I Built a Custom Titanium Frame for Under $1000

My favorite bike is a used 2011 Lynskey Cooper Ti bike that I bought last New Years for $1500. It already had an Enve fork and Bontrager XXX Lite carbon rims. So simple but elegant in my eyes. Love it. Never going back to carbon.

I too have a titanium frame built by the same company last year. Already put about 1,500km on it and really loved it.

The bike was 9.1kg finished with pedals and bidon cages. Not light but maybe fewer donuts and I'll compensate. ;-)

I am a big fan of titanium frames. My last 3 frames have all been from Lynskey, and I have been extremely pleased with all of them. It's great that you have been able to find a solution that works for you, and that you enjoy it. For me, the biggest surprise in the video is that De Rosa and Pinarello are made in factories that, admittedly in one person's opinion, are second tier.

Mark thanks. I picked up a Waltly mountain bike frame second hand, and it's now my fave bike. Although I've got a Lynskey Ti bike, the Waltly is like a Porsche and fun to ride. Impressive quality!

Good to see more people showing the world what gems there are in Chinese bike parts. Good on ya mate.

Wow, wasn’t expecting to be recommended a CM video after not seeing any of the channel for 4-5 years. I hope all is well with Maven and family. Such fond memories, it was such a great channel. Rhino, anyone remember him? Such a great character! Ah man, where has the time gone!? It flys by…💨

Thanks for this Mark, I’ve just been through a titanium build myself. In last few months Lynskey (Ti since the 80s with Litespeed and then Lynskey) had one of their Road frames shipped from their Chattanooga, Tennessee factory for US$875 ( inc. shipping to Aus). But usually they are a lot more than that although I got my Lynskey GR270 gravel frame set including carbon fork, titanium seat post and Cane Creek headset for US$1,500 so even with a US made known brand with history, titanium doesn’t have to be expensive. Good quality carbon frame sets are way more expensive. As far as carbon versus titanium goes, it’s a different thing, horses for courses naturally. Compared to my Canyon Ultimate, the titanium gravel bike with road tyres just doesn’t have the out-of-the-saddle power transfer or nippy tightness of carbon in the way it goes but titanium has so much comfort and compliance that it’s like riding on a cloud. No wonder ultra endurance riders like them for all day comfort and suit gravel as well. Mine is 9.3kg with 2x Ultegra and gravel tyres so no as light as a carbon bike but tough for the conditions

I am a Ti convert.  Light, lively, and no concern about cracking your carbon frame in a routine crash.

Simply having a naked titanium frame , unpainted corrosion resistant, that you can do a quick visual inspection with gives me confidence in a bike frame. A carbon bike that has a little creek that you can't find isn't fun to ride.

Thanks Mark, I'll be doing this shortly.

Great video Mark. Thanks for sharing and can't wait to see more updates done about this bike. You're dead right that titanium is very expensive from most of the bike brands. But still titanium is to drool over for me so this really hits the spot for what I would say is the majority of riders that would like titanium.

Thanks for posting the process. Great to see that you are trying new things.

Great to see ya face mate. Hanging to go for a spin. Hope this gets the ball rolling on some more content broseff. There's people having Cycling Mace withdrawals out there.. 😘

Thank you Mark. Personally having been buying Carbon products from China for past 9 years with no issues,I would say the biggest problem for bike manufactures now ,is big brands having frames made in China for £400 and then putting a retail price of £4,000. If consumers have access to those same factories and so can ‘risk’ paying 10% of retail for a product....what do manufacturers expect? If anyone cares to check out Luescher Teknik on YouTube it appears that ‘genuine’ branded frames have plenty of imperfections and often fail......

Waltly make real quality bikes. Seriously impressed by the craftsmanship evident in the frames. Highly recommended. I love the way the Factor guy classes carbon factories working for Cervelo, Trek, Giant, Cannondale as first tier, and De Rosa and Pinarello as Second tier. I think there are a few people who would question that.

Very nice, however the rear brake mount issue could be a huge problem for someone who doesn't have very professional bike shop nearby. It's not a small issue, it's a big one!

I’m sure the guys at Curve will love this video...

Yer cervelos and cannondales? Someone hasn't been watching Hambini recently! Do highly recommend his long engineering breakdown/rant videos he's put up lately if you've got the time. Very nerdy, lots of good info and a fair bit of a laugh!

Mark, That frame looks absolutely amazing. Titanium will last forever and is light and comfortable as well. Glad to see your bike videos again.