Crisp Titanium

[Joel Benjamin L]

Darren

thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. It is really great to hear more about how you approach these things.

[darren crisp]

Darren

thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. It is really great to hear more about how you approach these things.

My Pleasure..love the questions and hope I can be informative as well as of interest.
d
p.s. headsets have arrived..

[darren crisp]

Darren,

please take your time....plus from Rome to Castiglion Fiorentino there's a plenty of snow that separate us......!!

Hi Nicola,
no doubt..still lots of snow..
the delivery guy still won't come out to make pickups until the ice melts..could be another week before that happens..

dmc

[Too Tall]

Darren,
Send us some recent pics of what you are working on. Is there anything new in the world of Ti that interests you?

[Tomi]

Hi Darren,

I'm already following your blog once in a while. I live in Switzerland and love Tuscany. I am a big fan of your work already.

One question:
I've seen some crazy MTB/Touring/Gelato bici from you but the road bikes have stayed standard so far. Would you dare trying to build a really specific bike if a crazy customer was asking for a Time trial bike with aero shaped tubes and a custom aero fork with handlebar attachments on the fork crown or even then handlebar soldered directly to the fork crown with full di2 integration including integrated usb charging port on the seat mast ?

Something like those old russian TT / pursuit frame but with aero shaped tubes :


I could be that customer one day.

[darren crisp]

Darren,
Send us some recent pics of what you are working on. Is there anything new in the world of Ti that interests you?

Hi TT,

Here's a bucketload of what I've been working on. I'm not sure how to upload these photos w/o taxing my attachments, so I'll just post them to a blog page here:

http://crisptitanium.com/blog/?page_id=1582

As you can see, I'm pretty busy these days. I don't typically post all of my jobs to my Flickr or blog b/c of time constraints. In this album, you can see J. Lande's fresh new 29er, taken out in the cold. It will soon be going to Joel in the US. Then I've got some close-ups of a classic road frame for a fella in Northern Italy. It's going out via another builder and will probably end up with some paint, who knows. The last shots are the ones that interest me "in the world of Ti", specifically Crisp Ti

ciao!

[darren crisp]

Hi Darren,

I'm already following your blog once in a while. I live in Switzerland and love Tuscany. I am a big fan of your work already.

One question:
I've seen some crazy MTB/Touring/Gelato bici from you but the road bikes have stayed standard so far. Would you dare trying to build a really specific bike if a crazy customer was asking for a Time trial bike with aero shaped tubes and a custom aero fork with handlebar attachments on the fork crown or even then handlebar soldered directly to the fork crown with full di2 integration including integrated usb charging port on the seat mast ?

Something like those old russian TT / pursuit frame but with aero shaped tubes :


I could be that customer one day.

Hi Tomi,
Thanks for the question. Well, I DO like challenges (a little more than crazy customers..) as you may have seen some of my more atypical projects. The one that you have referenced it pretty interesting, but unfortunately I am currently not building road forks. Years ago, when I could use chainstays as fork legs, this was possible. With the tube proportions of today, that just isn't possible. I think the TAKHION frames were also banned by the UCI not only for the bars, but for the geometry. Here's a link of another build you might like to see: Takhion Aero Pursuit frameset - 58 x 56cm - a set on Flickr

Over the years, I have also changed my view about shaped tubes. There are some limits as to how a ti tube can be formed. I learned this by repairing ti frames from higher-volume manufacturers and realized that most of the repairs I was doing were on shaped or formed tubes. They were not taken past their "elastic" limits and over time, the vibration of road use would reshape the tube into it's original shape. This, when constrained by a weld, would yield some pretty unfortunate results. I still build the occasional TT frame with teardrop tubes, but the client is well aware of the characteristics and limitations of these styles.

That's kind of a vague response, I know. If you were to send me a drawing of an actual frame, I'd be more than happy to give you specific thoughts.

Thanks for the question!
darren

[darren crisp]

Hi TT,

Here's a bucketload of what I've been working on. I'm not sure how to upload these photos w/o taxing my attachments, so I'll just post them to a blog page here:

Velocipede Smoked Out – photos | Crisp Titanium

As you can see, I'm pretty busy these days. I don't typically post all of my jobs to my Flickr or blog b/c of time constraints. In this album, you can see J. Lande's fresh new 29er, taken out in the cold. It will soon be going to Joel in the US. Then I've got some close-ups of a classic road frame for a fella in Northern Italy. It's going out via another builder and will probably end up with some paint, who knows. The last shots are the ones that interest me "in the world of Ti", specifically Crisp Ti

ciao!

Sorry if the link didn't work for you. I'm still trying to get my hands around this image insertion-thing. Thank eR and Josh. I'll try this again...

[Joel Benjamin L]

that looks absolutely gorgeous.

non vedo l'ora.

[Round]

UHHHHHHH......Darren at his best ..
great job man , really a great job !!
i miei migliori complimenti
d

[darren crisp]

UHHHHHHH......Darren at his best ..
great job man , really a great job !!
i miei migliori complimenti
d

THANKS D! i really appreciate that.
the only thing better would be a sweet Pegoretti finish on top!

[pasquino]

Sorry if the link didn't work for you. I'm still trying to get my hands around this image insertion-thing. Thank eR and Josh. I'll try this again...

excuse me,may I ask you why that horizontal welding on the seat tube?
thank you.

[sdg71]

Many Compliments to Joel....you've chosen a great builder and.....me too!!!

[fixednwinter]

Good gawd, Darren, that is gorgeous work!

And love the view that you have too - must be inspiring to work to that scenery :)

[darren crisp]

excuse me,may I ask you why that horizontal welding on the seat tube?
thank you.

HI Pasquino,
That weld is for the reinforcing sleeve. It is used to resist the load from the seatpost.
thanks,
darren

[darren crisp]

Good gawd, Darren, that is gorgeous work!

And love the view that you have too - must be inspiring to work to that scenery :)

Hi fixedinwinter,
thanks for following my work. I appreciate the kind words.
i love the view, too, and sometimes have trouble keeping my eyes on the work. it makes me want to go ride more than stick the tubes together!

[pasquino]

HI Pasquino,
That weld is for the reinforcing sleeve. It is used to resist the load from the seatpost.
thanks,
darren

is it a welding to joint two tubes or is it done over one tube?
many thanks.

[darren crisp]

is it a welding to joint two tubes or is it done over one tube?
many thanks.

Hi Pasquino,
It is a weld that joins a reinforcing tube with a larger wall thickness to the seat tube..so it's between two tubes.

thanks,
darren

[pasquino]

Hi Pasquino,
It is a weld that joins a reinforcing tube with a larger wall thickness to the seat tube..so it's between two tubes.

thanks,
darren

many thanks!

[darren crisp]

many thanks!

Thanks! it is my pleasure to answer.
best,
darren