Titanium
 

As many of you know, my Marinoni Ciclo (Machak) was stolen on Easter Sunday. I am still hoping that he will be found or returned, and the police are making a huge effort to try to make that happen. I miss Machak terribly.

However, there are cycling events coming up, and I need a bicycle to ride them. Last weekend I rode a 300 Km brevet on "Frank" (Frankenbike), a GT mtn bike which Rowan converted to a road bicycle in a matter of days from stuff he had lying around. Frank worked amazingly well for that ride, and I plan to continue to to use him for shorter rides. He may be converted back to a mtn bike or may stay as a road bicycle ... I'm not sure yet.

Rowan with Frank and his Merlin last weekend ...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/...c570a1002d.jpg


Rowan and I have been discussing bicycle plans. We would both like to get dedicated touring bicycles, hopefully by the end of the year. We had pretty much decided on that before Machak was stolen. And I have had a titatium bicycle on my wish list for years, so we have decided to build up a titanium bicycle for randonneuring and long-distance purposes now. We're also toying with the idea of picking up a pair of folding bicycles. We checked some out yesterday ... most interesting!

So yesterday we bought a titanium frame which has almost identical dimensions as Machak has. (I have a spreadsheet of all Machak's measurements, and the measurements of my Giant OCR3 back in Canada.) It weighs 1.326 kg (2.9 lbs), which amazes me. We also picked up the pedals I want (which weigh almost as much as the frame), and some clear bottle cages .. and Rowan is researching and hunting for the rest of the components.

Here's me unpacking and showing off my light little titanium frame:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7623874386934/

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/...0ec6bb4aef.jpg


Now I have it in my head that this frame would look really good with teal (greeny-blue) accents, like bar-tape, for example ... and maybe bottle cages, although the clear ones look all right. And if I went with teal bar tape, etc., I might also want to break away from my traditional yellow helmet and get a teal one. But where to find such things!?!?

Looks like a fun project, sucks about your last one being stolen.

Looks nice! Who makes it?

Good luck with the build and show pictures when it is done.

And show pictures of the build process!

The brand is Hasa, made in Taiwan.

I've added some close-up shots ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7623874386934/

Such as this one ...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/...62054e3835.jpg

Looks exactly like my Lynskey R320...Hope you love the TI frame as much as I love mine!!

people who steal things are the lowest forms of life, sorry for your loss, but it looks like you're on your way to a really nice build!

Machka:

I'm glad you are dealing with the loss by moving on to your next project. This will probably be a bike you will have the rest of your life. I ride a Merlin Cyrene, which was a custom build up. I remember having a very hard time finding anything to match color-wise between different components, unless you go with basic colors like red. I ended up going with only Ti (ie silver) or black on the bike. As far as helmets go, you should be able to find teal but you're going to have to look for it. Your best bet might be in bike shops vs over the internet. I do have a suggestion for bar tape: since you ride a Brooks saddle, go with Brooks bar tape. It's not teal green, but it will last you many years, and it does come in British Racing Green.

I hope your old bike still turns up.

Funny ... I was just looking at the Brooks green bar tape and wondering about how it would look. :)


And I really hope Machak turns up ... he was supposed to be the bicycle I had for the rest of my life.

It looks good, especially with a Brooks BRG saddle to go with it. I average around 5K miles per year, not in your league, but I found the green fades to mostly black with green highlights after a few years. Honey is another option, which looks great with Ti, and is a classic on any touring bike.

Great-looking frame, and definitely a fun project. I built up my current bike using only eBay and craigslist and it was tremendous fun (though it took a while, you might want to scour shops to expedite the process). One observation about the "teal" accent color: you might be thinking of "Celeste" green, which is a signature Bianchi color. Might make people assume that you're riding a bianchi, for better or wor worse. If that's the route you want to take, try searching for Celeste and you'll find lots of stuff. (also on the two bianchi online stores: bianchiusa.com and bianchi.com)

Have fun with the project -- I'm jealous!

I'm not entirely sure how this helmet would match the type of bike ;)

:lol:

But it's close to the colour of teal I'm thinking of.

Yeah Machka, as nycbianchi said, "teal" is very close to and practically indistinguishable from celeste.

But if that's the color you want, go for it, bianchi be damned!!

I had a chuckle at this, is the fact that you had to explain what color teal is indicative of the predominantly male membership at bikeforums?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
stinking thieves!!!!!
That sucks really hard, but good that you are able to focus on the good and move on, I dont think I would be able to as quickly as you. Why not get a ti colored helmet and accent it with teal also. would match the bike better that way.
Looks like a fun project, good luck and have fun with the build. You have my deepest sympathies on the loss of your Machak.

Sorry to hear they have crime in rural Australia! Good luck getting "him" back.

I find teal a pleasant color but don't see it as near to the Celeste green of a Bianchi. To me it has more blue.

THIEVES SUCK!

ETA, I love my Ti bike!

My daughter belongs to a MTB club at college. Last year the club was out clearing trails, and some local kids stole one of the members' bikes. It was a really expensive Trek, and he was able to get an insurance settlement to buy a new one. The following semester the club was out on a ride and they found the stolen bike--hidden under some brush. Apparently the kid who stole it didn't want his parents to see the bike, so he kept it stashed in the woods. So now my dauther's friend has two nice MTB.

The moral of the story as it applies to your situation: Unlike professional theives, kids are unpredictible and subject to different pressures, so there's a good chance, it seems to me, that it will turn up eventually.

Machka,

Sorry to hear about the theft; have fun with the new bike.

Here's some leather bar wrap that is pretty pricey but *very* nice. Comes in nice colors. I have some that I rode all winter (in Seattle) on my commuter bike and it looks like new:
http://store.handlebra.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=50

That's what I'm hoping for ... that in a few weeks or months he will turn up somewhere.

I'm actually thinking of this colour ... a darker colour tending toward green. If I can't find that, I may go with a darker green. I think I saw some British Racing Green bar tape somewhere which might work.