A project 10 months in the making, my new custom built titanium 29er MTB. Built by this Darren Crisp in Italy (http://www.crisptitanium.com/blog).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/recipher/sets/72157626175714003/

I haven’t had a chance to ride it yet. I just finished building it this afternoon. I’ll get out on it tomorrow.

I put the deposit down on the frame in the summer, it was a bit of a wait, Darren doesn’t make too many frames in the year. Well worth it though.

Truly custom:

I built the bike up myself. I’ve a couple of details to sort out – the forks need decals (on the way) and the seatclamp is temporary (the orange one I got with the post is the wrong size).

Industry 9 Hubs on Stans Crest 29er rims. I went with brown hubs rather than just been obvious and getting black.

The forks were resprayed to match, again black would have been obvious, I think brown looks good. It needs decals though, I have a set (in orange) on the way, we’ll see how they look. The steerer needs cut again.

I’m running the drivetrain 1×9, an 11-36 cassette and a 36T front chainring on a modded XTR M960 crankset.

More frame detail – the decals are etched.

Full spec is:

Fox F29 100mm
Industry 9 hubs on Stans Crest with Rocket Ron, tubeless
Enve Carbon Riser brs
XTR Race brakes
XTR 9 speed shifter
Saint rear mech
Yumeya chain
Moots Open Road RSL stem 100mm
Eriksen Sweetpost
Fizik Gobi XM Kium Saddle
MRP 1x chainkeeper
Eggbeater SL pedals
XTR M960 cranks
Chris King bottom bracket and inset headset

The most expensive stem in the world.

That looks gurt lush 😀

Whats the basic geo?

Oh and btw, is the bar still for sale on your Flickr? If so what the width/sweep (presuming it’s flat?)?

F**king nice bike.

Much better then that other guys custom ti hybrid thing.

Saint rear mech

Why saint?

And is that a ti stem? The stem cap doesn’t match. And why not ti bars too?

And worst valve logo alignment ever. Sort it out.

Custom 29ers are so three years ago. 😉

very nice! I like lots. I had first ride out with my kent eriksen seatpost today.. Lovely!

Classy

Disgustingly indulgent…but tasteful.

Classy

+1 ! Lovely bike mate, really well sorted build 8)

Don’t like the brown forks though, sorry. Looks a bit too ‘army’ to me?

head angle looks waaay too steep.
wouldnt fancy taking it down anything to steep.

I don’t really ride much that’s particularly steep. It’s a kinda do-it-all bike. The geometry is a bit old school.

The forks were one of the riskier details, I’m 50-50 on it at the moment. As I say, doing them black would have been obvious. Hopefully the decals will make a difference.

The Saint mech is because it’s designed for close ratios and it works perfectly for 1×9 setups because of the tight spring. It ways only a wee bit more than XT.

The bars are still for sale. 640mm, 9 degrees sweep. £50 + postage of your choice. http://www.envecomposites.com/handlebars/mtb.aspx

I don’t subscribe to the valve/logo alignment pish.

The stem is titanium, the bars are not titanium because you need to use a shim which looks a mess. I don’t think the stem cap doesn’t match – doesn’t match what? The alternative was silver, red or blue.

I know, it’s ridiculously indulgent. Courtesy or Mr Accident Compensation.

The geometry is pretty much the same as the Singular Swift, which I used to own. Maybe a couple of tiny differences – slightly longer top tube, slightly higher front end.

If you want the bars, email me at johnny at recipher dot co dot uk.

oooohhh that’s proper reet for pit work.

recipher – Member
…I don’t subscribe to the valve/logo alignment pish…

You never get punctures?

ooohhh … cccuuuuuuuummmm …

That is a beauty.

How much?

The spokes next to the valve holes are orange. The rest are brown. That helps with punctures. Even without them, I think I can live with the extra couple of seconds to find the valves.

Just checked – the head angle is the same as the Singular Swift. Which I don’t think is thought of as too steep, is it?

Price was significantly north of £6k. Accident Compo, 2 bike sales, a bit of overtime and 9 months of saving for the rest. Still skint this month though.

Epicyclo- it’s not formula 1, if it takes 30 secs to find the valve it’s no biggy, blame Stans sticker slave and not the guy with the nicest bike shown on here for a long time

And now he makes it even classier with coloured spokes to identify the valve, good work

Tidy boots that….

And now he makes it even classier with coloured spokes to identify the valve, good work

I’ve always found it quite easy to find the valve by looking round the rim until i see a valve sticking out. 😉

doesn’t match what?

The rest of the stem.

I don’t subscribe to the valve/logo alignment pish.

You rebel you.

😀

It strikes me as a little anal. On the other hand, the whole bike is a bit like that! Next time I take the tyres off, I’ll think about it, how’s that? I’ve never bothered before.

The stem is titanium, the faceplate is aluminium. If the faceplate was anodized to match, it wouldn’t (match) and it’d look weird I think. So, black it is. The silver one looked odd (to my eye).

Thanks for all the kind comments.

looks lovely, but what sort of italian name is Crisp?, and what flavour are they?

Next time I take the tyres off, I’ll think about it, how’s that?

Much better, I can sleep peacefully now 😀

Guess it does match the bars. Have you got a weight for the whole thing? I’m really starting to like the brown forks. And for a 29er, it looks surprisingly “normal”.

I know, it’s ridiculously indulgent. Courtesy or Mr Accident CompensationI know, it’s ridiculously indulgent

Christ…did you lose both arms and legs!!!

Looks really nice, not really my thing in terms of racy steepness, but nice setup.
Forks really are bogging though, some nice metallic amber like your headset would sort them out.

The compo was about half of it. No idea how I ended up with so much, there wasn’t much wrong with me!

Darren Crisp is from the US but lives and works in Italy.

I’m 6’4″, so 29er is really the only choice for me. A 26er looks odd in my size, I think.

The forks take a while to grow on you, definitely.

If I had my way, I’d have had the forks a darker brown (it looked darker on paper) but I can live with it.

The decals should improve matters. I can see how people might not like them, they’re a bit marmite. I might not have said “bogging” though 🙂

Why the hell would you paint your forks brown!
Just noticed the spokes. Ok so it’s a little colour coordinated but Christ they’re minging.

The hubs are brown as well. I understand the marmite quality of the forks.

I also understand that posting such a thing on a public forum is asking for trouble but Christ you’re rude.

If, in the end, I can’t live with the forks. I’ll just get them resprayed black.

Now Marmite I can understand and actually like but I wouldn’t paint my house/car/boat/forks in the nastiest colour known to the turd collectors.
This yours?

Most expensive stem ? how much? thought my Ti cycles one was

The Turnip fella would never make it to the diplomatic corps so I would not worry. Definitely different but truely all the better for it -please come back with your thoughts on how it rides.

Nice work Johnny- loving the swift by the way!

I think that looks lovely and you have obviously put a lot of thought into it. Now go ride the crap out of it!!

Beautiful! 🙂

Don’t worry about the negative comments! It’s always the same folk and you do get used to it! Besides, they don’t really mean it! 😉
By the way! Lovely bike! 😆
P.S.For all you brown fans out there the Austin is painted in Russet brown. I know! I used to mix gallons of the stuff in the early 80’s! 😥

brown……………urrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh……….. 🙁

frame does look beautifully crafted however………… 😮

I really like the look of that. Hope you enjoy riding it.