What’s the quality of manufacture like dove biker?

I’m considering getting them to make me something like SSStu’s frame, but in Ti.

I’m a bit worried they won’t have the requisite experience to spec appropriate tubes for something that can be ridden in such an aggro fashion.

My dad has a Planet X Hurricane, it came in a Walty box. It’s very well made, couldn’t fault it at all.

Waltly haven’t come
Back yet but I’m excited a bit that the comment on the last page suggested they started at $600 and with bendy tubes went up to $1000 ish. I assume there’s duty to pay on top of that when it comes in but I’m not really after too many bent tubes. The 3 main tubes would be straight with chainstays bent enough to leave room for up to a 2.4wt Maxxis tyre in the mud ideally. Not sure about seatstays shapes right now – need to do some more research on that.

As said previously I like on that Marino that it looks like the top tube flows straight into the seatstays. Hopefully a short seat tube with a long dropper means there will be some give in the saddle position for comfort purposes – my 180mm dropper on the day definitely flexes backwards and forwards quite a bit.

Just looked back at my Waltly frame – it was $1000 shipped. Didn’t have to pay any duty, customs muster have missed it. They did also put a value of $50 on the box which was decent of them!

Thanks – how long ago was it you bought that for $1000?

2 years ago. It has sliding dropouts and a curved down tube which pushed up the cost a bit.

Ok – I’ll see what they come back with as a ballpark figure.

Do they offer any advice on geometry / the frame details you’ve requested or so they blindly just make exactly what you ask for.

I assume if I contacted Curtis to get one of their frames they’d probably opine on what you’d requested and tell you if you were doing something stupid etc.

Assume Marino probably just again make exactly what you’ve asked for with no advice / warnings about stupidity in your design…..

They didn’t really offer advice as such, but I had a fairly clear idea of what I wanted – basically a ti Kona Honzo with a slightly slacker HA and longer reach.

Sent them a geometry chart for the honzo, told them the tweaks I wanted, then they sent back an updated geometry chart and went through options like headtube, dropouts, dropper ports etc. Once agreed I got a final geometry \ spec chart and paid a deposit. About 6 weeks later it was built, pictures sent and I paid the balance and got the frame a couple of weeks later.

Sounds perfect actually – I want to take the next size up Vitus Sentier and drop the height of the seat tube mostly – and maybe per advice in this thread slacken the headangle to 65 degrees.

Update

Put a query into Waltly for a ballpark cost and so far just got silence back.

Looked again at the Curtis and would like the raw finish if I go that route – it’s actually £1300 for that frame option where they polish it and clear powder coat it. Decided that’s too rich for me.

So I’ve today put in a provisional order for a Marino – I decided 725 is a decent tubeset and it might leave some extra budget to get a few nicer components to go on it.

Set the main angles and measurements I think I want – but asked a number of questions about cable routing / butting / headtube standards / paint. I believe they’ll put together a picture labelled with the measurements to check on etc before paying the deposit. I want to check that all the measurements I haven’t specifically given are sensible given all the other detail I did give.

Paint wise I’m thinking maybe green or blue with either a subtle flip and / or metal flake in it.

Do it! Well worth it, now I’m considering their full susser…

wow, what a unique looking bike! Love the colour and the set up. The saddle looks a bit agricultural for my taste, but then it’s not my bike I guess.

That looks cool in yellow! I’ve selected that seat tube / top tube brace with the curved piece, but a front small gusset between the tubes rather than a separate tube there.

What tyre size is that / what tyre size did you specifically needed to fit?

Sorry to ask questions but did you pay 20% VAT when you imported it or something different?

The curved brace tube at the St-tt junction is a good idea. It adds a little compliance (for local stress reasons not rider comfort). I’ve seen a couple of frames where they switched the design from straight brace tubes (that cracked) to curved braces as the fix.

Mick-R – I picked it because I thought it looked nicer / more unusual than a straight brace 😝

Double win 🙂

Extended seat tubes can be surprisingly hard to get right…..

Is that a crack?

I’ve specced a 395mm seat tube so hopefully however the stays / top tube come together there’s not too much length to crack. That said I ideally want it to look like the top tube flows into the seat stays so will see how it looks.

Got sent this pic yesterday of my frame now to tubes are welded and the clearcoat is on.
Should be here in a couple of weeks.
Shame I’ll still be broken and unable to ride it.
Hoping to be fixed enough to at least get it built up.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2jjHadJ]Marino Custom Frame In 725[/url] by multispeedstu, on Flickr

Looks great – did you go 4130 or 725 – I forget?

I’ve opted for 725 and had said 2 internal routes cables and brake external but I think I’ve changed my mind and will go all 3 internal. Went for the curved seat post brace – And I had opted for the brace between the tubes at the head tube but I think I want the 2 small gussets on each tube now having looked at a load of photos from Marino.

I’m assumed he’s stacked at the moment as I haven’t heard anything back yet. I had a play on bike cad earlier in the week and think I’ve pretty much decided on the angles / measurements now. Only thing I’m not sure about is the Bottom bracket offset – not sure if I can just leave that blank or if it needs something in there?

These are the angles on bikecad and a frame similar to what I’m after in terms of gussets:

@JoeBristol: I’ve bought my frame from the guy who changed his mind, wish it was straight from Peru! No idea on the tax I’m afraid but I’ll text the original owner and if I have any news I’ll let you know.
As I’ve had no say over the matter this frame will only accept 27.5 x 3″ or 29 x 2.6″ however I reckon I could squeeze 2.8″ at the back…

Changed the setup slightly, still love it to bits:

Your picture link seems to have died for some reason.

That’s quite a wide tyre fitment in that frame – I’ve asked Marino what selecting 2.5” tyres actually means in terms of width between the stays. My current frame (Vitus Sentier) has a lot of tyre clearance as it’s meant to fit up to a 2.8” 27.5 tyre – although I’ve no intention of running anything that big – I usually run a 2.3” aggressor or dhr2. Wondering about running something with a little more volume to make it more comfy but faster rolling.

Hoping maybe the steel Marino frame might be slightly more forgiving than the pretty still alloy one as my back is a bit ruined from a previous bulged disc injury. Not had a steel frame since having a Gary Fisher Mamba in the late 1990’s – that was a £400 bike with RS Quadra 5’s so I’m expecting this Marino frame or be a bit posher than that (I think the Mamba was double butted 4130 main frame with straight gauge stays).