Custom Ti: Wittson vs Spin

HI,

I've pushed the button on an order from Cielo Rosso, Neil sounds like he knows what he's talking about and is really helpful, any further feedback on your bike, is all good ?

There are a number of these brands listed who buy their frames from the same factories in Xiamen, China. Frame prices are from $600 direct for a single frame.

Only Enigma actually make ti frames in the UK, but their stock frames are oriental though.

I've bought 6 custom ti frames direct from China - 4 from XACD and the last 2 from Waltly titanium. I prefer the latter - better quality and more reasonable to deal with. XACD are a pain in the ar$e and more pricey in comparison. My latest frame, a fat-bike for 5" tyres arrived last week

Worth looking at www.spanner.org.uk for more experiences/inspiration - one of mines on there too.

+1 for Ceilo Rosso. Love mine. Same high standard as the big guns.

If you really know what you want and can recognise it on a drawing you could always go direct to the factory in China.
xacd.com.cn

Cielo Rosso? Full custom Ti from a British brand (obviously made in the far east though) for £700 has to be worth a look.

http://cielorossobikes.com/cielo-rosso-custom-built-titanium-frames-601-...

The Spin is certainly good for fast/hard riding. I'm 86kg, so no lightweight, but even so the pavé wasn't too bad. I tried 28mm Conti 4 Seasons on the Spitfire — fine at the back, fractionally too big at the front with the standard Spin fork. Might try 27mm Open Paves to see how they work.

PBP? You must be mad!

A couple of other suggestions for custom titanium: Qoroz, Burls and Triton. I've seen examples of all of these and reports are good, however I've never ridden titanium and can't pass any comment from personal experience.

You really don't need 32mm tyres for cobbles, do you?. This year I rode the last 110km of the Roubaix route (45km of cobbles) and all the major climbs of the Ronde on my Spitfire MkIII with 25mm Conti 4 Seasons running on Archetype rims. Not exactly smooth, but perfectly acceptable on some pretty tough surfaces.

Agree with Pierre that it's a great bike, beautifully built, and the company is great to deal with. Not sure I'd put a rack or mudguards on something like a Lightning, but each to their own.

Lynskey Sportive Disc?
I've had mine for about 18 months now and it's a great wet weather / winter / rough roads bike.

(it's probably worth only posting a question once... : )

I can't speak for Wittson; I've got a Spin and it's excellent. The quality of the workmanship and attention to detail is superb and it's a fantastic bike to ride, even nicer than my previous Litespeed Archon Ti. I've built up quite a few wheels with Spin's hubs too and they're a great company to deal with, very friendly and helpful.

HTH!