The frame was an off the cuff purchase because Tony Wilkinson happened to be in the room and because my two year wrestle to get a 456 to suit me was winding me up.
The 18" frame was 5.8 lbs on the scales I used.
I swapped all the bits over from my Ti456 but used a 90 stem instead of 70, and 2.35 tyres instead of the 2.1 that would only just fit the Ti On One. I've ended up with a hefty 30lbs bike.
I only built it yesterday so it's too early give you anything more than first impressions.......... BUT on the basis of one ten mile swoopy, upy downy, squishy loop today I'm impressed. It seems more balanced than the 456, seems to climb and descend better and the steering seemed more precise.
There were a couple of little niggles that I'm going to iron out but I'm not sorry I made the move.
It's going to the Lakes soon for a proper testing and I'll update then.
It's now been Lake Districted.
The first thing that occurs to me is the ease of setup (probably because I've been wrestling unsuccessfully with an On One 456 for a couple of years). The position of saddle to bar was spot on at first attempt. I've achieved a comfortable long day ride position where I can get out over the back wheel for steep descents without being fully stretched or having the seat so high up it gets in the way. The bottom bracket is lower than the 456 and the headtube is longer so it ends up more balanced, with just 10mm of spacers and a far more direct steering feel. None of which effects climbing ability, which I think is better than the 456 and 303 I own.
More later..things to do............
.....so going up I'm pleased with. You can feel it ain't a titanium light weight snake but it climbs well, and the front stays anchored to the ground rather than lifting up.
Going down................ feels as bombproof as anything else I've ridden. Loads more confient than the 456, on a par with the 303 but the wider tyres give it the edge on the Pace.
Going across stuff. That's why I liked the 456 and found it difficult to part with. It does go across rock gardens very well, although you are higher up so your centre of gravity is higher and I think slightly less balanced. The Blitz is lower so more balanced but probably doen't clear aswell. So swings and roundabouts...have to ride it more.
Twisty..... it's better and feels faster through twisty stuff. Way more planted feel to the steering.
Got to go again.............
And......... the rear end gives a lot more compliant ride than my steel 456, Ti456 or the 303.
Can I feel the weight?
Measured against a steel 456, no...same sort of feel to it.
Measured against the Ti456, yes, you could feel that was a light fast frame under you.
Measured against the Pace, yes, the Pace edges in front for a livelier ride feel quality.
But to offset that I think the sum of my experience with the Blitz so far outweighs that weight/ ride feel issue. Is 30lbs for this kind of bike that outrageous anyway?
After 50 miles of South Eastern trails and 70...ish miles of Lakeland trails I think this is a supremely competent bike that can live with the best of them.
Niggles..........
I think I've sorted the seatpost slip I was getting. The Pace and the Ti456 gave me similar so no worries there.
Would have preferred a full length gear wiring set up... I might still do that by just going round the braze ons.
I'm not keen on bolt on gear hangers and despite being a steel bike this has one. I can see the argument for it so I guess I'll aquiesce to that one.
A TITANIUM BLITZ FOR THE WEEKEND SIR??
YES PLEASE.
Any chance of some pics mate ?
I like the look of these, but want to see one built up.
Need to get my son on board for that sort of thing. I'll try and get some on here in due course but it'll be a few days
I have some piccies on my mobile which I could pass to you if your mobile accepted them or I could e mail them once I download them to my computer.
You can get me on......... billyboy.chapman@tiscali.co.uk ..... where you could leave your mobile no if you think it might be compatible for a photo transfer...or I'll e mail photos back...but might be a couple of days for the latter.
The bike looks better in the flesh. The piccies on the Sanderson/ Independant websites don't do it justice.
Sent you an email mate.
Several weeks into the Sanderson Blitz and I'm well pleased. I have put a full length outer wire to the rear mech. For some unknown reason the gear change was stiff using the routing provided. I had a similar problem on a 98 Kona Explosif and solved that in the same way.
When I wrote about the Blitz being slow I think I was suffering from a combination of the change to 2.35 tyres from 2.1, and not having the seat high enough for me. My knees began to tell me to bring the saddle up a bit and now I have, my knees are behaving and the power input/acceleration seems better.
I visited the Leith Hill area for the first time in a while and took the Blitz along various of the trails there ( including the Yoghurt Pot, new to me, thanks to the similarly-aged-geezer who showed me it...enjoyed it) and I'm pleased with how poised the bike is. Sudden ups or downs or twists and drops don't faze it at all, and it has muscle and presence if you take dodgy line choices.
Climbing in the 140 setting on the Talas fork is no problem even on steep stuff. I did an experiment on the South Downes climbing all the stock tracks up the northern slopes between Itford (R Ouse/Lewes)and Alfriston when they were frozen up, pre the bad snow, and it managed the lot in 140. It does obviously help knocking it down to 100 or 120 which plants the front end down even firmer.
It'd be interesting to see what a professional bike tester had to say about the bike. So far I'm thinking that the Blitz is better than my On One 456 or my 303 Pace. I guess you can say that it isn't a race whippet and possibly you could say that proficiency is boring but it'll do for me and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
...............and thanks to Takisawa2 for making up for my abscence of tech know-how and posting my piccies of the bike on a seperate post on this site.
This thread must Shirley have the highest proportion of OP posts EVER.
How do you know about Shirley, that was thirty years ago?
It would have been at least 30 posts long if it was a ragley or cotic!
Are you still lovin' the Blitz, Billyboy?
(I hope so, because I've just ordered one...)
Just out of interest, what fork travel do you tend to use most with it?
Cheers
Sweet bikes, we love them but we've got tons of frames because they don't have the correct name on the downtube. Superbly finished and customers who have Sanderson swear by them.
Hi Flyingfox, I think I may have ordered my frame from your good selves... So, er, what name should I expect on the downtube? (Not too bothered, unless it's rude!)
Cool! Thought the coincidence was pretty strong! We changed the name on the downtube by altering ours ever so slightly. I was trying to call you today to see if you wanted anything put on your frame.
But it has been sent now so next time you order anything, drop us an email first and I'll try to give you a cheeky wee gift of some sort.
Excellent... Thank you.
Sorry to revive an old post, but looking at getting a Blitz myself, can you confirm what the frame weight is, I currently ride an NS Surge and think this could be just as good but a bit lighter?