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Titanium frame rear dropout conversion

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Titanium frame rear dropout conversion

Old 04-19-22, 09:46 AM
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Kztimmins
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Titanium frame rear dropout conversion

Hey all,

I'm entertaining the idea of buying an older rim brake titanium frame and having it converted to disc.

Does anyone have experience with this?

I gather it would require a capable builder and appropriate dropouts to make allow the swap.

Has anyone added drilled a frame to allow for internal routing?

​​​​Is removing a cable mount a pretty easy procedure on a ti frame?

Thanks!
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Old 04-19-22, 08:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Kztimmins
Hey all,

I'm entertaining the idea of buying an older rim brake titanium frame and having it converted to disc.

Does anyone have experience with this?

I gather it would require a capable builder and appropriate dropouts to make allow the swap.

Has anyone added drilled a frame to allow for internal routing?

​​​​Is removing a cable mount a pretty easy procedure on a ti frame?

Thanks!
Nothing's easy on Ti exactly, if you want it to last. Design, machining, deburring, cleaning, purging and welding all have to be excellent.

Dave Levy at Ti Cycles in Oregon can do everything you mention, and he'll also tell you if something is a bad idea. Not cheap though.

I'm sure there are plenty of other guys who are excellent too (Bilenky in Philly maybe?) but Ti Cycles is the one I can vouch for. I used to work for him, ~25 years ago, and he was very skilled then, so I can only assume he's even better now with more practice. No connection anymore, haven't seen him in years.

Tell us where you are, in case someone can recommend a FB near enough so you don't have to ship it.

Mark B in Seattle
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Old 04-19-22, 08:30 PM
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Originally Posted by bulgie
Nothing's easy on Ti exactly, if you want it to last. Design, machining, deburring, cleaning, purging and welding all have to be excellent.

Dave Levy at Ti Cycles in Oregon can do everything you mention, and he'll also tell you if something is a bad idea. Not cheap though.

I'm sure there are plenty of other guys who are excellent too (Bilenky in Philly maybe?) but Ti Cycles is the one I can vouch for. I used to work for him, ~25 years ago, and he was very skilled then, so I can only assume he's even better now with more practice. No connection anymore, haven't seen him in years.

Tell us where you are, in case someone can recommend a FB near enough so you don't have to ship it.

Mark B in Seattle
Hey Mark,

I've actually already spokem to Dave, he figured it would be a relatively complicated job, depending on the frame of course.

I'm in Toronto and have contacted a couple of builders here, some rejections and also had a recommendation to contact dekerf.

I suppose my question is more general, it terms of the feasibility.
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Old 04-20-22, 06:25 AM
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I'm not sure you are going to get a better answer here than what you got from TI Cycles.

Feasibility depends a little on what you want. One of the issues is the stays will likely have to be spread. There are a couple of threads on here about that. Some people feel comfortable spreading titanium stays, others do not. There is always the chance that one of the stays could buckle. It also depends on what you want as far as dropouts go. They have to fit in the current rear triangle.

Bilenky would probably say they would do it, but I have heard their timeline is pretty long.
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Old 04-20-22, 09:29 AM
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Originally Posted by unterhausen
I'm not sure you are going to get a better answer here than what you got from TI Cycles.

Feasibility depends a little on what you want. One of the issues is the stays will likely have to be spread. There are a couple of threads on here about that. Some people feel comfortable spreading titanium stays, others do not. There is always the chance that one of the stays could buckle. It also depends on what you want as far as dropouts go. They have to fit in the current rear triangle.

Bilenky would probably say they would do it, but I have heard their timeline is pretty long.
That wasn't an aspect that I'd considered, getting proper alignment in the rear, Stress relieving seems like it might be another issue?

Perhaps its not worth the effort
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Old 04-20-22, 09:59 AM
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I don't think it's worth the effort and expense. But it really depends on the current configuration. For example, if a frame had 135mm spacing now, and Wright/Breezer style dropouts that would fit easily, then that might be different. The other issue is disc clearance.

Ti wouldn't need stress relieving AFAIK.
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Old 04-20-22, 10:02 AM
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Originally Posted by unterhausen
I don't think it's worth the effort and expense. But it really depends on the current configuration. For example, if a frame had 135mm spacing now, and Wright/Breezer style dropouts that would fit easily, then that might be different. The other issue is disc clearance.

Ti wouldn't need stress relieving AFAIK.
I think I'll step back and reconsider, thanks for the replies 🙂
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Old 04-28-22, 05:58 PM
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How will you ride this the bike? Do you really need disk for a road bike? Lots of hills in rainy weather?

These were questions I got from a well known frame builder, who has been leader in putting disc on steel frames.

Unless absolutely needed he recommends rim, as the build can be lighter and more balanced.

just a point of reference
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