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Triton Bikes. Titanium frames handmade in Russia. Anyone? :)

446K views 1K replies 181 participants last post by  jallll 
#1 · (Edited)
Triton Bikes. Titanium frames handmade in Russia (see last pages for the latest news)

Hello everybody!

My name is Dmitry I am from Moscow, Russia.
I run my small custom titanium frame business called Triton Bikes and would like to share a few photos of our products with you.

Since I have always been mostly a trials rider and I know this scene through all my life, the frames we had built were trials-specific. I was a student and Triton Bikes was half-hobby half-business to me.

I dropped this business in 2007 because I was taking a Master's degree in Italy in France and could not control the production. Still people wrote me and asked to build them a frame. But I could not.
Then I worked for a European investment bank. But the crisis hit and I was kinda fed up with the office work, so I decided to give Triton another try :)

So here I am back with my tiny business.

Apart from biketrials frames we now offer all types of unicycle frames, from 20" to 36". Our 20" trials uni is only 520 grams and we are very proud of it :)
Our unis are now being ridden in the US, Canada, Australia, New-Zealand, UK, Germany, etc.

We have now made quite a few titanium XC frames. And they are a success among the riders. And since I am now an XC rider too, this direction is very interesting to me personally.

We can basically build a frame of any geometry. We are quite limited on tube bending since titanium is no game. But any frame is available (XC, road, fixie, etc). The weight of an XC frame varies between 1580-1800 gr. Our frames are not for weight-weenies. But they are strong and reliable. And most of them are still obused after many years.

There's no proper website yet, but it will be introduced shortly.

Please have a look at some of the frames and bikes.

I will be glad to answer your questions. Hope the administration of MTBR.com is not against this thread.



















 
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#1,228 ·
27.5″ Triton from Singapore

This frame was ordered by our returning customer Hongjian from Singapore.
It was initially designed to work with a shorter travel fork, so now the bike looks a bit aggressive :)

Supplied with Chris King InSet7 headset and Bottom Bracket.

Customer's first words: "I LOVE IT"











 
#1,233 ·
One of the most complicated 29ers we ever built

This was quite a challenge to build!

- 2 axis bent seatstays
- Paragon flanged sliders for 142x12mm DT Swiss axle
- Boxed BB yoke to provide over 2.4″ of tire clearance
- Super short 420mm stays
- 44mm headtube to allow tapered steerer forks
- Custom finish job with matte "lugs" and honeycomb socks at the dropouts









 
#1,235 ·
That's tight!

Why does the downtube connect so high up on head tube vs lower which seems would have the ht better controlled?

I saw other Ti frames that were like that and was curious on the reasoning.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
 
#1,236 ·
This is a rather small 29er frame.
So there are two ways to ensure fork crown clears the downtube:
1. Bend the tube. We just machined a bender for oversized 44mm downtubes. So now we can do it. But some customers prefer the straight tube
2. Increase offset of downtube at the headtube junction
 
#1,240 ·
My experiences with Dmitry so far:

2011 06 05: frame ordered and paid
2011 11 11: received frame
2012 07 03: found crack in frame
2012 07 05: sent frame back to get repaired
2012 08 23: reveived repaired frame; frame got crack again in repaired area after less than 10 rides
2012 09 28: He tells me I should send him the frame back and I´ll get a new one, which he will ship directly to New Zealand, where I planned a 4 month bike holiday [klick for the vid, I already had a feeling he wouldn´t ship the frame to NZ, so luckily I brought another...]. He also tells me he is in depts. I thought I´ll help out a little and sent him €200 via paypal
2012 11 28: I fly over to NZ. Still haven´t received my frame until today. Mails don´t get answered for months, while Dmitry still post on facebook and here.
2013 02 25: Dmitry tells me he had to pause with the trials frames, but me and two other people will get theirs.
2014 02 20: Dmitry asks me if I want a refund, because he probably can´t build my frame. I tell him I want the refund and how fast he can pay me my money back.
2014 03 20: He tells me his currency is going down, and if I want to have a frame instead of the payback.

