Teledyne Titan

[bduc61]

Re:

Sorry, but you will have to be patient

I have to take care of Narcisse first, who is quite older than Jo and needs more attention :mrgreen:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=339141&start=0

 

[Blackbike]

Round Two...

Some deals are better than others... The First titan frame was a bit of a pig with a crushed rear brake stay and late serial number replacement Titan fork with to long a steer tube, lets say it had a hard life. This wasn't a frame I wanted to build, though I did get it for a good price. I decided to cut my losses and start a search for another Titan frame. I'm keeping the first frame to use as repair pieces should I need them in the future.
With some luck I was able to locate a new old stock 22 inch Titan frame (a better fit for me than the 21 inch first frame), I bit the bullet and bought it... Lets face it, we don't build classic bikes to make money, we build them because the bike speaks to us.
I received the brand new 1974 Titan about four hours ago, now to wake it up after its 42 year long sleep!!!


I even like the box.



WOOT!!!



Details...



More...



I like this...



My spare fork even fits :shock:




More fun to follow, tomorrow some parts photos.

: Mike

 

[Jamiedyer]

Re: Teledyne Titan Frame

Wow! Really likeing this thread. How lucky , to get a new one and a better fit size wise.
It looks great and certainly looking forward to seeing it built up

Jamie

 

[Blackbike]

Re:

Hi Jamie,
Thanks for the kind words , I will do my best to keep it interesting. This is some of the kit I have collected so far, Sakae Ringyo (SR) ESL seat post (dated 76.8, 244 grams) and 110mm ESL stem (210 grams), ESL was there top of the line Extra Super Light parts group from the 70's, basically Royal parts with milling and titanium fasteners, the crankset is a standard NOS Sakae Royal with bottom bracket getting retrofitted with Cambio Rino chain rings (118 grams for both rings 42-52) and titanium hardware to bring it up to almost ESL spec, I am still looking for a titanium spindle (the Royal group existed in 1975, I'm not sure of the first year it was introduced).
Brakes and levers are Modolo Professional 1977 (Brake set with levers, shoes, and hoods, 570 grams) and are due to be stripped of anodizing and polished.
Hubs are Weyless from 1976 and weigh in at 421 grams complete with skewers :shock: .
Front and rear mechs weigh 268 grams for the pair and are first edition Suntour Cyclone's with late 1974 date codes, the rear mech is getting updated with suntour sealed bearing pulleys, downtube band on shifters are Suntour Cyclone from the same era and weigh in at 63 grams, Suntour 14-23 Pro-Compe 6 speed ultra spaced freewheel weighs in at 421 grams, 1977 date code.
Pedals are NJS stamped Keirin track MKS Custom Nuevo (that are a freak of nature as they have titanium spindles that I have never seen on a early 1980's Keirin pedal), with ALE alloy clips and toe straps weigh in at 340 grams for the set, date code who cares they're cool.
The saddle is a 1977 ish Avocet Racing III with alloy rails and weighs in at 281 grams.
The headset is a a new Stronglight needle bearing A-9 and weighs in at 81 grams.
Rims, spokes, and tires I don't have a clue...
Now that I'm broke and cant buy more parts, I guess I will have to start polishing all the kit . Photos Below:













Best Wishes: Mike

 

[bduc61]

Re:

like the "unusual choice" of suntour rather than the boring campa

did not know about this ESL kit

Outside the Huret Jubile, it is true that Suntour manufactured the lightest derailleurs

I fancy long cage ones and the Suntour cyclone GT at 190g is the second lightest behind the Jubile
Its just a pity they lost themselves in a flurry of different models and were not smart enough to hold the race with shimano

Dunno the weight of cyclone calipers which are pretty tricky to source, if you would have followed the path of homogeneity

By the way the suntour superb group did start when ? why the cyclone instead of the superb ? whose crankset is quite nice and calipers and brake levers lovely. :idea:

think you should be very close to 8kg with pedals if not lower if you continue along that route

 

[Blackbike]

Re: Re:

like the "unusual choice" of suntour rather than the boring campa

did not know about this ESL kit

Outside the Huret Jubile, it is true that Suntour manufactured the lightest derailleurs

I fancy long cage ones and the Suntour cyclone GT at 190g is the second lightest behind the Jubile
Its just a pity they lost themselves in a flurry of different models and were not smart enough to hold the race with shimano

Dunno the weight of cyclone calipers which are pretty tricky to source, if you would have followed the path of homogeneity

By the way the suntour superb group did start when ? why the cyclone instead of the superb ? whose crankset is quite nice and calipers and brake levers lovely. :idea:

think you should be very close to 8kg with pedals if not lower if you continue along that route

Suntour introduced Cyclone in 1974-1975 and followed with Superb in 1976-1977. The Cyclone was not really a group set at introduction, it was later (Cyclone II) that Cyclone turned into a mid range group set under Superb.

Cyclone worked in my favor from a parts collection point as did not want to get into sourcing a full series 1 Superb group (very overpriced right now), and Cyclone was top of the line in 1975 plus a lot of Cyclone kit was sold.

The Superbe was also a bit heavier than Cyclone and seemed it wasn't as groundbreaking as the lightweight Cyclone at the time.

