My latest full suspension project bike build is finally finished. For this one, I went slightly left of field and opted for a Titus FTM Carbon frame from On-One.

The frame certainly looks stacks better in the flesh than it does in the marketing photos and the quality seems pretty good. The cable routing is a bit crap, but a good helping of helitape should keep things on track. The frame also has the latest rear mech hanger that shouldn’t last a little longer than the earlier 3-bolt versions.

The focus of the build was to create a bike that will do everything from XC around the New Forest to light Alpine adventures or fun days around the Welsh trail centres. My plan after selling the Yeti ASR5 was to buy a new Canyon Spectral AL, but I don’t like waiting, so thought I’d give 26” one last bash. I’m pretty chuffed with the end result. I wanted something quite light weight, but burly enough to look after my 95kgs bulk. I also got to try out 1×10 with the new narrow/wide chainring which is a revelation. Price wasn’t really an factor, but I did try to keep things in or around the £2k bracket. I ended up diving just under which was pretty good considering the spec (made up of all new parts with the exception of the stems, bars and XT SPD’s).

In terms of weight, a quick trip to the LBS scales came in at 25.90lbs complete with the flat pedals and the Haven stem. For XC work, I will switch to Shimano XT SPDs and a Thomson 70mm or 80mm stem (I have both to choose from). There isn’t much I can do on the build to drop weight if I want to keep my Reverb and have wheels capable of taking on lumpy trails with my weight, so I’m happy at a whisker under 26lbs.

Anyways, the spec reads as follows:-

Titus FTM Carbon frame – size large
FSA carbon inset headset (15mm top cap)
Rockshox Monarch RT3 shock
Fox 32 Talas 140-110 15mm forks
Easton Haven 55mm stem (or Thomson 70mm stem depending on use)
Easton Haven carbon bars
Uberbike lock-on grips
Rockshox Reverb 100mm dropper post (RH lever running on LH side)
WTB Silverado Ti saddle
Wellgo B185 flat pedals (or Shimano XT SPDs depending on use)
Shimano Deore XT M785 rear shifter (i-spec B)
Shimano Deore XT M785 3×10 crankset with BB
Raceface Narrow/Wide 32t chainring
Uberbike 32t bash guard
Sram PC1051 chain
Shimano Zee wide-range rear mech
Shimano Deore XT 11-36 cassette
Shimano Deore XT M785 disc brakes with fins and i-spec-B levers
Uberbike 180/160mm floating rotors
Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs (15mm front, 10mm through QR rear) inc 40t rear hub
Superstar 10mm through QR
Stans Arch EX rims
Stans tubeless valves and tape
Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.25” Evo Pacestar tyres
Mucky Nutz Lite front fender

And some hastily-taken photos (taken without the Uberbike bashguard which only arrived today so will go on this evening).

nice, very nice.

Looks nice – I have a blue FTMc and love the ride of it. Its definately steeper than my Heckler. I run it with a 140 fork.

Things to watch out for:
Cable rub at the entrance to the internal cable routings.
The Schraeder valve on the Monarch shock gets very close to the shock mount on the frame – mine chipped there and my shock on the warranty replacement is ru back to front for more clearance.
The rear pivot of the Chain/Seatstays is just a bolt, and mine has developed play there. You need the Bolt kit (£50) for a replacement, as it doesn’t come in the bearing kit I purchased, and they won’t sell the one bolt separately.
Helitape the frame, as the paint wears and dulls very easily.

Enjoy riding it – I certainly have!!

That looks nice.

But you seem to have built a bike that was everything your ASR5 could do/be. This is not a criticism, but just for interests sake could you explain your decision?

Are you actually going to change out the stem for an ‘xc’ ride?.

Looks nice,

But you seem to have built a bike that was everything your ASR5 could do/be. This is not a criticism, but just for interests sake could you explain your decision?

I’ve had an ASR5 for the last 2+ years, and I’m very happy with it. I occasionally feel like changing (new bikes are nice!) but I haven’t seen anything I would rather ride. It’s a very specific frame and great for what it is, but I think sometimes a change of frame and discovering slightly different way to ride may be as important as any having an objectively nice bike.

The FTM looks nice. I’ll stick with my Yeti though.

I changed from the ASR5 because I fancied a change and wanted to build another bike. It is very similar to the ASR I had, but lighter. I’ll probably keep it for 5 mins and then sell it on which is what I usually do. Lol