Since that mail, he didn´t answer any of my mails - which I should be used to now, since the longest timespan without a response from him was around 5 months. I have to admit I´m a bit annoyed...
 
#1,241 ·
Nice first post! So did you get your frame or not? 2012 11 28 reads you got your frame that day.

Way back in this thread Dmitry posted about problems with trials frames and how he was not doing them anymore. Thread is filled with customers experiencing delays of 7 months to years just like some custom operations. I knew it before I ordered mine years ago. If you want a custom frame in less than 7-12 months - good luck with that.

Sounds like you got a lemon and got screwed. Maybe you did, would like to hear Dmitry's side of the story.

Also awesome vid! Great job on that whole project. Very impressive!
 
#1,243 ·
So did you get your frame or not? 2012 11 28 reads you got your frame that day.
no, I didn´t get the frame - 2012 11 28 was worded a bit misleading by myself - what I meant was, although Dmitry told me he would send me a frame directly over to NZ, I haven´t received the frame until now (that´s what I actually meant by "today") - thanks for pointing that out - wouldn´t have recognized it myself.

Thread is filled with customers experiencing delays of 7 months to years just like some custom operations. I knew it before I ordered mine years ago. If you want a custom frame in less than 7-12 months - good luck with that.
Maybe you did, would like to hear Dmitry's side of the story.
There are of course always two sides of a story and it would only be fair if Dmitry would tell his.

Well it´s acutally nearly three years since I paid for my frame and I still haven´t got one that met the promised quality standards. I´ve been dreaming of a Triton frame since I first saw one in 2005 or so. Looks like it´s not meant to be. After all that time I just would be happy to get my money back.

Sounds like you got a lemon and got screwed.
I wouldn´t go that far, however I can´t say I was treated nicely either. If a customer of mine would be facing heavy problems with my product I would answer him instantly and not let him wait months just for a simple mail...

Also awesome vid! Great job on that whole project. Very impressive!
Thanks - NZ was a lot of fun! :)
 
#1,245 ·
First installment ??? WTF ?? Can you say what total money you spent, and how much was the first installment. I was considering ordering a frame but after reading how you were treated I won't be doing that.

I'd never do business with a company that can't/won't refund money in full or who mistreats/ignores a customers problems or concerns. Everyone here remembers HBC.
 
#1,248 · (Edited)
Oh God why on Earth did I agree to make those trials frames that now cost us 5 times their price.

Sorry guys I have been in the very very hard times with a member of the family dying of cancer. She died.
While this was happening I was out of emails and customer relations. Completely. Only managed the production process by coming and checking quality and printing out next drawings.

Getting back to work. Hundreds of emails. Sorting out.

LauraPalmer, I didn't know about these posts, but I have responded earlier and started to refund.

I'm suba, I have to balance between the workers' salaries/rental payments/electricity bills at Triton/raw materials/etc. Doing large refunds at certain times is very hard. Customer agreed to this kind of repayment scheme.
We invest customers' deposits into tubing and dropouts. So once the order comes in, there's already certain tubing being bought for the project.

If you considered an order please note that these two customers were there for TRIALS frames. That WE STOPPED to produce for a long time because were outsourcing these frames. And supply stopped making them.
And it has nothing to do with XC/Road frames we build on a daily basis here.
 
#1,249 · (Edited)
Meanwhile at Triton we don't stop.

Triton full suspension Enduro 27.5″ 140/140mm frame is to be built soon as a CrMo prototype. Once tested, a Ti version will be prototyped. Non-custom production is then planned.
Expected weight of a steel version 3.9kg.
Ti version 2.7kg.

Once the design is tested, we shall be taking preorders for these standard frames.

