Hi there,
I have started to consider an El Guapo frame.
I can buy one now with a monarch rear shock, or a can save for a few months and get the ccdb air.
Bike radar review for the previous (mark 2) frame with the monarch is as follows:

http://www.titusti.com/2012/04/titus-el-guapo-wins-best-150mm-travel-bike-in-what-mtb/

The main complaint seems to be the tune of the shock.
If there are any owners out there who agree/disagree with the shock comments – I would greatly appreciate your views.
On the flip side, if you have a ccdb and consider it to be worth waiting a few months – please give your reasons.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Si

plenty of previous threads cover this.. for most people i’d say buy the Monarch and spend the £200 on something else like a dropper post.

magazines are weird. mainframe flex? hmmm. never seen owners complain of that.

try this list compiled (by moi) from owners on mtbr:

http://forums.mtbr.com/titus/guapo-v4-wishlist-ideas-805110.html

(note you can ignore any bb height stuff, if you buy now you should get around 13.3″ BB with recommended forks).

I got the v2 el guapo back in April with the monarch shock and it was fine, didn’t blow through the travel too easily and the dial to change the compression was easy to use on the go and great for climbing. I now run a dhx coil as I had always planned to run a coil shock on it but if the dhx was away for service I wouldn’t hesitate to put the monarch back on as it works perfectly with the frame in my experience!

See my previous posts for my thoughts on my e.g. Also note I’ve got one I’m splitting to sell (or will do complete if you want it before I take it apart this week to put bits on the new bike)

In summary tho, I found the monarch fine.

If you go for it now and find the current shock is not suited to you then you could get it re-tuned by the likes of Loco tuning for aprox £40.

Had mine two weeks with CCDB. Been experimenting with the suspension and found a great base tune.
Its light, suprisingly a great climber (even with angleset headset reducing HA to 66)
Pedals super well (OK a few pedal strikes but nothing to worry about)
Downhill its feels like a mini DH bike just smashes through anything.
I felt the Monarch shock would not suit especially on some tech natural Welsh DH

Only downside cant run a double and fit a chainguide – not enough space

How can there not be enough room for a double and a chain guide, it has iscg tabs?

IA

What colour is the frame, what size and how much?

How can there not be enough room for a double and a chain guide, it has iscg tabs?

Exactly but the ISCG 5 tabs are flush with the BB and therefore not enough rooom when running 2×9 to my dismay after trying for hours
2×10 fits apparently

ISCG Tabs are always flush with the BB – and my mate’s running 2×9 with a stinger, no issues.

IA

What colour is the frame, what size and how much?

Orange+grey, large, £400 plus post.

See my ad:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-large-el-guapo

Hopefully I’ll have a box I could use to post the frame after this weekend…

ISCG Tabs are always flush with the BB – and my mate’s running 2×9 with a stinger, no issues.

On a V3 El Guapo? dont believe it, I’ve tried, the LBS has tried, On One have flagged its an issue

What crank and spacers is your mate using?

ISCG tabs are usually flush – the chain device takes up the same amount of room as the drive side bottom bracket spacer. Due to varying mount screws between manufacturers, I’ve pretty much given up on ISCG mounted designs and err towards BB mounted designs that fit instead of the spacer. Blackspire Stinger & E-13 Drs spring to mind.

Blackspire stinger fitted my V2 with SLX 2×9 with an additional 2mm spacer on the drive side. Had no adverse affect on the chainline and performed flawlessly. Not sure if things changed in that area for the V3 mind…

brant – Member

It certainly seems like the “inline 73mm” ISCG position means its single ring or nothing.

It certainly seems like the “inline 73mm” ISCG position means its single ring or nothing.

Though our bikes that are factory assembled from the same frames with SRAM 2×10 cranksets would seem to contradict that.

So – 2×10 good, 2×9 bad. That’s because most peoples 2×9 is actually 3×9 with a bashring. Rather than 2×10 which is actually 2×10.

“How can there not be enough room for a double and a chain guide, it has iscg tabs? “
et viola

V2 frame. With some extensive grinding to the chainguide backplate, filing to the chainguide mounting bolts and chainring bolts plus adding abother approx. 0.8mm BB spacer from another chainguide [the ‘safety tab’ on the shimano crank arm still dropped properly into the crankarm] it would work with some rubbing. On returning from the alps I did take it off though

re: monarch tune, IIRC the Titus spec V1 2010? El Guapo came with a standard can Fox RP23?
The High Volume can on the supplied monarch may have something to do with ‘excess’ plushness?
Using the coil shock rocker mounts with the monarch makes it less divey, with the option to switch back for more plush
On my (working) monarch there isn’t a great deal of rebound or compression range of setting unlike some shocks which at first would appear limited, but the range available is pretty much spot on the range od adjustment that makes sense
Apart from weighing a load more, the CCDB could have ‘too much’ adjustment if you’re not going to put in the time to set it up properly

So – 2×10 good, 2×9 bad. That’s because most peoples 2×9 is actually 3×9 with a bashring. Rather than 2×10 which is actually 2×10.

My 2×9 is er 2×9 with a bash; a double specific SLX.

Brant, Neil advised that fitting a double specific front mech would avoid the issue of the mech hitting the chainstay and gouging a piece out, it hasn’t! the mech cannot be run low enough to avoid the chain rubbing without hitting the chainstay on full compression, bad design flaw.
Awaiting solution feedback.