crank_addict

Thanks to keen eye extraordinaire to the bike constellation, our BF resident Camelopardalis discovers the first (arguably and US) titanium bike. He shoots it at me and the next thing it arrives like a meteorite. ThANK you, Arnold!

Came from this


Arrived like this, CP (commercially pure) Ti was so light, it didn't leave a crater.

[IMG]DSC_2464 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

Forking right, baby!

[IMG]DSC_2465 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

Built without weightweenism, it sports a steel fork, triple crank, heavier but cool deeper clincher rim wheelset and think its ready for some climbing exercise. Talking extended route Dairyland Dare.... yes?

[IMG]DSC_2469 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

devinfan

Can’t wait to see this. One of my all time dream bikes. Live my dream for me and use blue Benotto tape to match the decals!

crank_addict

The only decal on it, kind of like it nakid.

[IMG]IMG_3136 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

Clean crafting here, Born early 1970's.

[IMG]IMG_3151 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3143 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3142 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

[IMG]IMG_3146 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

Why bother with odd ball sized Shimano cable clamps, zip ties to the rescue?!
[IMG]IMG_3141 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

Unjust photo's, looks way cool in real, most would be scratching their heads and wondering why. Lets just leave it to those into the era and details.
[IMG]DSC_2488 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC_2489 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

devinfan

That is super cool!

crank_addict

I plan to ride it just as arrived. Maybe leave the steel fork on when used in the hills, high speed descents -concerns of braking and cornering. The original ti fork is super neat, though maybe best to use only for the flats. Kind of want to experience it, regardless.

[IMG]DSC_2485 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

Could always find use for a triple, this is a cool build. Originally considered swapping much out with some period lightweight and interesting parts on hand, but this set-up is growing on me. What the heck, retrosorta, dual controls, atb Shimano XT derailleurs, sweet vinti DA seatpost, AX or EX stem -whatever... luv this stuff.

[IMG]IMG_3149 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3150 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3145 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3138 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

Regal works for me-
[IMG]IMG_3153 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3137 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

Shimano Sante showtime. Neat looking attempt at cheating the earths atmosphere, though I think the weight / pair are more then the entire remaining build with frame.

[IMG]DSC_2484 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3144 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3147 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

Has the mid 80's Dura-Ace headset with that weird lock headnut. Later yet DA brakes. Like the builders thinking.

[IMG]IMG_3135 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC_2486 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

Time for a new camera...... (sorry)

[IMG]DSC_2468 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

(Shall I dare post this in the month of March brown bike thread? Sepia edition. lol)
[IMG]DSC_2473 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

NDR stance

[IMG]IMG_3134 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_3133 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

(lets see if this works)

tasty pasty's w/o p-mission





------------------

Bill in VA

Many thanks for this fine post.

I remember in the early 70's, when the LBS owner during college bought a Teledyne frame and built up a bike with Hi-E hubs and drillium Campy SR chainwheels. It was hyper-exotic. He rode it regularly, but when he rode to work he parked in in the front window of his shop to attract customers. It sure did.

That was the first and last one I saw in person. THe color was very high tech, space age looking at the time.

exmechanic89

I worked in a shop that sold a few built up Titans a long time ago. I remember them being thought of as best for light riders. Personally I would've built up the one in this thread with era correct components.

steelbikeguy

Very fun acquisition! Definitely one-of-a-kind type of frame and certainly marks the era where I became enthralled with lightweight bikes!

I have to agree with Bill... this is just begging for some Hi-E hubs & sew-up rims, Huret Jubilee derailleur, etc. Ideally.. it would all be USA-made weight weenie products. That would be a worthy project!!

Looking forward to seeing it sometime!


Steve in Peoria

TenGrainBread 

Wow! Amazing frame. Very interesting how they drew the tubing. It looks like the dropouts might be cast instead of machined. I'm also wondering about the lug/sleeve of the seattube. More closeups?

jamesdak 

Sweet post, info, and bike. Thanks for sharing!

Chombi1 

The thing that always puzzled me about these Titans is why the engineers decided that it was necessary to have those "crimps" on the frame where the shift lever clamps and cable guides go on the down tube. I always found those crimps a bit jarring when I look at a Titan's frame.
I would have rather had them find solutions through the clamped on components (modification of components by bike makers was not unheard of) and not crimp the tubing which could have compromised the frame's design structurally and aesthetically. their solution was not the most elegant engineering approach. but I guess that's all part of being one of the first Ti bike makers and the process of learning how to best build them......

steelbikeguy

I've very impressed that Bike World articles on the Titan were saved and scanned! Thanks for sharing them.

For the sake of completeness, let me offer the article from the Dec 1989 issue of Bicycle Guide.




















Steve in Peoria

big chainring 

Very cool. The Teledyne Titan, the Graftek, Pino Mironni's titanium creations were mid '70's bike engineering gone wild. Ron Skarin was a California racer who was sponsered by Teledyne. He even had a Titan track bike, maybe the only one. Rode right behind him in track warm-ups at Northbrook. He set a record for the 4000m pursuit on the Titan. Also won the Boul Mich race in downtown Chicago that same year on his Titan road bike.

sloar 

Forks bent.... Just kidding, very cool bike and a fun introduction. Much more exciting than mine.

JaccoW

Very nice bike. I have a soft spot for titanium bikes.
Modern versions often go with carbon forks but actually building it in all titanium is pretty cool.

SteelCharlie

I had one of those - one of the last ones with the beefed up fork dropouts and the reinforced bottom bracket. All Campy SR 'cept for the crank axle and that was a Teledyne titanium. About ten years ago I gave it to the son of a friend. I have no idea if it is still around the East Bay or not. Kinda hope so - it was a cool bike.

TenGrainBread 

You can read in the article linked above that they wanted standard diameter clamp areas because they were selling the bike as a frameset and needed to give customers compatibility with standard components. And they needed the tubes to be oversized because they were using CP ti, which is not very strong, and therefore not stiff at the thin gage that allowed light weight.