Titanium road bikes made in UK

Hi all,

My next bike is going to be titanium. I was looking at kineses GTD but found out they were made in Taiwan. I believe j.laverack are made in UK in Oakham. I want a comfy ride with good tyre clearance and to be able to fit mudgaurds when required. I’ll use it for Sunday club rides and maybe unpaved roads.
If anyone knows of any other UK manufacturers of titanium frames please leave a message. Cheers.

As far as I’m aware Enigma are the only brand making Ti frames in the UK.

Laverack are definitely not UK made. All the other usual suspects such as Kinesis are also not.

Hmm, I’ve emailed laverack to confirm this. Also to go and view there bike range.

It’s well worth visiting Enigma. It’s interesting to have a look around, and I only ended up buying two frames…….

Reilly cycle works

Riley also not made in the UK

Ted James of Stroud is your man!

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Really? I thought reily were made in the UK. Apols if i am wrong

As above enigma and ted James can’t to my mind. Be aware that not all the enigma models are uk made though, generally only the higher end ti I think

Appreciate that this is 953 not Ti, but it’s a great show piece. He also builds in Ti. Some say, he’s recently built a Ti 22″ BMX for a certain DHer….

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Nice shot of Flechas @explorateur.cc Frame built by myself with @columbus_official XCR , @paragonmachine dropouts and many machined in house parts including integrated tapered headtube and @ritcheylogic splitter system Repost from @explorateur.cc using @RepostRegramApp – Brother Flacha's machine spotted in SW11. Stage One of the build complete – lots more detailing to come after the Tour. #Explorateur #GoAnywhereRideAnything #TravelWithEase #BrobyCarbon #eTap

A post shared by Ted James (@tedjamesdesign) on May 22, 2017 at 2:25pm PDT

Ted James. He’s brilliant.

Tom will build you a titanium bike. Give him a call

http://www.sturdycycles.co.uk/

Baldwin?

Made in the North, so can only be a good thing??

http://www.pedalnorth.com/content/baldwin-bikes-titanium-bikes-made-yorkshire

Travers? https://www.traversbikes.com/road-elite-stealth.html Doesn’t say if they are built in the UK but they are custom frames. Michael Travers is pretty quick at answering emails so worth a check.

Rich (Baldwin) had jacked it in last time I spoke to him

Not sure why it has to be British but at the mo and as much as the yanks are usually all big up themselves they do have probably the best titanium builders and that Aussie guy Baum is sell a kidney worth

Travers definitely not made in the UK as well as Laverack – both fabricated in China. Only Enigma custom frames and Ted James are UK built AFAIK. The main factor is that if you’re a skilled titanium welder in the UK, you’ll earn more money doing piece-work for aerospace rather than the ball-ache of dealing with bike buyers. The big factor with welding titanium is process control to prevent contamination – I’d rather deal with someone whose a specialist who does it all the time because they’ll have invested in the right kit. If you want a UK built frame, I’d also look at Columbus XCR or 953.

Albannach?

FRAMEWORKS

Another vote for Ted – bloody beautiful work

mickmcd, I like to look after my own. The money is from my dad and I want something to keep for ever that was made here.

I have spoken to Jim walker MD of enigma and it’s correct that only the top end ti frames are made in the UK. But that means spending £3600 for frame only. The others are made abroad and finished off here. Adding the forks and headsets and BB’s if customers ask for them.

I like enigma’s Evoke or Escape.

Michael – Richard at Enigma here, Jim may have given you the wrong impression, we could make you a Ti frame for £1200 less than what you’ve quoted above. £3600 would be our 6/4 Excel frame, but we can do an Echelon Disc for £2400 with whatever features you need from the Evoke/Escape.

To answer some of the above we produce approx 150 titanium frames each year in the UK, not all are custom but most. We also make all of our steel frames in the UK, including one with Columbus XCR.

It’s easy to differentiate on our website between UK/Overseas frames. UK is ‘Signature range’ Overseas is ‘Core Range’.

Hope people don’t mind me commenting but want to make sure the correct information is out there!

I like to look after my own. The money is from my dad and I want something to keep for ever that was made here.

Shame there’s not more of you chap

Snowdon Paradox maybe.

Dan Titchmarsh does ti bikes, made in UK.

https://en-gb.facebook.com/titchmarshcycles/

If it must be British, I’d buy stainless steel instead now. I’ve had Ti (road) and still have one (cross), it’s a great material, but steel has moved on so far.

