Soulrider Ti - Custom Titanium from Turkey (Budget Build)

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ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

Hello everyone,

Last few bikes of mine had carbon frames and I always had the worry about damages of the material. With last bike, Giant Propel Advanced SL, my fear became real. My cat knocked down the bike at night, while it was leaning on the wall and impact damaged the top tube. Instead of spending some for fixing the frame, I decided to change the things a little bit.

I used to work as an editor in a bicycle magazine, so thanks to the connections I had around that time, I was able to get a Stelbel test bike for a month. SB/03 rode great, perfect ride feel but also surprised me with it's performance. Experience made it sure for me that I'm not going for another carbon frame. I wanted to purchase a Stelbel, but because I moved Poland recently, my budget limited me in that.

That way, I started to look for alternatives and reminded myself that there is a Turkish frame builder. I've seen him a lot on famous Strava Segments around Istanbul and had a chance to meet him few years ago. He is a welding engineer and a great cyclist. Once I checked his recent builds, it was clear that I will be getting a custom Soulrider. https://soulrider.bike/en_GB/

Deciding the geometry was the most painful part. Normally he has a fitting service included but I didn't have a chance to visit him. We started with some mixture between my Giant and previous Orbea Orca. Of course I'm really indecisive so after countless messages, we decided the final form.
Geometry Final.jpeg
Deciding the tubes were little easier. We went for 47-49mm HT, 28/35mm oval TT, 42mm DT and 35mm ST. Stays will be standard.
He started to build the frame yesterday, so I will start the build topic from the scratch.
Soulrider Titanium Tubes.jpeg
Soulrider Building.jpeg
Soulrider First Triangle.jpeg
I'll build the bike with my previous groupset, Dura-Ace 9000 mechanical. I'll need to buy brakes so I need to decide between Dura-Ace 9000 and Ultegra 8000.
I would like to use Challenge Paris Roubaix or 28mm Veloflex Corsa tires on my clincher wheels and I'm not sure if Dura-Ace 9000 will give me enough clearence.
I will have two wheelsets, Vittoria Elusion Nero clinchers and 3T Orbis II T35 LTD tubulars.
For finishing kit, I guess I'll go for a mixture of Fizik R3 and R5's, or maybe Deda.
Last edited by ToffieBoi on Sat Mar 09, 2019 3:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Look565w
Posts: 225
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:25 am
Location: West of Scotland

by Look565w

:thumbup:

Looking at the tubes, it looks like you're going for good old fashion threaded BB, right? Good choice :D

Can't wait to see it finished & built up, thanks for sharing!

Good luck!

by Weenie


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Calnago
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by Calnago

Nice project. I like these threads. Since you want to use 28mm tires and you’re concerned about clearance, you may want to consider DA9100 calipers. And even then, the placement of the mounting hole in the rear brake bridge and fork crown should be considered. Just because the brake calipers may be rated to be able to clear a certain tire size, a lot of that will also depend on where they are mounted on the frame. Give yourself enough room so that when the brakes are set up properly, the brake shoes are closer to the bottom of the slot in the calipers than the top, maximizing the clearance that the caliper will be able to achieve. Have fun. Looking forward to the progress.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
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ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

Look565w wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 2:55 pm
:thumbup:

Looking at the tubes, it looks like you're going for good old fashion threaded BB, right? Good choice :D

Can't wait to see it finished & built up, thanks for sharing!

Good luck!
Thank you

I went for T47 BB. I didn't want to have anything pressed but wanted to be future proof, in case I want to have a power meter later. Also the large diameter of tube is better for welding too.

ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

Calnago wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:28 pm
Nice project. I like these threads. Since you want to use 28mm tires and you’re concerned about clearance, you may want to consider DA9100 calipers. And even then, the placement of the mounting hole in the rear brake bridge and fork crown should be considered. Just because the brake calipers may be rated to be able to clear a certain tire size, a lot of that will also depend on where they are mounted on the frame. Give yourself enough room so that when the brakes are set up properly, the brake shoes are closer to the bottom of the slot in the calipers than the top, maximizing the clearance that the caliper will be able to achieve. Have fun. Looking forward to the progress.
Thanks. Builder knows I want to fit 29mm measured tires so I guess he will place the brake bridge accordingly.

About the brakes, I'm not sure if my budget will allow 9100 brakes. I might go for 8000, or even maybe new 105 and later motivate myself for lighter one. Currently I don't have a road bike so first motivation is building the bike ASAP and being able to ride.

ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

Image

Almost finished :)

Pieke
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Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2018 12:39 pm

by Pieke

Nice project!

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk


ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

Pieke wrote:
Tue Feb 19, 2019 11:47 am
Nice project!

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Thanks.

This week, I received my frame and it looks perfect.
I would like to write a bit about the ordering process before I post complete frame photos here.

I decided the order the frame from Soulrider in the beginning of December. In three days, we decided to go for a titanium model and agreed on the price. Lead time was less than three months but because I had a trip planned to Turkey, I asked him to make the frame ready during that time.

Until he started production, we changed geometry three times, and many small adjustments. We changed the tubes dimensions too and communication in between was flawless. The day before he started to build the frame, I asked for internal brake cable and it was the final alteration on the process.

Final result is really satisfying in my side. There were no mistakes even though we made countless changes. Weight is 1525 grams for the frame. I'll weight the fork once I fix the fitting.

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Jugi
Posts: 678
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:10 am

by Jugi

Looking good!

The dimensions you selected are pretty much the same I would go for on a custom frame, so this will be like seeing my own bike being built. Really eager to see the end result!

ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

To catch the good weather during the previous weekend, I built the bike really fast. Since I don't receive my kitchen scale yet, I was not able to check weights of the parts neither. I apologise for the ugly built topic, no pictures on scale.

Here is the first photo of the bike I took during my first ride.
Image

I used following parts.
Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 groupset + Ultegra R8000 brakes (got a good deal online. They come at 60 grams weight penalty compared to Dura-Ace 9000 brakes).
Deda 100 aluminium seatpost in 31.6mm, Deda 100 alumiunum handlebar in 42cm and Deda Zero 2 stem in 110mm. Cane Creek headset and Thomson seatpost clamp.
Saddle is borrowed from a friend, on the photo it is San Marco Regale Narrow but didn't fit me well. I'm now testing another San Marco, Ponza. Really heavy, around 270 grams but if it is comfortable, I'll keep it. Handlebar tape is Cinelli Caleido.

Photo is with my clinchers, Vittoria Elusion Nero and Specialized Roubaix tires. With Ultegra 6800 cassette, Wahoo mount and Arundel cages, total weight is at 8kg dead.
My 3T Orbis II T35 LTD tubulars shaves around 500 grams there, with Dura-Ace 9000 cassette on it.

There is a lot to change. First, steerer tube will be shorter once I dial into my position perfectly. Later, I'll get PYC chain, lighter saddle, carbon fiber seatpost, 28mm clinchers... I assume I'll be able to shave around 200 grams more with some small changes. I'll update the post meanwhile.
Last edited by ToffieBoi on Wed Mar 06, 2019 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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jbaillie
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Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:17 pm

by jbaillie

Beautiful! Looking forward to seeing the tweaks you make on it.

ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

jbaillie wrote:
Tue Mar 05, 2019 4:13 pm
Beautiful! Looking forward to seeing the tweaks you make on it.
Thanks. Me too!
I guess at some point I'll go for some black cranks. I think it will look better than the current Dura-Ace.

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onemanpeloton
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Location: Edinburgh, UK

by onemanpeloton

That looks awesome!
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2017 Merida Reacto
2017 Trek Superfly AL

COSTA
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Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2018 5:17 pm

by COSTA

looks sooo nice!!!

by Weenie


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ToffieBoi
Posts: 417
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

by ToffieBoi

Thanks for the nice comments. This is my first titanium bike and I really like the ride. Maybe in a year or two I would go for a second carbon bike but for now, everything feels great here.

I'm slowly dialing the position, now I have only 5mm spacer under the stem (was 15 on the first photo). I guess that will be the final version. New, Ponza saddle also fit me well for short rides. It is a heavy saddle and I guess I'll be changing it soon, but bike now weights 8020 grams. Gained a lot with saddle and lost some from the spacers and steerer tube. Specialized Roubaix Pro tires will be the first change, I need to decide between 28mm Vittoria Corsa, Rubino or even maybe 28mm Veloflex Corsa. 27mm Challenge Paris Roubaix...

Meanwhile, I realised I made a mistake on the first post. Headtube dimensions are 47-49mm, not 41-42 like I wrote before (47 all along and 49 on the top and bottom). I edited the post and wanted to update it here. I measured chainstays and seatstays too: 22mm and 16mm.

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