First Waltly frame

RichJS

Likes Dirt
Hooray. Got an email from Waltly saying they're taking orders again.

Was just thinking about placing one with Marino instead - I see they're doing Reynolds 725 now, and of course for a fair bit less than Waltly including the powder coating colour of your choice ..
 
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RichJS

Likes Dirt
Anyone get double-butted tubing on their Waltly?

Seems it's not a current option. Got a reply from them asking whether I insisted on double-butted tubing, with the mildly confusing message "we not provide the double butted tube now, nobody do this in China now, because not reduce the weight"

I'm resigned to a custom Ti frame that doesns't cost $5k weighing about double a carbon frame. I guess I'll settle for something that meets the requested geo, builds up without issue, rides straight, and doesn't crack in a couple of years.
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
Anyone get double-butted tubing on their Waltly?

Seems it's not a current option. Got a reply from them asking whether I insisted on double-butted tubing, with the mildly confusing message "we not provide the double butted tube now, nobody do this in China now, because not reduce the weight"

I'm resigned to a custom Ti frame that doesns't cost $5k weighing about double a carbon frame. I guess I'll settle for something that meets the requested geo, builds up without issue, rides straight, and doesn't crack in a couple of years.
I asked about double butted as well and got the same response. When I asked for more details they explained the it was hard and expensive for the double butted tubes and it didn't really reduce the weight that much. Honestly I don't notice the weight of my Waltly (1.9kg) compared to my Honze (3.4kg) and the Waltly is solid.
 

RichJS

Likes Dirt
Apparently it's USD980 for a MTB frame (BSA BB, not fancy gearbox mount) plus another USD280 for postage. Is this a bit of a price rise on 6-12 months ago?
 

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Yep, but I wouldn't expect prices to be where they were either. Raw material costs are up, freight costs are way up, and demand is almost exceeding their capacity. FYO - its only up around $300AUD on what my last one cost me (and at least you know about the freight costs up front), I'd call that pretty reasonable in the current context.
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
What @beeb said my frame was $900usd but I got stung on freight because I happened at the beginning of COVID and freight costs doubled overnight. It's still well over a thousand dollars less than even a basic Ti frame from anyone else and the quality is probably better than most.
 

RichJS

Likes Dirt
wkkie, I see your frame has 40mm spacing from top of seat tube to centre-line of top tube. I just got my frame design from walty and it's 60mm. Litenbror's looks like 60mm+ too.

I'm trying to maximise space in front triangle (whilst still having short enough seat tube for a dropper) so wondering why some top tubes are connecting further down than others. Every extra 1-2cm helps fit more in there.

Did anyone specify how far down the TT should join?

I got a few other things to sort out with them (like downtube not clearing suspension fork adjusters) then might post a design pic of next draft.


My first Waltly is finalised and I just have to wait the 2 months now for it to be built.

View attachment 373129

Missing my hardtail muchly!
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
wkkie, I see your frame has 40mm spacing from top of seat tube to centre-line of top tube. I just got my frame design from walty and it's 60mm. Litenbror's looks like 60mm+ too.

I'm trying to maximise space in front triangle (whilst still having short enough seat tube for a dropper) so wondering why some top tubes are connecting further down than others. Every extra 1-2cm helps fit more in there.

Did anyone specify how far down the TT should join?

I got a few other things to sort out with them (like downtube not clearing suspension fork adjusters) then might post a design pic of next draft.
Yeah I went with 60mm as I figured I could run a 150mm dropper and if I wanted more I could trim it down.
 

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
wkkie, I see your frame has 40mm spacing from top of seat tube to centre-line of top tube. I just got my frame design from walty and it's 60mm. Litenbror's looks like 60mm+ too.

I'm trying to maximise space in front triangle (whilst still having short enough seat tube for a dropper) so wondering why some top tubes are connecting further down than others. Every extra 1-2cm helps fit more in there.

Did anyone specify how far down the TT should join?

I got a few other things to sort out with them (like downtube not clearing suspension fork adjusters) then might post a design pic of next draft.
They'll build it how you want it - just give them the dimension you want it to be and they'll adjust the measurement to suit.

