Titanium drilling for dropper ?

Hi
I’ve got a singular ti MTB frame and would love to fit a dropper post to it at the moment the only choice is one with an external cable ..I’ve seen footage of people drilling there Aluminium frames so the cable can be run internally.
It’s always been my understanding that ti is a much harder material to work with .
Can anybody recommend anywhere where I can get it drilled I’ve tried singular and enigma no joy
Also I may need to get some more cable guides welded on the frame
Thanks in advance for any help given

It’s much softer than you think.

Do it yourself, it’s easy, if nerve-wracking.

Just an idea as I had a similar dilemma with my SwitchbackTi. How about a RockShox Reverb AXS?

That’s what I went with as Dan Stanton said they can’t get a hole drilled in the frame due to being unable to get a drill in position because of the seatstays. By the time you have taken into account the potential cost for the work to your frame IF it’s even possible the cost of the AXS is covered in my eyes.
Got mine from Bike-Discount in Germany and it’s absolutely amazing and you don’t even have to charge the battery that often either.

Gordymac…I’ll look into that
I already have a dropper to go in
But may be much easier to go with your suggestion

Decent sharp drill bit and off you go.

Drilling a hole in a Singular that hasn’t cracked of it’s own accord yet is brave. 😉

I drilled my ragley ti- titanium does have some challenges, it work-hardens so your drilling makes it harder if you stop, and as well as being abrasive it doesn’t conduct heat well so your tool heats up way more than with alu. But at the end of the day a good bit, some cooling, and maybe another good bit after you wreck the first one, and some patience, it goes.

Oh yeah, titanium splinters and swarf tends to be very sharp, so be careful. On the plus side, any splinters that you do get, are lighter.

Sharp drill, low speed, cutting compound and lean on it.

Can anybody recommend somewhere that will weld some more cable guides on the frame ?
Thanks for all replies

I’m Midlands based so somewhere local would be nice 👍

Welding titanium is going to be expensive. You can braze without inert gas which might be cheaper but for cable guides why not use stick on ones?

I’m going to make my usual suggestion.
Assuming a cable dropper, thread it though a bottle boss. No need to drill anything.
Use a thin outer, shave the plastic off the first couple of cm of the outer.
Feed it through a boss with a cable to stop it kinking. Might need a bit of grease to help it along.

@jamesoz that’s brilliant!

Worked well on my old Kona Steely. Was a bit of a faff but no frame mod needed at all.

I’ve also fitted a slealth dropper to a Turner 5 spot by routing the cable through a drain hole. Had to open the hole slightly with a file on the Turner though.

As someone who has experienced a titanium frame cracking from holes which didn’t have reinforcement around the edge, I would be very cautious about drilling.

Arguably the holes in a downtube near the head are probably higher stressed than a seat tube, so maybe unnecessary concern…

Wow who made that?

The down tube is the most highly stressed tube on the frame, seatpost among the least IIRC