Teledyne Titan on tour
#1
Old Bike Craphound
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Teledyne Titan on tour
Beautiful Idaho in the background
Last week I picked up a 24" 1975 Teledyne Titan (S/N: 000653), vintage titanium road bike and was able to get it built up for a test ride tour on the Couer d'Alene trail in Idaho (stunningly beautiful and very gentle riding for 73 miles on a converted rail bed thanks to environmental cleanup under the EPA). As purchased the bike did not include the original titanium fork, which were the Achilles Heel of this classic bike, so I built it with a hi-tensile fork I had on hand from an Apollo Sport 10 with the correct length steerer. Otherwise, the components are Shimano 600 Arabesque that I took off a Apollo Gran Sport that I converted to brifters for my nephew. The drivetrain is completed with a Uniglide cassette that gets me up to 34 teeth to improve the climbing potential of a bike with a 130BCD double crankset. I was as careful as I could be adding a rack to carry clothes and tools for the tour, with the contact points being the seatpost and steel brackets I made that rest on the rear axle and are attached through the holes in the titanium rear dropouts (spaced away from the dropouts with plastic inserts). The completed bikes weighs in below 21 lbs and is a very smooth rider. Notorious for being too flexy, I find the Titan to be a great rider, for me as a smooth pedaling touring rider of 185 lbs.
PS - I am not able to see any of the photos I have tried to post. What worked for me in the past to upload jpegs seems to no longer work.
PPS - Turns out the problem was with my browser not loading the images...doh! I added a couple more pix in a later post.
Last edited by Random Tandem; 09-28-19 at 08:16 AM. Reason: Trying to attach pix...
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#2
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Dang. that is exactly how it was done back in the day. Just bolt it together and ride it. Awesome.
Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA
Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA
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Good on you. They do ride smooth, and @crank_addict will chime in soon.
I think there's a 4th out there, too. I need an updated photo, as I've "done made it gooder."
I think there's a 4th out there, too. I need an updated photo, as I've "done made it gooder."
#4
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#5
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+1, it's like an "outlaw" Porsche.
#6
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Bikes: 1938 claud butler,1983 Basso,teledyne titan,teocali super,nrs,1993 stumpjumper fsr,Paramountain,Paramount Buell(sold),4 banger,Zaskar LE,Colnago Master Ibex MTB,1987ish,.etc....
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#7
Old Bike Craphound
Thread Starter
Additional Photos
I had problems with uploading, but here are a few more photos that I had meant to include in the first post:
Cockpit view: Nitto stem and B115 handlebars
Narrowed "neck" on oversized downtube to allow use of traditional clamp shifters
Someday I plan to work more on the cosmetics of this bike (and perhaps replace fork with a 1" threadless steerer carbon fork), but for now I am going for a ride! Unlikely to obtain the missing decals, as I like the stealth benefit of riding a great bike that looks (to most bike thieves, I hope) like a mid-70s junk build.
-Will
Cockpit view: Nitto stem and B115 handlebars
Narrowed "neck" on oversized downtube to allow use of traditional clamp shifters
Someday I plan to work more on the cosmetics of this bike (and perhaps replace fork with a 1" threadless steerer carbon fork), but for now I am going for a ride! Unlikely to obtain the missing decals, as I like the stealth benefit of riding a great bike that looks (to most bike thieves, I hope) like a mid-70s junk build.
-Will
Last edited by Random Tandem; 09-28-19 at 08:18 AM.
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#8
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Really cool. I'd send you some 600AX calipers, but then you'd not be able to stop the bike.
One of those bikes, where people want to pick it up, and they go "wow, that IS light!" Every time.
One of those bikes, where people want to pick it up, and they go "wow, that IS light!" Every time.
#9
Old Bike Craphound
Thread Starter
Genuine Scott Mathauser Brake Shoes
I "solved" the weak braking with period-appropriate Scott Mathauser brake shoes that I rescued from the bike co-op just waiting for this frame to come along.
-Will
-Will
Last edited by Random Tandem; 09-30-19 at 08:36 AM. Reason: ...speling
#11
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And my guess your parent's were iffy on the influence of those shirts!
Side note. Back when I was deep into scrubbing rubber on two wheels with liter sized motors between them, I frequently spent riding (including closed course) with the cuz of founder of L.A.beach and spin-off labels as above, etc.. He later moved to LA and should be called 'fast life'.
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#13
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Middle school?? Lol.
And my guess your parent's were iffy on the influence of those shirts!
Side note. Back when I was deep into scrubbing rubber on two wheels with liter sized motors between them, I frequently spent riding (including closed course) with the cuz of founder of L.A.beach and spin-off labels as above, etc.. He later moved to LA and should be called 'fast life'.
And my guess your parent's were iffy on the influence of those shirts!
Side note. Back when I was deep into scrubbing rubber on two wheels with liter sized motors between them, I frequently spent riding (including closed course) with the cuz of founder of L.A.beach and spin-off labels as above, etc.. He later moved to LA and should be called 'fast life'.
#14
Bicycle Repairman
I like unusual bikes and this Titan fit the bill so it ended up in my collection a couple years back. It's serial # 002 and belonged to Fred DeLong at one time. Has a few unusual things going on including an early Mathhauser hydraulic brake up front and a Scott Superbrake out back.
This bike came out of Via Bicycle in Philadelphia and Joel from the shop did a nice blog post about it back in 2014.
https://bikeville.com/2014/01/23/coo...eledyne-titan/
This bike came out of Via Bicycle in Philadelphia and Joel from the shop did a nice blog post about it back in 2014.
https://bikeville.com/2014/01/23/coo...eledyne-titan/
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I like unusual bikes and this Titan fit the bill so it ended up in my collection a couple years back. It's serial # 002 and belonged to Fred DeLong at one time. Has a few unusual things going on including an early Mathhauser hydraulic brake up front and a Scott Superbrake out back.
This bike came out of Via Bicycle in Philadelphia and Joel from the shop did a nice blog post about it back in 2014.
https://bikeville.com/2014/01/23/coo...eledyne-titan/
This bike came out of Via Bicycle in Philadelphia and Joel from the shop did a nice blog post about it back in 2014.
https://bikeville.com/2014/01/23/coo...eledyne-titan/
#17
Bicycle Repairman
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Very eccentric addition to your eclectic collection, @Random Tandem. Arabesque gruppo FTW!
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● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●