GTTurbo's Titan 1/2 Trac

[Synthiaks]

Nice find....will watch the build with interest!

 

[pete_mcc]

Photo of a photo of mine when I built it new!

 

[gtturbo]

Photo of a photo of mine when I built it new!

That's interesting, another in a non hammered finish. It really must have been a misconception on my behalf that they were all grey or blue hammered. I guess those were the only colours I ever saw in the flesh.

 

[gtturbo]

I have been waiting for a package to arrive from Hungary which it did today .



I was quite surprised to find decals off the shelf so to speak as it's fairly niche but luck was on my side again. Hopefully I can get it all cleaned and decals applied at the weekend. It would be nice to get it more or less buttoned up early in the new year so I can start on something else.

Normally I like a bit of bling but for once I have resisted the urge and this will just be going black and silver. Still I couldnt resist a bit more Ti and alloy to help lighten the old girl a little.

 

[gtturbo]

I hate putting on decals. It takes me hours what with cross referencing pictures of the same model to try and get them spot on. And there's is always one I'm not quite happy with. I bet originally it took minutes and in some cases a bit more slap dash I would bet.

Still we are getting there, just some more cleaning and polishing to do and we may have a bike.

 

[player]

That is starting to look super sweet mate.

 

[27motorhead]

Great job on the stickers/decals. Always worth the sweat (and sometimes tears!). Are you happy with the quality of them. Might buy a set from that eBay seller as I'm missing a headtube sticker and the wavy lines with a heartbeat? wiggle on the end.

 

[gtturbo]

Thanks for the kind comments.

@27motorhead - Decals seem good. No complaints from me on the quality. I have no idea how they match colour wise as I didn't have the originals but I guess you would replace them all anyway ?.

 

[27motorhead]

Thanks for the kind comments.

@27motorhead - Decals seem good. No complaints from me on the quality. I have no idea how they match colour wise as I didn't have the originals but I guess you would replace them all anyway ?.

Not sure I'd use them all as the frame & forks are full of patina. There's a fair bit of corrosion in places, but not too worried as these are not thin-walled Fat Chances!

This is my non-build thread https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/titan-1-2-trac.449988/ due to lack of space/time, but hopefully this year it will move on! I think the head tube sticker ended up on top of the stem as I can't see how they'll sit nicely due to the profiling of the super-short head tube on mine.

These are proper bonkers bikes with one foot in the past and the other foot in the future. Look forward to being inspired by yours!

 

[gtturbo]

An update at last. Not a huge amount left to do now as most of the cleaning of parts is more or less done. This is a rider not a garage queen so dont expect nos condition. Hopefully a week or two and this will be finished up and ready to go once the trails dry up.

Cranks and derailleurs scrubbed up nicely.






With the BMX heritage of Titan there was really only one hub set to go with in my mind. I don't normally take parts off my other bikes for any of my builds but my old Mongoose Iboc gave up it's wheelset for this one.




Finally I wanted this to be fairly light, despite the 1/2 ton name, but using parts I already have. I could loose things like the XT wheel qr's or Taperlite bars for something lighter to get those extra grams but I actually quite like it being perhaps a more modest build in terms of components used. I have a weight I am aiming for and it is going to be quite close. Lots of Ti and alloy bolts on this thing as it all helps. Latex tubes fitted as well which are a pita as they loose a fair bit of air over a few days so I may look to get some light butyl tubes at some stage.