Titanium frames.

de_sisti

This is my latest one from xacd:

(edited )

Anonymous

Airborne are now Van Nicholas IIRC. Your frame looks very similar to a Sabbath.

I presume that the Litespeed they make will be the new Xicon.

They (XACD) are reputedly very good.

majormantra

Just out of curiousity, can one order directly from XACD? How expensive are they?

Matthew

Skippy2309

Was just thinking the same thing MajorMantra, I need a new frame at the moment, so a Ti one that I can build on would be amazing

alfablue

Yes, many people do buy from XACD directly. It works well, good communication, just you need to be precise about your requirements and provide drawings (you get exactly what you ask for). I have heard of people getting frames made and delivered for in the £400-£450 region.

de_sisti

The frame of mine above cost $680us, including my bank charges and their( $120 ) bank charge. At the time of purchase this worked out at £460.

From the moment they received the bank transfer to the frame arriving at the nearby depot
in Gloucester was 2 weeks, just as Porter had promised me.

pottssteve

maander wrote:

From the horse's mouth this morning. Xacd.com (China) makes titanium frames for
several companies. This is a copy of the reply I received from them today.


About you said these:
Porter,
Can you tell me which companies you make frames for?

We are making OEM for Litespeed and vannicholas and DEAN bikes,etc.
In the past,we also ever made OEMS for Airborne.



This is my latest one from them:

That's a nice bike! Is that "raw" titanium or is the metal brushed - it looks like a matt finish. I assume the forks are titanium also - how do you find them for comfort of ride?

Steve

Anonymous

The issue I had with XACD was actually more to do with me, i.e. I didn't have a clue about geometry and tube diameter/thickness! I didn't have the confidence to specify my frame in that detail.

alfablue

I think a solution is to copy the spec exactly from an existing product, like your favourite VN frame. I think detailed geometry is available.

p3t389

Found this other forum on the subject

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showth ... ?p=1001981

The drawings (must register to see them - takes only a minute) look fairly intimidating. That said, looking at the XACD site they offer 48cm, 50cm etc but also 'custom' so you may be able to just take a standard 54cm Road frame for example.

Anonymous

alfablue wrote:

I think a solution is to copy the spec exactly from an existing product, like your favourite VN frame. I think detailed geometry is available.

This is what I was thinking of doing. I was going to get it sprayed up by Atlantic Boulevard too, in Erick Zabel colnago stylee but saying NapoleonD instead of Colnago.

Plumped for a Litespeed in the end.

Dunno why, I'm silly like that.

I

AidanR

I'm currently in the process of ordering a frame from them. It can be a slightly frustrating experience at times due to the language barrier, and Porter can get a little stroppy, but being able to get exactly what you want is amazing. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop.

BTW, if anyone else is ordering/about to order a frame and is in or near Edinburgh, PM me and perhaps we can go halves on postage/banking fees.

paul_smith_srcc

maander wrote:

From the horse's mouth this morning. Xacd.com (China) makes titanium frames for several companies. This is a copy of the reply I received from them today.

About you said these:
Porter,
Can you tell me which companies you make frames for?

We are making OEM for Litespeed and vannicholas and DEAN bikes,etc. In the past,we also ever made OEMS for Airborne.....

It seems that XACD manufacture for many, as they state that about Enigma as well, so much so that I asked Jan-Willem the owner and founder of Van Nicholas who I have known since 2001 if XACD did infact make their frames, his reply in clarifaction was, “They have never produced frames for us”.

As I stated in the other thread I linked to (when I worked for BikePlus), if they did build for those companies I would have thought they would have been a bit more guarded about divulging that kind of information about who would as such be some their best customers.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

Chris ABG

Chris from Litespeed here. Just to clarify, all of our frames are handmade in our manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That includes the new Litespeed Xicon.

I can also confirm that Van Nicholas do not use XACD for production either.

XACD make excellent frames and manufacture a quality product that I'd be happy to ride myself , but they don't make frames for Litespeed. However, Litespeed do make frames for other companies, as well as titanium fabrication for some other non-cycling related applications. We also do the occasional job for NASA ;-)

Anonymous

Chris ABG wrote:

Chris from Litespeed here. Just to clarify, all of our frames are handmade in our manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That includes the new Litespeed Xicon.