The Sakae ESL or SL parts were available in 1975 (per old magazine trade show photographs from the era), and were very light as the time, also since Sakae bought what was left of Suntour in the 1990's I thought this would be an ironic pairing of components, so this all works with the Titan Frame whose demise was 1976.

Modolo introduced the Professional brakes in 1977 and at the time were the best thing going until the mid 1980's, Laurent Fignon won the 1983 Tour De France equipped with Modolo Master Pro brakes, a slightly updated version of the Professional, I know it's a stretch but the timing was so close I couldn't resist using them.

1976-1977 Was also the end of the line for building high end bikes using mixed group sets and lots of drillium, this was my logic behind my component choices for my "1976 Club Bike".

I must add your wheel building skills are spectacular, I have been following your 1938 Narcisse and I'm learning a lot from your latest project.

Best Wishes: Mike

 

[Jamiedyer]

Re: Teledyne Titan Frame

Wow! What a really interesting mix of parts, let alone the beauty of it all sitting on the table.
A different but really nice grouping of components and it is nice to see a lovely new frame like this being outfitted with something individual rather than the usual Dura Ace or Campagnolo standard.
Looking forward to seeing it all come together.
When funds permit of course.

Jamie

 

[Blackbike]

Re: Teledyne Titan Frame

Wow! What a really interesting mix of parts, let alone the beauty of it all sitting on the table.
A different but really nice grouping of components and it is nice to see a lovely new frame like this being outfitted with something individual rather than the usual Dura Ace or Campagnolo standard.
Looking forward to seeing it all come together.
When funds permit of course.

Jamie

Thanks Jamie,
Out of the 10 or so Titans that populate Google images, all of them are Record or Super Record equipped, I love the classic style of Campagnolo but I had to do something different. Growing up in the los Angeles California area in the early 70's, the Campy kit belonged to "the older guys" with real jobs. The "kids" that were racing were riding some fairly rough equipment with a lot of "hand me downs" (I wasn't from the good side of town). But at the time we all had a great time riding, some very minor local racing, A lot of dreaming, and I think that's why as a group we stayed out of trouble that a lot of kids seemed to get into. The Titan is a nod and a wink to those days, not perfect, not with any pedigree, but damn good none the less.

Have A Great Day: Mike

 

[bduc61]

Re: Re:

like the "unusual choice" of suntour rather than the boring campa

did not know about this ESL kit

Outside the Huret Jubile, it is true that Suntour manufactured the lightest derailleurs

I fancy long cage ones and the Suntour cyclone GT at 190g is the second lightest behind the Jubile
Its just a pity they lost themselves in a flurry of different models and were not smart enough to hold the race with shimano

Dunno the weight of cyclone calipers which are pretty tricky to source, if you would have followed the path of homogeneity

By the way the suntour superb group did start when ? why the cyclone instead of the superb ? whose crankset is quite nice and calipers and brake levers lovely. :idea:

think you should be very close to 8kg with pedals if not lower if you continue along that route

Cyclone worked in my favor from a parts collection point as did not want to get into sourcing a full series 1 Superb group (very overpriced right now), and Cyclone was top of the line in 1975 plus a lot of Cyclone kit was sold.


I must add your wheel building skills are spectacular, I have been following your 1938 Narcisse and I'm learning a lot from your latest project.

Best Wishes: Mike

agree with you statement about superb !
have gathered a few parts for a prospective build but not a complete group because of that
And because I am getting old and can't think of a bike without a granny ring now :facepalm: am looking for triple cranksets. And the SR is one of the few to have an examplar of that ( mounted on e few midmarket touring bikes ) - that is a good fit with a cyclone GT !

About wheelbuilding, I believe one's tend to overestimate the skill into it.
Thanks to Sheldon and a good truing stand , it becomes just a job of patience , good sense and replication ( I tend to have a proper built wheel to "copy it" when I do)

Also I was very lucky to get my hands on the "pro tool" truing stand of the 70's - the Preciray - in a very large stash of VAR pro tools from an old amateur ( just missing the bottom bracket BSC tap as mine are only french ! :roll: )




as you want pic - just finished that for a high end french city bike from the 50's
FB hub with Mavic old rim and new DT revolution spokes

 

[Blackbike]

Re: The French Connection

A change of mind... It's been awhile since I have updated the Titan Project. Back a few months ago, I mocked the bike up on the floor and what I saw didn't match my vision, it was all good kit but the total package wasn't doing it for me, Time for a new plan, so here's where we are at today.

Huret Jubilee, Stronglight 105 BIS + 651 bottom bracket, Simplex Retrofriction, Zeus 2000 Alloy, Modolo Professional, Campagnolo cable bits.


What's here is overhauled and ready to run.


Anodizing stripped ready for assembly, the best of 2 brakesets with some titanium bits.


Deburred, origional anodizing cleaned and polished


The French Connection... Toward the end of the Titan production run, Linder Euro-Imports the importer for Follis bicycles in the United States, rebadged and distributed "Teledyne Titan" frames as "Follis Titan" frames. Linder was in business from 1972 thru 1977. This advertisement was in Bicycling magazine in late 1975.

I am playing with the idea of doing my own thing with my own version of a "Follis Titan" rebadge. I have started some graphic work but I'm not ready to share it yet because I'm not sure if its a good idea or not :facepalm: . I will post more stuff as it happens.

Best Wishes: Mike