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Lightweight Fatty – Travers Bikes Titanium 29+ frame, the Rudy Fat

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Rudy Fat Full 3-4 View

For those unfamiliar with the name, Travers Bikes is a custom shop based in Essex in the UK.  They design, prototype, and hand-build titanium frames, and even offer the option for full custom work.  They have been cranking out their 29er XC race frame, the Rudy, for a while now.  Over the past nine months, Travers has morphed the 29er into a 29+, allowing for plush 3” tires, but retaining the ability to build the bike with a normal parts kit.

Roll through the break for full details and more images.

Rudy Fat Chain Stay Bridge

Press Release:

Travers Bikes Titanium 29+ frame the “Rudy Fat” is now on sale. The new 29+ standard gives you all the benefits of the Fat 3″ tyres on 50mm rims but with the added bonus of being able to run standard components.

The “Rudy Fat” has been designed with endurance racing and all day cross country fun in mind, with its light weight and agile handling the tyres will insulate you from the trail buzz. The extra wide tyres make this bike a blast on the down hills and fire roads, really spinning up to speed fast. It also has the edge on the up hills with its extra traction, light frame and components. The “Rudy Fat” has the added appeal of being low maintenance giving you more time on the trail and peace of mind.

The thing we are most proud of is the chainstay bridge. With a clever use of a horse shoe design we have been able to maximise the mud clearance and add strength and stiffness whilst at the same time allowing you to run standard cranks.

Rudy Fat Full Bike

The frame comes as standard with a split seat stay allowing you to run a belt drive and, in combination with the PF30 bottom bracket, you will be able to run a number of Eccentric Bottom Brackets or a standard 1×10 or 2×10 setup.

Travers Bikes is a small UK company based in Essex, which is where we do all of the design and prototype testing. Each frame is hand built and there is an option to custom build any of our models into your bespoke, dream titanium frame. The “Rudy Fat” has been in development for 9 months.

Each frame is adorned with a UK designed and handmade custom head badge.

Travers Bikes supports racing at the grass roots level and has a presence at local races in the South East, both in mountain biking and on the road, as well as at many of the national endurance series events. The frames have been used for over 3 years in competition, in different forms from early prototype to finished production models including the “Fat Race” and “Rudy Fat” in the recent Dusk til Dawn 12 hour endurance race at Thetford.

Lead times for custom builds are 6-12 weeks.

Rudy Fat Head Tube

The specification for the “Rudy Fat” is as follows:

• Titanium frame

• PF30 BB

• Tapered headtube

• Horseshoe chainstay bridge

• Geometry designed for Travers carbon 29er forks

• Custom 29+ geometry

• Standard MTB hubs

• Standard MTB cranks 1x or 2x

• Off the peg or custom options

• Replaceable rear mech hanger

• Brushed finish with polished logo

• Handmade custom head badge

More details can be found here.

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17 Comments
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Dave B
Dave B
11 years ago

Prices?

Ajax
Ajax
11 years ago

Their website shows it at about 1200 British pounds, which is about $2200 US Dollars for the frame only. Yikes!

[deleted]

MB
MB
11 years ago

@Ajax – decent price for a Ti frame, and I’m sure the custom upcharge will still be cheaper than a lot of custom Ti builders. You must be in a bad mood lately…

Keith
Keith
11 years ago

I’ll take a steel one please

CXisfun
CXisfun
11 years ago

$2200 for a handmade Ti frame is pretty solid….

STS
STS
11 years ago

Always funny how many titanium companies try to avoid to admit that their frames are actually produced in Asia. I’m pretty sure this one comes from Taiwan as many others do. But from reading the article you might think it’s made in the UK, don’t you?

Henrik
Henrik
11 years ago

Why are pressfit BB’s coming back in style!?

Mindless
Mindless
11 years ago

Put 3″+ on 650b. About the same diameter as 29″ or fat bike, but lighter.

Jay
Jay
11 years ago

“Each frame is hand built” .. in China at XACD? If you aren’t clear about where people will call you out (at least country if not factory, it matters not but why hide it?)

Kevin
Kevin
11 years ago

That price isn’t bad at all if it isn’t crossing the pond. FYI a $1200 us frame will cost 1200gbp once its been imported. So for us its equivalent to a $1200 frame.

Michael Travers
11 years ago

My name is Michael and I am the director of Travers bikes. Thanks for everyone’s kind words.

I admit the first paragraph of this article does indicate that Travers Bikes produce the frames in the UK but this text was written by Bike Rumor.com and was written as an intro into the article which we had no hand in. Regarding where the frames are made..they are made in the same factory in China that many other companies use but charge around £500 more for. I do not make a secret of the fact, I have already mentioned it on a number of forums. The reason for this is simple quality and price. The design and prototype work is all carried out in the UK. I am in talks to produce a titanium frame in the UK but it will probably mean an increase in price (swing and roundabout)

The head badges are all hand made in the UK as are the Od-Pod stands the team uses.

The wheel building and bare frames are all built up into rolling chassis or complete bike in the UK (except the Northpaw/hope 29+ wheel which are built by Schlick cycles in the US).

The reason for the PF30 BB is to allow the use of as many chainsets as possible plus with the use of a “Problem Solver EBB” be able to run the frame as a Single Speed or Hub geared bike without the need for sliding dropouts. This produces a lighter, stiffer, more reliable and cleaner looking bike.

I was looking into producing a steel version but wanted to produce it in the UK but a hand built UK frame would cost the same as out current titanium version…I am still working on this but don’t hold your breath.

Ajax
Ajax
11 years ago

It’s funny. They have stock sizes, but it takes 6-8 weeks to get one.

How long does it take to get a frame from XACD? How much?

Kevin
Kevin
11 years ago

Yeah, give me XYZCD’s number. I’m sure they respect Trevers’s hard R&D work and prototyping. LOL. If I asked for a shipping container full of ’em, John in Taiwan would be IMing every 30 seconds for my credit card number.

But but but “The head badges are all hand made in the UK” That’s the worst bloody part of the whole bike! I’d pry that shite off the second I took delivery.

Henrik
Henrik
11 years ago

MT- Thanks for the clarification on the PF BB’s!

Tad
Tad
11 years ago

If you are not into it, don’t buy one. But why jump on here and make comments to slam a business that is trying to make something for a growing segment of cycling nerds. If you don’t like where they are built, don’t buy one. We need to acknowledge that some of those skilled welders/builders in Asia can be better then some well respected welders here in the states or other countries. It is all that they do. They are very good at their craft.
I try to buy US made goods whenever I can. But, sometimes these factories make amazing stuff. To each his/her own.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
11 years ago

Tad, you’re using logic and making sense. That plainly won’t work on people who are just here to spray. Travers is open about where the frames are made, so that should be enough.

noone
noone
9 years ago

this post has the words “light” and “weight” in the title, yet in the article there is no mention of the frame or complete weight at all.

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