I have a older lightspeed titanium rim brake frame that I want to increase the tire size on. It fits 28s now pretty well but 30s rub. The clearance issue is only on one part of the frame, on the chainstays. My question is if I could pinch down the chainstays to fit a 30 or 32c tire. Stridlands recently did this with a steel mountain bike frame, I listed the photos. Would it be safe to do similar on titanium? Would it be too hard to dent? Can I use heat or would that likely compromise the integrity? Give me your opinion.
by theowatermelon
16 Comments
Probably…however Ti is a bit less giving that steel, at least on paparer. I think you need to ask in r/framebuilding there are people who actually will give you sound advice.
No. Titanium is a pretty brittle metal, I wouldn’t risk it. Either accept that 28mm is the max or get a different frame.
I was super bummed to sell my old 2001 Tuscany, it was such an amazing bike, but the skinny max tire clearance made it really unsuitable to the type of riding I prefer to do and it wasn’t flexible enough to be the second bike in a max stable of 2 bikes. The other bike being my old steel Rockhopper commuter.
I ended up selling it to a dude who was super excited to own it and put that money towards building up a Lynskey GR300 that now serves as my all-around bike. It’s not quite as smooth and snappy feeling as the Tuscany, but it’s hugely versatile and still quite fast and responsive on pavement. And it can fit 45s with plenty of room to spare.
I was thinking of doing this as well on an old Litespeed Appalachian that I was trying to fit 700x40s in. I chickened out and run 700x36s.
Issues seem to be that ti work hardens and heat is effective but needs to be within a specific range, duration, etc. If you figure it out, l’d love to see a follow up!
Please no! Not because it is titanium, but a Lightspeed? Come on, a US made Ti frame should not be tampered with. Please don’t do it, even if it might be possible or whatever. Don’t.
Bruh hell no!!! Wtf
No. Titanium does not like to be bent. You can only do this to steel frames
I think you should try it and get back to us. Yes I might come from xbiking.
“Can I ruin a titanium frame for the most ridiculous of reasons?” 🤦♂️
a ti chainstay would probably crack
Funny story, I worked shipping/receiving for a mail order ti frame company back in the early ’00s. Some frames came in with wonky rear spacing. I watched the owner and gm of the company spend half a day with a 10ft pole trying to cold set a rearend. They could bend it 4-5in maybe more, but every time it sprang right back were it was. They finally had to warranty them back to the factory in china
Can you? Absolutely. Should you? Absolutely fucking not.
It’s a road bike. Wider tires are absolutely better but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with 28 and as long as you run them at reasonable pressures, like 60 to 65 psi, you should be fine on just about anything that you would reasonably want to ride that bike on. It’s also worth mentioning that your brake calipers probably aren’t designed for tires bigger than 28 mm anyway.
As someone who has made 1000’s of titanium frames, I wouldn’t try it with this one. The stays are probably CWSR 3-2.5 titanium and they are probably a little on the brittle side. Tapered, ovalized stays like that are most likely seriously cold worked and work hardened. Squashing stays like that also affects the rear wheel spacing and alignment. As you can imagine, putting dents on the inside of the stay shortens that side and will make the rear spacing really tight. A millimeter dent there will bring the dropout in 5-10 mm. Straight stays like that are more difficult to align than s-bend stays and the act of alignment might also cause damage at the dented area . That is where most movement will occur during alignment. Do not try to use a torch, titanium needs to be heated in an inert gas environment. When heated it will absorb any available oxygen and get glass like brittle.
Yes, every frame is squeezable, some just might not be usable after.
This isn’t something you can do yourself but it can be addressed by a ti framebuilder: https://www.ticycles.com/retrofit-potato-chip
I also have an old LS, mine won’t even fit 28s! I don’t think I’ll have it modified though, at least not for the foreseeable future. I don’t find narrow tires to be uncomfortable on the LS, it’s quite plush.
If you eally need more tire volume, you might consider a swap to 650b wheels.
No way I’d do that to a titanium frame.
In the history of bad ideas that one is in the top 10 perched right on the shelf marked not even to be considered in an emergency.
Aluminium doesn’t react well if it is bent but compared to titanium aluminium bends unbelievably well.
Titanium is difficult to form, a pain to weld & almost impossible to repair if things go wrong because of it’s tendency to fold and buckle once the force passes it’s natural characteristics to be able to flex.