I can also confirm that Van Nicholas do not use XACD for production either.

XACD make excellent frames and manufacture a quality product that I'd be happy to ride myself , but they don't make frames for Litespeed. However, Litespeed do make frames for other companies, as well as titanium fabrication for some other non-cycling related applications. We also do the occasional job for NASA ;-)

XACD would probably deliver my frame on time though, unlike my maddening wait for a Xicon which I have given up on, they didn't make any XL frames!

Furthermore, I was offered a Siena that was 'in stock' at the UK distributor supposedly, so I spent the extra. I was supposed to get it last Friday. So where is it???

Very disappointed with the Litespeed distribution :evil: As are the shop who are rather embarrassed.

If it's not there tomorrow I'm cancelling my order.

TheStone

Does anyone import these frames like Setavento used to?

de_sisti

pottssteve wrote:

maander wrote:

From the horse's mouth this morning. Xacd.com (China) makes titanium frames for
several companies. This is a copy of the reply I received from them today.


About you said these:
Porter,
Can you tell me which companies you make frames for?

We are making OEM for Litespeed and vannicholas and DEAN bikes,etc.
In the past,we also ever made OEMS for Airborne.



This is my latest one from them:

That's a nice bike! Is that "raw" titanium or is the metal brushed - it looks like a matt finish. I assume the forks are titanium also - how do you find them for comfort of ride?

Steve

I'm no expert but to me, the fork is as comfortable as any 531 or carbon fork I've used.

de_sisti

Chris ABG wrote:

Chris from Litespeed here. Just to clarify, all of our frames are handmade in our manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That includes the new Litespeed Xicon.

enigmajim

Paul_Smith SRCC wrote:

maander wrote:

From the horse's mouth this morning. Xacd.com (China) makes titanium frames for several companies. This is a copy of the reply I received from them today.

About you said these:
Porter,
Can you tell me which companies you make frames for?

We are making OEM for Litespeed and vannicholas and DEAN bikes,etc. In the past,we also ever made OEMS for Airborne.....

It seems that XACD manufacture for many, as they state that about Enigma as well, so much so that I asked Jan-Willem the owner and founder of Van Nicholas who I have known since 2001 if XACD did infact make their frames, his reply in clarifaction was, “They have never produced frames for us”.

As I stated in the other thread I linked to (when I worked for BikePlus), if they did build for those companies I would have thought they would have been a bit more guarded about divulging that kind of information about who would as such be some their best customers.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

Just to put the record straight XACD DO NOT build frames for Enigma, they never have and they never will.

Uniquely Enigma now build all custom titanium frames in our own workshop in Sussex, England. We also build all our steel frames on the premises. Whilst some of our off-the-peg ti frames are still made by our manufacturer in Taiwan our plan is to build ALL our titanium product in-house within two years, employing British craftsman to build a beautiful British product to sell to the world.

Jim Walker
Enigma Titanium Ltd

Slow Downcp

enigmajim wrote:

Just to put the record straight XACD DO NOT build frames for Enigma, they never have and they never will.

Uniquely Enigma now build all custom titanium frames in our own workshop in Sussex, England. We also build all our steel frames on the premises. Whilst some of our off-the-peg ti frames are still made by our manufacturer in Taiwan our plan is to build ALL our titanium product in-house within two years, employing British craftsman to build a beautiful British product to sell to the world.

Jim Walker
Enigma Titanium Ltd

Prepares to get credit card out again... :oops:

gabriel959

I don't really care where a product is made as long as it is good. It can be British, Italian, American or Taiwanese but if the Taiwanese product is better and cheaper no way I am going to fork more for it.

Burghley

Hi

I have purchased a few custom Ti frames from XACD - as said before on this thread, if in doubt use the geometry from an established manufacturer as a starting point.

The quality is excellent and the price is low.

Contact me if you want CAD drawings, photos etc.

Rgds

Pete

pianoman

But surely if the XACD frames don't come with a warranty, there's no point in buying and risking your money with them........unless you're very specific about bottom bracket thickness, chainstay profiles etc?

