I have received many questions via social media concerning my titanium hardtail from Waltly. As such, I thought I'd do a write-up on my experience working with Waltly and share some of my impressions about the experience.

Waltly is a Chinese manufacturer of titanium bicycle frames. Customers can order one-off custom frames, or even large quantities of frames. Custom titanium frames generally cost thousands of dollars whereas Waltly offers them for hundreds of dollars. Naturally many people hold suspicion concerning the quality of these frames. However, I was allured by the prices. I decided to give Waltly a chance after conducting hours of research on Waltly and other Chinese manufacturers

A quick screen shot of Waltly’s bikes from their website

Keep in mind that I went through this process starting in June of 2020. Not only was this during a pandemic, but it was nearly three years ago and prices, and processes may have changed.

Let me inject a warning: this is not a good route for a beginner cyclist looking for a bike. You must be very knowledgeable about bicycles to have a good result from working with Waltly. You must know what geometry and standards you desire for the frame. If you do not know your preferences, you are going to be better off going to a domestic frame builder who can make recommendations. Or alternatively, just get a manufactured bicycle from a reputable company. Waltly will not be able to tell you what geometry/specifications are right for you.

Waltly’s process goes like this:

1) Submit a worksheet detailing your bicycle specifications

2) Receive an estimate of cost and pay 30% nonrefundable deposit

3) Waltly will create a CAD drawing based on you specifications

4) Fabrication of the frame

5) Application of graphics (if desired)

6) Shipping of frame

Let’s discuss each step:

Submit a worksheet detailing your bicycle specifications

This part is easy if you know your desired geo and preferences. You will need to know details such as wheel base, head tube angle, seat tube angle, tire clearances, bottom bracket drop, what kind of bottom bracket you will use, what kind of brake mounts do you need, etc. You can also choose other design features such as tube diameters, tube shapes, and water bottle bosses.

Once you submit this form, Waltly reviews it by email. I emailed back and forth for a few days with a Waltly representative to get all the detailed specifications sorted out. Waltly’s communication was impressively quick and consistent and professional. While language barriers are present, it is workable and pictures really seem to help when communicating.

2. Receive an estimate of cost and pay 30% nonrefundable deposit

For me, this was the most nerve-nerve racking part. I started to get paranoid that I would get scammed sending my money to some Chinese internet company. It did not help that payment was facilitated by Alibaba.com and my bank blocked the initial transaction on my credit card. I ended up having to call my bank to get the transaction to go through. By this point I was sure the China analog of a Nigerian Prince had my money. However, after the initial issue with my bank, the process of payment was smooth. Alibaba.com seems to afford protections to buyer and seller and it was not too hard to get an account set up. Waltly received payment and provided a receipt.

3. Waltly creates a CAD drawing based on you specifications

Waltly’s designers will then design your bike based on the initial specifications you indicated. The bike design manifests as a CAD (computer-aided design) drawing. As I am not familiar with CAD drawings, this was by far the hardest part of this process. Wrapping my head around the orientations, trying to understand symbols and abbreviations while navigating a language barrier was quite the brain teaser. This is also one of the enjoyable parts as you get to see the frame come to life while exercising (or developing) your knowledge of bike design.

Waltly maintained excellent communication through this process as we emailed back and forth making adjustments and refining dimensions.

Once you get all the specifications dialed and well represented on the CAD drawing, you give final approval and then move on to the next step:

4. Fabrication of the frame

This is the easy part for the customer: wait for the frame to complete. However, this can take some time. On July 6th, I was told fabrication would take 30 to 45 days. On Aug 23 (49 days later), I emailed Waltly asking for an update. They expressed sorrow for the delay citing that Waltly had been very busy. Waltly’s rep then stated that the frame should be finished this week. On Sep 1st (56 days since fabrication began), I finally received the email that the bike was finished along with photos.

5. Application of graphics (if desired)

Waltly offers an impressive array of aesthetic customizations to finish your frame including sand blasting, CNC machined head tubes, anodizing, and more. However, I skipped this bit and just had some logos made up by a vinyl sticker company and called it a day.

6. Shipping of frame

I received an invoice for the remaining cost of the frame + shipping that I paid on alibaba.com. The total cost came to $850.00 USD for the frame and $250.00 USD for shipping. I also added a stem and a seatpost for $80.00 USD each. Shipping was crazy fast. The frame shipped on 9/3 and I received it on 9/6. The frame and parts all arrived in good condition. I was pleasantly surprised how easy the shipping process was.

Finally! the frame w/ decals and seatpost

How was building the frame? And final impressions:

The frame was easy to build into a full bike. All the parts installed as you would expect from a reputable manufacturer. The only place I had an issue was with the seat tube scratching the seat post. Assuming there must have been a small bur left over from the fabricating process, I thought this would be an easy fix by filing the seat tube down a bit with a metal file. Perhaps I got overzealous with the filing, perhaps I used the wrong tool, or perhaps it was a manufacturing defect - but once the scratching of the seat post resolved, the seat tube was no longer able to securely hold the seat post without absurd amounts of pressure on the seat post clamp. A simple pop can shim resolved that problem. The shim functions great and I am proud to have my bike look a little janky, but others should be aware of this potential problem with Waltly.

Another issue is with the tire clearances. I asked for clearance of a 29” x 3.0” tire, which Waltly said they could do. The rear triangle of the frame definitely cannot accept a 3.0” tire. I was anticipating this problem. Ultimately, I only need to be able to fit 29” x 2.6” tires, which do fit. So, I would definitely ask for more tire clearance than you actually want.

Overall I am happy with the end product. The bicycle is light (I think 24.5 lbs w/ pedals, no dropper post) and compliant. Strength and durability do not seem to be an issue as I have ridden thousands of miles and had multiple crashes without frame compromise. All of the welds and braze-ons look great. The seatpost issue is the biggest gripe that I have, but for the price I paid, I can live with that.

Waltly offers a fun product. I enjoyed the experience of designing my own frame and I learned a lot from the experience. Despite some minor issues discussed above, this is my favorite bicycle I have ever owned. I would consider purchasing through Waltly again, but I do not anticipate needing another frame for quite some time as this bike has proven quite suitable for my needs.

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