PS: We are still in discussions on the suspension type as there are licence limitations





 
#1,250 ·
Triton 29er SL frame - getting closer to production frames

Here is one of the frames we consider as a possible production frame.
Developed for light riders.
- M-sized frame weight just above 1500 grams.
- 44mm headtube
- Bent downtube for fork crown clearance
- Paragon IS disc brake mount makes it more affordable
- Head tube angle 70, seat tube angle 73, chainstays 445-450mm

This exact frame is being raced in Israel. The owner just got second place in the local XC race :)















 
#1,251 ·
That nice 29+/fat frame has been built up



2-in-1 bike built by our customer from Bern, Switzerland

- Works with 29×3, and up to 26×4.8″ wheels
- Bent seat tube for 29+ tire clearance
- Paragon Polydrop dropouts with 190x10mm OLD, optional 197x12mm thru-axle
- 44mm headtube, Cannondale Lefty for with 321 crown
- 100mm BSA threaded BB shell













 
#1,253 ·
Our customer wanted a tough and weather-resistant 29er bike that would last.
We have built this tank and totally fell in love with it

Frame:
- Triton custom Ti 29er frame
- Internal cable routing for 3 cables and electric wire
- Paragon Flanged Sliders
- Paragon seatstay splitter for belt
- Bent downtube for crown clearance
- 44mm headtube to accept tapered forks
- Integrated mount for Supernova Tail Light
- Bead blasted finish with polished decals

Setup:
- Rock Shox Reba fork
- Chris King InSet7 headset
- 3T handlebar, stem and seatpost
- Salsa Flip Lock QRs
- Rohloff Speedhub 500/14, Made in Germany
- Gates Carbon Belt Drive
- SON Schmidt dynamo hub for 15mm Thru-Axle fork
- Supernova front and rear dynamo lights
- Velocity Blunt 35 rims

Rides like a dream!































 
#1,255 ·
Got word from Dmitry that my Frame was almost done......just needs a brushed finish and a derailler tab installed and Im golden!!!! I did wait a while for this Frame build but just as Dmitry promised it got done! Its a 24" Street/Trials build based off the geometry of the Inspired Arcade. Should be a BLAST to ride!!! Check out the pics... Thanks Dmitry for fabricating another piece of art!!!
 

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#1,256 ·
Triton roadie with some crazy decals

Our customer Chris applied to us for a custom road frame that would fit him just right according to the data he gathered from biomechanic.
This was important because Chris races a lot.
He has just raced at Gran Fondo New York with some good results.

Although the most interesting thing about the frame is its exclusively designed graphics.
These are bead blasted "lugs" representing the modern vision of the classic Russian patterns. The front of the frame shows Russian coat of arms - the two-headed eagle.
The bottom bracket area is a mixture of the Russian architecture/religions portraying Kremlin, bridges, orthodox church and a mosque.
The seat tube features Russian doll Matryoshka and "Made in Russia" decal.
Stencils inspired by Chris and created by a UK based designer Niki Kovacs Niki Kovacs

The frame also features internal cable routing for the rear brake and internal wiring for Di2 transmission

Frame weight 1399 grams

PS: This type of graphics is so complicated to apply that the price may be extremely high.
And thus we are not offering such decals. This will be one exclusive frame :)































 
#1,257 ·
We built this Triton Roadster custom Ti bike for a customer from Moscow.
He needed an ultimate citybike.
Also the customer asked us to add blue bits. And so we did.

Frame:
- Triton custom Ti 700c XL frame
- Paragon Rocker dropouts
- Belt drive split
- Internal cable routing and wiring
- Bead blasted finish with polished Triton decals

Fork:
- Triton 700c Roadster fork
- Paragon flanged dropouts
- Internal wiring for dynamo
- Bead blasted matte
- Comfortable Ti flex
- Only 630 gr

Components:
- Shimano Alfine 11sp
- Supernova hub dynamo and lights
- Chris King headset in blue
- Velocity Blunt rims
- FSA Metropolis handlebar stem and seatpost
- Salsa QR's

Yet to be added:
- Carbon belt drive
- PDW metal fenders
- Ti bottle cage





















 
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