Hi all, a friend has bought a titanium mtb frame that he intends to use for touring. The rear wheel spacing is 135 mm and his touring wheel hub is 130 mm. Question is can he just put the wheel in and "flex" the frame, or put in a couple of spacers, or have the frame bent to 130 mm, or indeed are all of the above unsuitable? Thanks in advance.
can you "cold set" a titanium frame?
- Thread starter Moonpud
- Start date
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vernon
Harder than Ronnie Pickering
- Location
- Meanwood, Leeds
The simplest and most obvious low tech zero risk solution is to use a wheel with a 135mm hub.....
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
Titanium is very "springy". I wouldn't attempt to "cold set" it like you would a steel frame... it would be very difficult to get right because the spring-back is just huge... and varies with how fast you bend it.
Piemaster
Guru
- Location
- UK City of Culture
Ti frames are pricey. I'd like one. If I did have one I certainly wouldn't be trying to bend the thing myself by jumping up and down on it when getting a correctly spaced hub is a cheap alternative. Get the wheel rebuilt with a 135 hub.
MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
I would have thought that the 130 hub could be spaced out to 135, a reasonable LBS should be able to verify. Or you could just put the hub in the frame and use the axle tension to pull in the dropouts.
There are several frames in steel and titanium(Van Nicholas being one) that actually have 132.5mm rear spacing to allow the use of MTB, or road, hubs. So we're only talking another 1.25mm each side.
There are several frames in steel and titanium(Van Nicholas being one) that actually have 132.5mm rear spacing to allow the use of MTB, or road, hubs. So we're only talking another 1.25mm each side.
of course you can cold set a titanium frame - what do you think they do when they make the frames.
only problem would be that you would also have to bend the fork ends as well (so they are still parallel). i have done that after i crashed a mtb of mine. but you need tools to do it properly.
as mentioned by others it would be far easier to just get another hub or wheel.
using spacers would also work as i have done that 2 but it doesn't leave much to carry the weight - but possible.
Cheers guys, spacers idea seemed stupid as soon as i wrote it, needs a certain amount of spindle left to carry the frame i realise. I'll pass on the info but imagine he'll go for the fit it and see approach, hoping the titanium "spring" will do the job. With new hubs/wheels the problem is the current hubs are only 2 months old and were expensive, ( I know that a new frame is much more than a matching set of hubs). I gave him an XT hubbed front wheel but he wont use it as it is not a matching pair. I'll try to convince him to get a rear wheel built with an XT hub to match.
It should do that without any problem.
Anyway, what's wrong with getting a longer axle? £10-15 depending on what you want, and you can still use the wheel on whatever it came off.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/SearchResults.aspx?Search=rear+axle
You may need unequal spacers if you want the chain line spot on.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
I put money on it being the case that you can cold set any metal frame at least once. Otherwise how else to they bend tubes etc., once the bike is built. Carbon frames though? probably not a good idea.
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
You're only looking at 2.5mm either side. If in doubt, give Paul Smith at Corridori a call. He occasionally posts here and on yacf and is never less than knowledgeable, balanced and helpful.
http://www.corridori.co.uk/gbu0-display/splash.html
http://www.corridori.co.uk/gbu0-display/splash.html
pubrunner
Legendary Member
Reynolds 753 tubing cannot be cold set.
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/reynolds/Reynolds753artl.htm
