PBE14: Engin Revs a Few Titanium Builds for Hometown Crowd

Written by Tyler Benedict Nov 30, 2014 12:07 p.m. ET

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After converting to almost 100% titanium over the past year and a half, Engin’s show bikes are now all made from the premium alloy. This time he had a 29er, a standard road bike and a disc brake road bike. All three use his massive 1″ chainstays.

Above, the standard road bike gets a partial paint job, leaving the chainstays, logo and a few stripes bare to show off the metal. Detail pics of this and the others below…

Builder Drew Guldalian has some very special homemade tools in his shop to get the bends on the new 1″ chainstays to get the additional stiffness he wanted from them while keeping 43mm tire clearance.

That clearance comes in handy if you’re building up something meant to explore the back roads…like this disc brake version.

Drew had Paul’s new mechanical disc brake calipers mounted to it.

We’ve got a look inside Drew’s incredible workshop coming…

EnginCycles.com

Tyler Benedict

11,200 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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25 Comments

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Greg

9 years ago

Damn, I want that rigid.

Sean P

9 years ago

@Greg Kopecky. Me too! Wow, just simple yet so gorgeous.

mudrock

9 years ago

$3500 for his ti frames. Forget it.

mudrock

9 years ago

$3250, my mistake

mjw

9 years ago

Is it that the small frame builder sells so few bikes they have to over charge for the ones they do?

Rob

9 years ago

Very Nice,

Can that Disc brake version take full size chain-rings along with a 43mm tire?

BubbRubb

9 years ago

I love how haters always have to complain about price. Hey, maybe the price isn’t the proBlem after all, maybe the problem is your bank account? Lol.

Dave B

9 years ago

“I love how haters……….”

That has to be the most overused mis-applied word in use today. You don’t “hate” something you think is overpriced on not as useful as described.

Reformed Roadie

9 years ago

It is simple economics…if he has a demand at those prices, more power to him.
If people stop buying due to price, he has two choices…

What is interesting is the switch to just Ti frames.

Eric

9 years ago

The 3,200 cost isn’t outrageous for a custom ti frame. It’s around the same price you’ll pay for a Moots or a Firefly. Ti as a material is very costly and in high demand.

elk

9 years ago

Funny, but when you have to make a living selling one off, fully custom bikes that you build, you charge accordingly. The demand is there. The bike is made to exacting standards, and it isn’t a throw away item like a carbon wonderframe.

If you don’t like the price, you buy another bike. A mass market Asian Ti frame is $1500. A mass produced US Ti frame is $2500. Full custom from a guy building a creation just for you and to your specs out of Ti for $3250 isn’t outlandish. It is just a matter of priorities. Some people wear more than that on their wrist. Others have a computer that costs more. A big TV. The list goes on…

Don’t disparage something that doesn’t meet your criteria. It works for some and not for others, and that’s the beauty of our sport.

BubbRubb

9 years ago

Whatever you Say DaveB, but the fact remains, calling out bike prices Is pretty much the lowest Of low brow criticism. It’s like complaining that he painted the bike white. Expensive bikes (and cheaper than dirt) bikes are the norm now, with PLENTY of choice in between, so why complain? While I’m not on his wait list for a frame, I can’t fault him for building custom order Ti frames (in the USA, by his own hands) and charging over 3k$. Ti tubes are not getting any cheaper, nor are the costs associated with running a small operation. On the other hand, carbon is getting cheaper, and the off-shore labor is cheaper too.

mjw12867

9 years ago

Custom whats custom about it ?

mjw

9 years ago

Lets see i have worked in the bike industry for about 25 years, how about you Rubb? I have seen all the trends come and go. What makes me laugh is how these guys with a few years experience building frames think the are gods and can ask a outrageous amount. They have no experience to speak of except a few years of frame making. I have a custom frame and a production Giant and ill tell you that Giant rides circles around my over priced custom. Oh and my full carbon, electric shift disc brake road bike cost less then the frame. Also if you want a good custom frame at a good price look up Meech.

JDB

9 years ago

Moots charges a similar price, and people buy those all the time. For a non-custom geo frame. Some folks just prefer a metal bike that will last longer than an over-priced piece of plastic.
And I have worked in this industry a long time.