Sure albannach are Chinese made

Having had an Enigma Ti mtb, I would easily go for one of their road bikes if I had the money.

For my own experience alot of Ti frames crack.

If you want something to keep for ever from your dads money i would look at something easier to repair, steel etc.

If you’re coming to bespoked bike show I’m organising the talks again. There’s going to be a ti builder panel discussion/q&a, brits and euro/us builders.

Heard a rumour that Fiveland Bikes can do Ti. You might not have heard of them, but if you know, you know.

https://fivelandbikes.com/what-we-do/

I was in exactly the same position last year. I wanted a Ti, UK made, gravel type frame. I went for a custom Reilly Gradient – the stock sizes are made elsewhere, but the custom frames are made in UK. The waiting list was / is currently 6 months. The custom geometry was +£350 a year ago.

Its a lovely bike to ride, so nice that I’m currently buying another one (a stock gradient frame this time with custom anodising), as my custom just got expropriated by my partner. The welds are as lovely as the ride. Everything I wanted to ride on the roads up here in Cumbria. If you can wait ….. I would certainly recommend one. It was also loads of fun sourcing as much other parts from the UK Hopetech, USE, Four4ths… then UK designed Fabric etc. You cannot quite manage everything of cause …. but it’s great fun!

Re breakages…. my frame came with a lifetime guarantee.

Four thanks for your honesty.

My experience so far with enigma and talking to Jim has been first class. He has responded to every email and given so much detail. I just wish they were closer to me because I really want to visit there workshop. I’m planning a trip soon I think.

dms01 thank you.

I want something to keep up with the lads of a Sunday club ride in winter with mud guards and my son is now 9 years old and getting into bikes and I want to ride with him on some lite gravel. What bike you reccommend?

I would be very surprised if Reilly is making any titanium frames in the UK, custom or not. I’m sure his website would should about it if he was, and there would be welding shots on instagram etc.

I don’t want to have a dig at other brands trying hard to make a living, but at Enigma we are competing with many others who often try to give the impression they are UK made when they are not. Some go further than this and simply lie! We recently saw a Moda frame, clearly Asian made, that actually said ‘handbuilt in Britain’ blasted on the seat tube.

It’s very frustrating.

Some go further than this and simply lie

Amen.

I have 2 Enigmas, one road and one MTB. Both custom built but part of the ‘taiwan’ range.
I have nothing but good things to say about Enigma and the whole process. Superb build quality, great to deal with. I really don think you could go wrong with them.

There are a good few Enigmas come out on our club runs and everyone seems pleased with them and some have more than one which should be a good indication of how happy they are with them. We are in Sussex so easy for people to have face to face communication.

Not Titanium but if you want special then a custom built Rourke 953 is pretty good but not as spendy as some options. Although judging by my Instagram feed the Enigma paint jobs are really good, yes, I know it’s TI but I personally prefer a partially painted with some base metal on show.

Enigma, can’t fault them.

My original post was deleted by STW due to the fact that I used a couple of descriptive swear words. Apologies if I caused any offence with my choice of language – I intended no harm and merely used the ‘terms’ for positive reinforcement of my praise for a particular bike and company.

Anyway, back on track – I have two Enigma Signature range bikes – one Ti the other steel.

The bikes in my opinion are second to none in terms of quality (and I’ve owned a few good bikes). The service I received from Richard, Jim and the other guys I met at Enigma has been spot on and would be hard to beat anywhere.

I can say the bikes ride and look sublime, the advice, help and support received from the company has been part of the bespoke experience and excellent.

When setting out to buy ‘metal bikes’ last year I research the subject to death and contacted a number of firms. My choice was Enigma and it’s been one that I am so pleased that I have made.

I’m no blind ‘fan boi’ or connnected with the company at all, I just believe in giving and sharing positive feedback when it’s earnt and deserved. If you were to ask Richard if I was the ideal customer and he was being honest I reckon he’d say NO as I’m fickle, a pest and a bit OCD – but the guy put up with this and took it all in his stride delivering a top customer service and superb bikes.

Don’t take my word for it – go and book a visit to the factory and see what you think.

Will I be buying my next bike from Enigma? Probably not as I’m likely to be after some Italian carbon exotica for holidays where I can pretend to be a young, fit, racing snake in the mountains, but I’ll be back at some point for a Ti Adventure Bike.

Not all Ti is equal and I didn’t want a lemon, I wanted the best that I could get for the amount I could justify spending.