Not sure if I'll be celebrated or skinned alive for posting this here, but this is the closest I'll ever get to the wizardry that is framebuilding:
My custom touring bike, designed by yours truly and built by Titan Cycles, out of Xi'an, China.
Isn't she beautiful?
Final Design Drawing - Almost prettier than the frame...
Very rough sketch in BikeCAD - more importantly, this sketch helped me decide on my geo numbers
Bad photo, I know. Fully loaded/fitted for testing - not final parts spec
I'll mostly be riding on-road with this bike, but have futureproofed this bike with the ability to run 29x2.0" tires (or even 27.5x3.0" if I wanted to), adding sliding dropouts (for an IGH someday?), and relaxing the geometry slightly to increase the capability offroad. Going with a 70.5 degree head tube angle and a 60mm BB drop was probably not the smartest idea for a solely on-road touring bike (and I definitely notice it, especially the BB Drop), but the extra clearance and stability that provides is worth it to me.
I based the bike's geometry on a combination of bikes: think of this as a Kona Sutra mixed with a Moots Routt, with elements of Trek 520 and Surly LRT thrown in. I was also chasing an MTB-esque sloped top tube - partially for the additional exposed seatpost (more flex), and partially because I think it looks
really cool. I'm still figuring things out fit-wise, but I really love the geometry - it fits me like a glove.
Due to Shimano's parts shortage (and the difficulty in finding legit parts in Canada), I've just thrown on a bunch of old/knockoff parts I had lying around. They fit on okay, and allowed me to stress-test the frame on a fully loaded 120km ride on Vancouver Island. I put a total of 115lb of gear on the frame, sat my 260lb rear-end on the saddle, and towed my 130lb sister and her 55lb bike up the hills - I'm proud to say that the only thing limiting my bike was my quadriceps and my lung capacity.
Lateral stiffness was amazing!
Let me know what you guys think - I can't really alter the geometry (duh), but if you have any tips/noticed some glaring issue I missed, please let me know! As I said - I'm not a true framebuilder, but I'm proud of the job nonetheless.
Cheers