Then you MIGHT get a super-stiff rocket ship, if you haven't already done so by picking out deep wheels and carbon cranksets.

cougie

I have seen enough happy reports from xacd owners to risk my money on buying one later this year. Pianoman - I think the alloy DA cranks are about the stiffest out there - not carbon ?

tenor

The only long term warranty for a bike frame is to get it made by a good and experienced builder - and the Chinese and Taiwanese are certaily in that category as they make the frames for many of the normal names such as VN, Zero 4, etc.
Life long guarantees mean nothing if the manufacturer stops trading.

Croxted Avenger

enigmajim wrote:

Paul_Smith SRCC wrote:

maander wrote:

From the horse's mouth this morning. Xacd.com (China) makes titanium frames for several companies. This is a copy of the reply I received from them today.

About you said these:
Porter,
Can you tell me which companies you make frames for?

We are making OEM for Litespeed and vannicholas and DEAN bikes,etc. In the past,we also ever made OEMS for Airborne.....

It seems that XACD manufacture for many, as they state that about Enigma as well, so much so that I asked Jan-Willem the owner and founder of Van Nicholas who I have known since 2001 if XACD did infact make their frames, his reply in clarifaction was, “They have never produced frames for us”.

As I stated in the other thread I linked to (when I worked for BikePlus), if they did build for those companies I would have thought they would have been a bit more guarded about divulging that kind of information about who would as such be some their best customers.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

Just to put the record straight XACD DO NOT build frames for Enigma, they never have and they never will.

Uniquely Enigma now build all custom titanium frames in our own workshop in Sussex, England. We also build all our steel frames on the premises. Whilst some of our off-the-peg ti frames are still made by our manufacturer in Taiwan our plan is to build ALL our titanium product in-house within two years, employing British craftsman to build a beautiful British product to sell to the world.

Jim Walker
Enigma Titanium Ltd

Any chance of a factory tour Jim? It'd be cool to see that.

pianoman

Pianoman - I think the alloy DA cranks are about the stiffest out there - not carbon ?

Actually I thought the FSA K-Force range with the BB30 was the new gold standard. Don't know whether it would sit well on a bike with Campag groupset, wheels AND seatpost though :P

enigmajim

Croxted Avenger wrote:

enigmajim wrote:

Paul_Smith SRCC wrote:

maander wrote:

From the horse's mouth this morning. Xacd.com (China) makes titanium frames for several companies. This is a copy of the reply I received from them today.

About you said these:
Porter,
Can you tell me which companies you make frames for?

We are making OEM for Litespeed and vannicholas and DEAN bikes,etc. In the past,we also ever made OEMS for Airborne.....

It seems that XACD manufacture for many, as they state that about Enigma as well, so much so that I asked Jan-Willem the owner and founder of Van Nicholas who I have known since 2001 if XACD did infact make their frames, his reply in clarifaction was, “They have never produced frames for us”.

As I stated in the other thread I linked to (when I worked for BikePlus), if they did build for those companies I would have thought they would have been a bit more guarded about divulging that kind of information about who would as such be some their best customers.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

Just to put the record straight XACD DO NOT build frames for Enigma, they never have and they never will.

Uniquely Enigma now build all custom titanium frames in our own workshop in Sussex, England. We also build all our steel frames on the premises. Whilst some of our off-the-peg ti frames are still made by our manufacturer in Taiwan our plan is to build ALL our titanium product in-house within two years, employing British craftsman to build a beautiful British product to sell to the world.

Jim Walker
Enigma Titanium Ltd

Any chance of a factory tour Jim? It'd be cool to see that.

All are welcome to come and see what we do but by appointment please.

Jim W

paul_smith_srcc

tenor wrote:

The only long term warranty for a bike frame is to get it made by a good and experienced builder - and the Chinese and Taiwanese are certaily in that category as they make the frames for many of the normal names such as VN, Zero 4, etc.
Life long guarantees mean nothing if the manufacturer stops trading.

I did have a customer who came in last week who has been considering all the usual Titanium brands and that www.zerofourbikes.co.uk were one of them; but he descovered they were no longer trading.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk