Fully internal Waltly Ti endurance bike

[HannibalLecter]

So, after my abandoned attempt to build a Look 785 Huez road bike, I decided to be done with it and build directly my dream Ti bike. The Look frame was of course lighter and of higher performance, but it was not completely internal (yeah very sound reason to have second thoughts I know) and I know myself enough to be sure that this detail would continue to bother me. Furthermore, I was considering the ti frames of the likes of No22, passoni, stelbel etc completely unobtanium and I had completely forgotten Waltly, which also happens to be the producer for many other brands, such as Blackheart Ti. Now, this change of mind happened right after I already gotten the Look frame unfortunately but whatever.
A quick note regarding buying from China and all that. I am usually too snob to even consider it, for example all of my tools are from Japan or Europe and on my non tecnical clothes I buy nothing from China, even if I have to pay double usually. I even sold some Barbour jackets and bought older ones made in the UK. But, I am perfectly fine with an original chinese company, that does not make blatant copies. And to be honest I dont have 4000 to drop on an european manufactured frame unfortunately.
So I contacted Sumi at Waltly, payed the deposit, fiddled some 10 days with the geometry ( I wont get into much detail on how I did it because it is still not clear to me either) and all and all, from the first drawing to the finished frame I think it took 28 days. Another plus on my book, this is unheard of a custom frame.
Then they shipped it and my troubles began.Nothing to do with waltly and Sumi, but I was extremely unlucky and the frame was stuck in customs. It took 41 days from the day it was shipped to get my hands on it. If I am being honest I had written it off. However, it arrived, safe and sound, I did not pay anything extra. Sumi told me, that 3-5 times a year it happens, but it was a first to take thaaat long. It was pretty frustrating but I would do it again without hesitation.
Some words about the design.
I wanted a clean look, and I would run Sram eTap, so the frame is not even drilled for gear cables.
Also, I didn't want slammed, more of an endurance geometry and furthermore I love a tall headtube, with the top and downtube spread out. Also, I would run the handlebars without spacers( except for some smooth transition pieces)
The frame is equipped with UDH, a braze on front derailleur mount, all internal cable routing using FSA ACR system and has clearance of 40mm tires if I remember correctly. Not that it will ever see gravel tires but why not.
I also opted for double butted tubes, I knew the frame would not be a lightweight because of the huge 195mm 1.5 inch headtube and T47internal bb but I still am a weightweenie and for a lightweight build I oughta save from everywhere.
So, the frame, with the UDH came in at 1860 grams.Again, a Large frame, with these specs, at this price, not too bad.
As for the rest of the build;
Waltly supplied also the fork, uncut weight of 400 grams, cut weight 385g.
Included was also a ridiculusly heavy compression plug of 35 g and a proprietary top cap that didnt fit my one pro handlebars
Next, the One Pro 400x100 handlebars, not very light at 385g, but of excellent quality and the cable routing was really easy.
Groupset is Sram Rival but with Sram red crankset and also Sram T47 internal bb. Of the 3 BBs I tried, Sram was the smoothest, both the Standert and the Rotor were gritty. Idk why Sram gets such bad rep.
Wheelset is Lightbicycle AR465 rims, featherweight, laced on DT240 EXP hubs with sapim CX Rays and Sapim prolock alu nipples. Had I known better I would have gotten Carbon Ti hubs, to not having anything to do with the stupid 15267 bearings DT use. The wheelset came in at 1410 grams, not too light but not bad also. May relace with Berd spokes.
Discs are Sram Pacelines and they are absolutely too heavy, Ill get Galfers soon. Lockrings are Hope red ones, inspired from the previous Look frame, I will change them to Absolute Black
Pedals are the absolute cheapest Look keo, because I run out of money, I will get xpedo sonic ti or look keo blade carbon ti eventually.
Bottle cages are Supacaz anodized aluminium.
Lastly, saddlepost is KCNC Ti Pro Lite 800, 140 grams at 350mm, saddlepost clamp is also KCNC and saddle is the Ryet 3d printed one, from Aliexpress.
Ah and tires, simple pirelli p zero race, 28mm and Cyclami 26g TPU tubes.
Overall, it weighs 8.48 kgs, but I will get it below 8 for sure

[HannibalLecter]

Some more pics

[apr46]

Wow. This looks great! One of the small details that bugged me about Waltly frames is that they lacked attention to detail in terms of the aesthetics of their welds, in particular where they started and ended. That doesn't seem to apply to your frame for nearly all the welds.

Re weight, the overall build is well done and pretty light. I feel like its not easy to get a Ti frame within spitting distance of 8kg and you have a path to get there!

[HannibalLecter]

Thank you! Well, you can figure out where the weld starts and where it ends if you know what to look for, but I wouldnt say that it draws the eye too much. Otherwise, the quality and consistency are up there. Granded, I dont have a Moots to compare it to, but it doesnt have any finishing flaws.

As, far as weight, unfortunately it wont be easy, as it is specced already with lightweight parts, but here is a possible list;
Xpedo sonic pedals
Galfer M wave centerlock 160mm discs
Absolute black 5g lock rings
Extralite thru axles (ill never financially recover from this lol)
Sram Red cassette and chain
Sram RED E1 brake calipers.
This will get me a smidge under 8, but it will be a long (and costly) journey

[mathemagician]

Nice. What's the price of the frame if you don't mind me asking?

Sent from my CPH2207 using Tapatalk

[HannibalLecter]

For the double butted frame (extra cost 100$ I think), the carbon fork and the FSA headset, with accessories (the headset is a copy I think), I payed 1400 euro and this also included the shipping to Europe and the customs fee and the Paypal comission. Also, included free of charge were the front and rear thru axle, the UDH hanger and a saddlepost clamp, of which I was not too impressed about

[HannibalLecter]

And some more pictures, the welds can be seen in detail, although keep in mind that these were taken with a phone.

[BigBoyND]

A quick note regarding buying from China and all that. I am usually too snob to even consider it, for example all of my tools are from Japan or Europe and on my non tecnical clothes I buy nothing from China, even if I have to pay double usually. I even sold some Barbour jackets and bought older ones made in the UK.

But then all the finishing kit is Chinese, even when there are good and affordable mainstream options (Newmen, Selle Italia, etc.).

Sorry but this reminds be of people who start a sentence with "I'm not XYZ, but..." and end up being clearly XYZ

[HannibalLecter]

Selle Italia saddles are made in Italy still I think. Newmen I dont consider anything premium. But this is not the argument I am trying to make.
And why should the finishing kit not be chinese? Especially on a chinese bike ?
Take for example DT swiss. Whats the swiss exactly? And I have these hubs. Thats what I dont really like. My problem is with the offshoring of even especially expensive parts, not the original chinese parts. Waltly are proud of the bikes they make. Thats my point.

[HannibalLecter]

Some details of the ryet 3d printed saddle

[gksplash]

Looks super nice and weight is reasonable considering size, purpous and the choices you made which impacts it (BB, HT, Chain stay, disk, etc..). Clean look, super functional, hope you are happy.

[HannibalLecter]

Looks super nice and weight is reasonable considering size, purpous and the choices you made which impacts it (BB, HT, Chain stay, disk, etc..). Clean look, super functional, hope you are happy.

Honestly it turned out exactly as I thought it would be so I am over the moon haha. As for the weight, yes I had been warned, you cant go too low with that huge head tube and t47, but it was exactly what I wanted. Also, the frame is pretty large, and not having sloping top tube and dropped seat stays doesnt help.
And the UDH dropouts are huge.
The look is imho amazing, as everything, even the crankset matches with the overal theme.
Also, to me, a bike like this is the end station, no new model to come out, no wear and tear on the frame etc. Of course there are carbon bikes I adore, like the SuperSix evo 4, but the next model always makes you look the older with an itch of upgrading.
Yes I wouldnt consider it heavy, especially with 46mm profile wheels, but I will try to drop some more weight as part of the journey. First is galfer discs, maybe also berg spokes and the other things, I mentioned in a previous post.

Imo titanium bikes dont get enough of the spotlight

[HannibalLecter]

Some more pics and a hybrid Ferrari

[HannibalLecter]

New disc day. Went with the tried and true Galfers. I managed to shave I think around 120g compared to the pacelines. However, the brake power has been reduced. I hope they will bed in more and they will further improve

[HannibalLecter]

Again upgrade day, not installed yet