Any thoughts on EC34 head tubes for Ti? I’ve always done EC44 but a customer is looking for something a bit more svelte.
I was thinking this would fit the bill - 38.1mm OD, 33.7mm ID. Might be a bit stocky if I don’t turn the middle down a touch, but my lathe work is pretty meh at the moment…
If memory serves me, questionable now, 1-1/2" x 0.083" works and some builders might have some in the corner, you can just ream it to size, or you may need to find 1-1/2" x 0.95" and bore it. Distortion is inevitable but the headset will press in. Check with Coco and Mark@PMW.
I asked Peter Olivetti this question, he said something to the effect of:
They get EC34 Ti headtube stock from an Asian supplier. The tube is not seamless, so its really a titanium pipe.
He couldn’t recall the ID off the top of his head, but it just needs a ream. Given that it’s 2mm thick, I don’t think seamless vs not seamless is an issue.
I used that exact tube on a frame this year, worked great! Very little reaming after welding and didn’t distort too bad.
Beautiful! That’s exactly what I’m going for.
I have a few feet of good material left for this. Depending on the size of the rider and tubing, I’ve either turned them down to 37mm or did an eccentric cut to save a little weight. This leaves the “back” half of the tube at full wall thickness and the front is shaved down…got this idea from Seven Cycles almost 25 years ago.
I’m happy to sell you my remaining material and eccentric fixture or if you need it made, I can do that as well.
Oh that’s a cool idea! I really just needed the tubing for this one project and I ended up using the 38.1mm straight gauge tubing which has worked out just fine. I don’t anticipate many customers looking for a straight head tube in Ti - most folks have wanted some form of taper.