Lukee

9 years ago

I agree with bubbrubb. Small builders have their market. Engin chooses to work only in titanium. Titanium is an expensive material that is hard on tools and difficult to weld cleanly. As a small builder his costs are enormous, from the machinery to tooling (that wears quicker with titanium), to the higher cost of insurance both for his workspace and his frames. That chinese company that sells you a frame on ebay doesn’t pay tariff (it ships it to you as a gift) and they do not have any type of insurance. Carbon rolling out of chinese factories is cheap, they can abuse their workers and the environmental repercussions are overlooked. Engin supports his famil,y pays his employees well, and conforms to all of the laws a first world advanced country demands- that costs more. If you choose to support that than its your decision. Most of the well regarded titanium frames on the market are $3000+

@mjw- your comments confuse me. You bash custom frames. Insult custom builders and comment on how your custom frame sucks but recommend meech cycles. Is that what you own? It clearly sucks in your eyes so why recommend it?

Mark

9 years ago

Art is art no matter how YOU perceive it. A guy or gal has to start somewhere. I have one of Drew’s early steel frames and after ten years on it it still rides as good as the day I bought it. I have known Drew for fifteen years. That guy is a perfectionist. He loaned me his bike for a weekend and when I was done I told him to build me that exact frame. He did. Spot on riding. Fast nimble and fun. I would LOVE to to have another Ti frame someday. Yes the price is high but it is worth every penny! When I get enough pennies I will order another!

mjw

9 years ago

Im not bashing the frames im bashing the price. and no i do not own one but if i ever chosen to go that route again id buy a Meech good bike at a fair price. And honestly if its carbon ti or steel from a decent company they all ride very similar. And Lukee i never used the word suck once.

JBikes

9 years ago

Why do people still think carbon frames are “throw away”?
Anyway, nice bikes.

Rob – The tire width/clearance has no bearing on chain ring to chain stay clearance (from a user, non-design standpoint). Based on the pics:
– a standard crank seems compatible with the frame (which would contact on the outside of the chain stay if it wasn’t).
– 43mm tires clear (and would contact on the inside of the chain stay if it didn’t)

Paul

9 years ago

https://www.flickr.com/photos/engincycles/

you guys should really all take a look and the detail and craftmanship that goes into each frame before you go bashing someone’s livelihood. Drew’s work is absolutely incredible, each tube is cleaned more than once and properly purged, double pass welded, mitered joints are perfect, everything lines up properly.

@mjw get your head out of your ass. gloated about 25 years in the bike biz, i bet you gave zero on fabrication other that pictures of what you think is nice work on the interwebz. Drew’s work isn’t just art, he makes frames, stems, forks and seatposts that’ll still be around long after you’re gone kind sir.

Clancy

9 years ago

$3,250 or even $3,500 is not at all out of line with custom titanium frames. Dean, Erikson, Seven, Moots, all in that range. I have a 10 year old custom Lynskey that is still perfect and rides nicer then my “modern” Trek Domane. I’m ordering a custom Anderson stainless steel that will come in at that price and I’m thrilled to be able to work one on one with a custom builder who is designing a frame to my specifications and riding style. I’ve seen Elgin bikes in person at NAHBS and they are beautiful, outstanding craftsmanship. To compare his work to a mass produced frame from China is like…… well it’s really like nothing because to do so shows that person does not know what he’s talking about. There is no comparison.

Clancy

9 years ago

And by the way, Meech is steel, not Ti, once again, not a proper comparison. Meech’sprices for steel are in line with many small frame builders that work in that material.

BubbRubb

9 years ago

Mjw, does it matter that I have less industryBro experience than you? If you do have that much time in, you know that the industry is stocked full of lots of know it all blow hards and the guys that know their stuff are few and far in between. In my years of hiring I’d say I’d have 20 knowitalls come in for every 1 decent candidate.

Does it speak to your knowledge at all that you end up with a lackluster custom bike? If a stock bike would have sufficed, then maybe your 25 years of experience didn’t add up to much…

It’s clear that the only reason you’re hating on the bike is because it is out of your price range, and that’s it. Not because he’s designing sub par bikes, not because his craftsmanship is poor, not because he’s unable to make proper geometry adjustments for his custom orders… None of that is true, you just can’t afford the bike and thus trash it.

Listen, I can’t afford. It either, but Engin builds a good bike and is respected as such.
The price argument is weak.

ABW

9 years ago

I love how, in a discussion about value, people still feel like you can be right or wrong. It’s either worth it to you or its not. If it’s not, don’t buy it.

Ryan

9 years ago

I ride an Engin rigid SS 29er, and I have nothing but great stuff to say about it. It was and is my dream bike. Mine is just before he went Ti; it’s Reynolds 953.