With my first frame I actually got them to do a curved top tube. You could do similar to keep a low seat-tube, allow room for the seatpost collar and saddle rails, but maximise space inside the front triangle (obviously a straight downtube would make more sense for your application):


I found it was easiest to print the drawing off, pen-amend whatever I wanted changed (with red ink) and I'd cross out and write the updated dimensions adjacent to any I changed. I'd scan or photograph that and send it back. Saved trying to explain shapes and positioning through text. Worked pretty well.
 

wkkie

It's Not Easy Being Green
wkkie, I see your frame has 40mm spacing from top of seat tube to centre-line of top tube. I just got my frame design from walty and it's 60mm. Litenbror's looks like 60mm+ too.

I'm trying to maximise space in front triangle (whilst still having short enough seat tube for a dropper) so wondering why some top tubes are connecting further down than others. Every extra 1-2cm helps fit more in there.

Did anyone specify how far down the TT should join?

I got a few other things to sort out with them (like downtube not clearing suspension fork adjusters) then might post a design pic of next draft.
To be honest, it's not something that I even looked at, or thought about.

Space inside the front triangle didn't concern me at all. Even though I do run a bottle in there now occasionally, there's a ton of room.

With hindsight, now I would have preferred the top tube lower to have more lever clearance, and still would have had plenty of room for a bottle.
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
Anyone get double-butted tubing on their Waltly?

Seems it's not a current option. Got a reply from them asking whether I insisted on double-butted tubing, with the mildly confusing message "we not provide the double butted tube now, nobody do this in China now, because not reduce the weight"

I'm resigned to a custom Ti frame that doesns't cost $5k weighing about double a carbon frame. I guess I'll settle for something that meets the requested geo, builds up without issue, rides straight, and doesn't crack in a couple of years.
Spoke with XCAD today and they do double butted tubes in the front triangle. Having a serious think about a similar design to my current frame but with double butted tubes. Anyone have any experience with the difference between straight gauge and double butted?
 

RichJS

Likes Dirt
They'll build it how you want it - just give them the dimension you want it to be and they'll adjust the measurement to suit.
Yeah, sortof. I saw 15mm ream depths for Cane Creek ZS headsets on the Cane Creek SHIS poster and asked Waltly to change mine from 12mm (same as yours) to 15mm and got a reply saying "requires custom headtube at an additional USD40 - do you want?"

I'm thinking No, as while I can't find the actual dimensions for a Cane Creek 40 ZS56 / ZS40, I can see both the FSA and Hope ZeroStack headsets are all 9.5-10mm insert (though presumably require a couple mm margin extra above them, at least for the lower..)
 

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Yeah, sortof. I saw 15mm ream depths for Cane Creek ZS headsets on the Cane Creek SHIS poster and asked Waltly to change mine from 12mm (same as yours) to 15mm and got a reply saying "requires custom headtube at an additional USD40 - do you want?"

I'm thinking No, as while I can't find the actual dimensions for a Cane Creek 40 ZS56 / ZS40, I can see both the FSA and Hope ZeroStack headsets are all 9.5-10mm insert (though presumably require a couple mm margin extra above them, at least for the lower..)
Haha, yeah well added price is another matter!

Try asking them for diagrams of different headtubes though, from memory some of the different shapes had different insertion depths.
 

RichJS

Likes Dirt
Try asking them for diagrams of different headtubes though, from memory some of the different shapes had different insertion depths.
Good suggestion but I wanted to keep my headtube quite short (partly because the fork I already have has a short steerer) so figured not many choices and didn't follow up.

Hopefully this is now a few weeks away from being built:

384608
 

RichJS

Likes Dirt
Did I see someone from one of these threads riding their Sliding dropout waltly down the Flow trail at Thredbo today?

I only got a quick glance from chairlift, but fairly sure it was a Ti frame. Dropouts looked same as mine..
 
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Litenbror

Eats Squid
Did I see someone from one of these threads riding their Sliding dropout waltly down the Flow trail at Thredbo today?

I only got a quick glance from chairlift, but fairly sure it was To. Dropouts looked same as mine..
No me I'm locked up in Canberra at the moment :(
 
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