New Bike – Ti content

After much deliberation and buying of bits the latest bike is built and has had a maiden ride.

For the past 2 years I’ve ridden a Yeti ASR and the motivation for this bike was a spin on my ’93 Team Marin about a year ago. I loved the responsiveness, not that the Yeti isn’t, and the different riding style you need on a HT. Finding this frame with a discount last Oct started the journey…

It’s a 16.5′ 2010 Van Nic Tuareg frame, with Ti seatpost and collar
2011 Fox F100 RL forks
XT 3×10 drivechain
Hope Tech 2 brakes (braided/floating)
Hope pro2 Evo hubs on crest rims with Ralphs
Very bling KCNC cockpit
2011 Xtr spds

Kindly built by Plush Hill cycles who sourced most of the bits for me.

Comes in at bang on 23lbs with pedals.

Took it for it’s first spin to the top of the Long Mynd and although I need to do a fair bit of tweaking it feels very fast. There’s a fair bit of new stuff to get used to as I’ve never ridden a Ti bike or tubeless tyres before.

Got it with me this week in the North West so will be looking to finish early tomorrow night to get out for a spin.

More detailed photos to follow if there’s interest.

that looks bloody fantastic

awesome man 😀

nice ride, get a few pics up showing the rear stays… that bit behind the seatube, at the top…

and is that a Van Nic seatpost?

Can you feel the give in the TI post? It looks really good to me, nice mix of parts

very very very nice that, and im not a fan of titanium

Is the Tuareg Van Nic’s version of the former Lucky Strike / Black Widow race bike???

If so I think I might be getting one….

My Airborne Lucky Strike has developed a crack around the top tube / head tube join.

I severely miss that bike. Reactions like a razor blade, steerable with twitches of the buttocks, crashable in a eyeblink of lapsed concentration.

Most / many of the current crop of Ti hardtails have gone the way of shorter, more upright, longer travel – but sometimes you just can’t beat the long stretched out, twitchy, quick as a whippet race bike feel

Very nice indeed. Good work. Welcome to Ti Club.

Lovely.

nice ride, get a few pics up showing the rear stays

+1

Doesn’t look a 16 and a half foot frame, you must be a giant.

Ooo so nice to see other people liking it.

Yes it’s a van Nic seatpost (layback one) and a Ti collar as well. Not sure if I can feel any give but it rides with a ‘firm softness’ – best way I can describe it.

The detailing is lovely – seat stay :

And also the dropouts.

And the headtube logo.

Rkk : i know exactly what you mean and its what I wanted with this bike. I love the direct feel of the ride firm but not harsh.

I’m one happy bunny

🙂

*like*

Truly lovely bike, enjoy 😀

Never owned Ti myself even though i’ve had a gazzilion bikes.

One day maybe, yours is an insperation.

Wow, a new bike thread and no one’s slagging it off!

So I’ll start 😉 Looks like there’s not much tyre clearance at the back, or is it just the angle of the photos?

Otherwise, chuffin’ gorgeous 😀

Must be absolute rubbish because it’s poor quality Ti and it wasn’t welded by NASA engineers 🙄

Loverly looking bike well put together still lovin mine 😀
Bent Ti seatpost now gone!
[/url]
Let the racin season begin![/url] by Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

What does your wife think? 😆 😉

all it needs is some risers…

Want.
Did you buy it from OnOne as I see they have them on discount.
I fancy one of these too – are you running 120mm forks on it?

Nice bike ,but then I would say that as I ride one 😉

Thought about that VN seat post but then went for USE bounce one
for the long days.

I have had mine a year now and really like it.
The only wee thing that bugs me ,is that the decals are so crap.
They almost fell off with a hard stare 🙁 .
VN said they would send new ones ,btbh I think I will just get a set made up from vinyl.

Have fun

Yes its one of the frames on offer from OnOne, such a bargain I couldn’t resist. Running the new fox 100mm forks. After coming down off the Long Mynd I don’t reckon I need more on it, and if I do I’ll take the Yeti.

Interesting out the decals. While building it we were discussing taking them off as it would look great naked. I’ll have to see how well they last.

Risers ! This is meant to be a race bike.

And someone needs a slap, Crell. To be fair it’s likely to be me when/if she finds out.

Very nice. Sort of surprised at the weight tho’. It would cost a lot more to get it nearer to 20lbs

Where is the frame on the on one site? I cant find it….

V NICE!

what width are your bars?

how tight have you tightened your bar ends? can you twist them around the bars under pressure?

Pooley – I know what you mean about the weight. I didn’t want to try and build a superlight one and could have saved weight on the forks, maybe a bit on the drive chain and a touch on the wheels but I wanted a balance of value and light weight.

The KCNC stuff is amazing – so light and not that expensive.

Chunky – If they aren’t there they may have sold them – I bought it back in Oct – they had a both 2010 Tuareg and Mamtor frames @ 43% off 🙂 Was tempted by the Mamtor but it would have been too similar to the Yeti ASR and I just love the detail on the Tuareg.

Sefton – The bars are 600mm wide. They feel just right for a more racy style of bike. Stem is 80mm – could be a bit longer and as it’s so easy to change I might try one later.

Bar ends I think are tightened to 4.5Nm – spec said 5Nm but we thought we’d play it safe as the bars and bar ends just feel so light – They don’t twist under pressure.

While I remember we almost were scuppered with the braided hoses – the guides for the rear brake are enclosed and as the hoses needed shortening the slightly frayed end wouldn’t go through. A bit of clever thinking by trimming the protective plastic covering at an angle sorted it and they look made to measure.
The grips are very sticky as well and a bit of a nightmare to get on.

Very impressed with Al at PHC – his attention to detail was top notch, nothing was rushed and it was a complete pleasure to watch him build it for me. Well worth the trip there as I can’t think of a better first ride location that the Long Mynd.

And how does it ride? Is it quite forgiving?

Bang Tidy!

How does it ride?

If you could see the smile I’ve had on my face since I stopped off at Cannock for a quick lap of FTD yesterday it would tell you.

It feels light, changes direction quickly and easily without feeling nervous, accelerates like a dream, of course, and has some give but without feeling soft or flexible. I think the tubeless Ralphs made a difference on the climbing, running them at a lower pressure gives more grip and the rear seems to skip less than I expect of a hardtail.

I need to ride a trail I do every week (hopefully this lunchtime) so I can compare it to my Marin and Yeti, but it just seems to takes the edge off some of the trail buzz but you still get that connected feel you have with a hardtail.

So far I’m a happy bunny.