$600 titanium frames from China - Xi'an

Has anyone tried anything from this company:

http://www.xacd.com.cn/product.asp?rootcl=1&cls=19

I emailed them inquiring about their frames and got this instant response:

Hi Sir:
Our price is following:
Ti road frame
FOB XI'AN USD435.00/set 1set USD435.00
Shipping costs(EMS express):USD145.00
Bank fee:USD35.00
Total:USD615.00

Sounds tempting!

 

Attached are pics of a friend's generic Taiwan titanium frame with carbon seat stays. This one cost $800. He has used this for a couple of years with very serious racing and so far there are no issues. There is a cheaper titanuim frame from the same source around $600 - it does not have carbon stays. Altho they're taiwan made LBS doesn't know the exact source.

 

A friend of ours bought one from the same company about 6 months ago - very happy with it so far.

XACD are actually frame manufacturers and I believe they supply a couple of the "name" brands, although I don't know which ones.

 

Here's some more info I received from them:

"Yes,we can use double butted tubes.So the extra costs is USD100.00 for each frame."

"In usually,the frame weight is 1.5kg/set."

"We can make Ti
custom road frame for you.Please you advise us your detail request.So our price of Ti custom
road frame will be USD465.00/set."

 

They also make titanium forks.....I wonder?!?!?

 

I've got one, and have had no problems with it or assembly. It was quite perfect , and they helped me design it with a custom top tube length.

If you search a bit, you'll find a few others.

My price was comparable; I bought it about 2 years ago. Shipping was very fast after they got the money. Actually, there's almost no way to quicker get a custom frame. After they had the money, I think I had it in 7 days.

The money part is the most annoying aspect, if you haven't dealt with internat money transfers. My bank misspelled part of it, which was a real pain in getting it retransferred to them. For a few weeks, it wasn't clear if we were going to get it fixed.

It would be very good if they would open up to credit card purchase, as the $50-$125 lost in the transfer+international shipping almost makes it better to go to one of the other low cost Ti companies like Habanero or Airborne, where you'll have better luck if there ever creep up any warranty issue. One warranty issue and you've lost all the savings.

 

On money transfers, I think I now remember seeing a way where you can write a US check to their representative in the US, and only pay like $10 fees and maybe have more guaranteed that way.

 

I'm actually buying my first Ti frame. I purchased one from a small canadian company. The company is called EVERTI http://www.evertibikes.com/I just bought there Phoenix road bike. I heard and read alot of good things about this company. I actually spoke with the owner Kurt, he's one of the nicest people I ever delt with, very friendly and knowlegable. Would not hesitate to buy a bike fom this guy. He actually sold me his prototype, I'll have it in about two weeks or so. The first porduction models won't be ready for a few weeks after that. I really needed a frame ASAP, so he sold me his prototype. Give him a call, tell him peter the guy who bought his prototype phoenix refered you. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

Our friend went with the carbon forks, but he's now thinking he should have paid a bit extra and gone with the titanium forks. I don't know why he feels that way, he hasn't really explained it well.

 

One must consider any likelihood of a warranty issue through a normal life of the product, then some of the pricing isn't so appealing.

For me the decider was a custom frame at that price and the time frame they could turn it around. Envision one warranty issue, and you've lost all the advantage of going through them since you're already paying $$ for the shipping/bank xfer.

There was a canadian company, aerolite or something, I can't remember that was briefly also using Xi'an for their production. But I hadn't heard anything from them. They had a nice looking titanium tandem on ebay back about 3 years ago.

 

Note, Taiwan is not China (PRC): http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/public/0403/rosoff.html

 

thus the reason i went with a moots. lifetime warranty. located in colorado.

 

You'll get the lifetime warranty with the EVERTI frame as well!! Great product at a great price!

 

heh, i didn't say that the EVERTI frame wasn't good

if i had known about EVERTI when trying to decide on a frame, i certainly would have considered them. their welds don't look as nice as the moots, but just like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

 

I was only informing that everti offered a lifetime warranty. I guess some people relate high price to quality! As far as welding goes, looks has nothing to do with strength and integrity! Local 638 NYC steamfitters.

 

We dont see anyone out there using ti forks for their road bikes. Why? Your friend can figure that one out I'm sure.

 

Can you elaborate? I know very little about titanium so I'm interested to know what are the perceived advantages of carbon forks over titanium ones.

 

The problem with making a titanium fork is due to the material properties (i.e., lower young's modulus than carbon and it is hard to form into non-round shapes). To make a suitably stiff titanium fork, you would have to use tubes in the fork blades that are quite large and this would be both ugly and non-aerodynamic.

But there are aluminum forks you say...? Yes, but you can compensate for incredibly more flexible aluminum by shaping it into a non-round fork blade. This lets you design in stiffness where it is needed and preserve a reasonable shape for aerodynamics and aesthetics. You can do this with titanium too, but it would be an expensive process.

In the end, it's just easier to build a good, light, cheap carbon fork than it is to build a good, light, expensive titanium one. Says the guy who wants to build a set of titanium rims...

John Swanson
www.bikephysics.com

 

I've been communicating with this company by email and they said that for $100 extra, they can use double butted tubing (0.7 - 0.5 - 0.7) and a 53 or 54 sized frame should weigh in at about 1100 grams.
So, for $745 I can have a custom double butted Ti frame that weights about 1100g. Sounds very tempting!

 

Someone might suggest they do a seperable frame with a BTC.

See www.sandsmachine.com