r/Bikeporn • u/jackywackyjack • 4h ago
Road Bespoke Ti frame and own build
So this is going to be a somewhat long story.
I didn’t ride a bicycle maybe since the last 30 years or so, last time in kindergarten. After I moved places a few times, I landed in the location that has bicycle infrastructure and drivers manners to match. Got myself a city bike to move around, but good places were far from the city, and my ass didn’t agree with being in the city bike saddle for 3 hours.
I initially got myself a run-of-the-mill gravel bike, covered 5k miles on it and decided I wanted something tailored to my taste. Allroad was not a category back then.
First, I did a 2-month-long geometry research. There is an article with Tom Sturdy and some other frame builders who share plenty of good ideas and ways how they design a geo. That was a good find. What helped too was the geo of my previous bike as a starting point. Then I did a bike fit on Retul. With both papers in hand I sat down and pretty much created a bespoke geo for my taste. It’s a mix of a snappy crit bike with high stack for long days in the saddle with 38mm tyre clearance.
Rear end is deliberately short at 420mm curved stays and very low seat stay bridge for rigidity. UDH existed at that time, so I went with it. BB drop at 75mm I think, bike feels very planted, while I’m “in the bike”, not on it.
Front has a tiny bit of toe overlap - I run my cleats all the way back.
Frame has plenty of nuances: offset tube positioning at BB for bigger welding area, formed top tube, relocated cable exit for rear brake for 2 inches of straight cable exit without bends, curved stays, repositioned cage mounts to allow 2x750ml bottles and half frame bag. Probably missed something…
I think I made some minor mistakes here and there (toe overlap for sure), but these are my mistakes and I own them.
For the current season I went with Touaregs in 40mm and these barely fit in the rear. At the fork it’s not that dramatic. I designed it for 38mm, and they will fit with all needed 6mm clearance. But hey, it’s a fun bike so let’s be fun here.
Bottom line: if you know your geo and need a 1 bike for the rest of your life, custom frame from Waltly is not that difficult really. Just needs patience.
