donate / trade (coffee or beer) will be appreciated.

how much would you pay for a dream titanium frame ?

So I've been doing some digging on my own but figured I'd ask here too. Anybody have any experience with a chinese titanium frame? Read a bit on some other forums and seems to be a similar deal to the carbon stuff, but you can customise as you please... Prices seem to be in the region of $700 but that seems to be for a custom one- looking into a standard one- trying to get a price on the same geo as an on-one. So far I've found Waltly to be friendly and eager to help. Anyway, thoughts, suggestions and experiences welcome.

For some bazaar reason I got bitten by a bug to design and build my own bike. I have access to some impressive engineering tools and do some graphic design as a hobby. So getting to the conceptual point is pretty easy. It is the detailed design that is presenting a problem. Hence this post. Yes and I will be making it from Titanium, just because I can. That is if I get the stiffness at the right places. At this point I am fairly sure I will be able to limit the tail whip issues that is common with a springy material such as titanium. Here is a conceptual design. You might recognize the basic layout. I admit I am not redesigning the wheel here. After some photoshoping this is what I hope to end with This is the important part. The Geometry is based on my body size. That is the benefit of designing the bike frame. :-D BUT now I have hit a void of information. I am struggling to get the technical detail of key interfaces The head tube size and taper details. The BB thread and details The Seat post stem tolerances The rear de-trailer mounting and QR details and disk brakes mounting position. I am in two minds at this stage about running 11x1 or 10x2. If I do run 10x2 I need the details for mounting the derailer. Pivit bearing details. That and amongst other things. I am hoping someone can direct me to an design guide with technical details about common part. I started contacting the manufacturers of the parts I am intended on using but it is difficult to get to someone that can provide the right information. It also does not help sitting in Africa. They seem to not believe me that I am going to build this. And if I don't get this info they are most likely right. The big issue with Ti is that you can't easily change things after it has been made. So I need to get everything right the first time.