Decided to replace my SS Hardtail with something more suited to local trails which’re short, steep and loose connected by long stretches of gravel.

PlanetX were kind enough to hold the price of their Titus El Viajero while my C2W voucher came through and here it is:

Just under 13.5kg for the large which is, pretty heavy for a Ti hardtail, but I never intended to keep it like this…in fact it looked like this only and hour later:

Frame only for a large is 2.1kg with the BB (I didn’t have the tool for the DUB BB at the time) or ~2.0kg without it. A day later and it looks like this:

It now comes in at a much more sensible 10.4kg. I could probably go lower with lighter tyres, but the 2.4 XR4s are pretty suitable for the conditions.

A lot of that weight was in the wheels and forks:

A comparison of front wheel and tyres weights.

Full Spec:

Titus El Viajero in large
DT Swiss F232 100 Fork
XTR 12s Drivetrain with SRAM XX1 Eagle crankset and a DMR 34T ring.
Chris King Hubs on Nextie 30mmID rims with Sapim D-light spokes and Polyax nipples. 1.535kg.
Hope Tech3 X2 Brakes (183/160)
One Up Carbon bars,
Enve 50mm Stem
Easton Haven Seatpost
Selle SLR Superflow saddle
Chris King headset and BB
Bontrager XR4 2.4 Team Tyres
K-Edge XL Combo Mount and Spur Bell.

I think it owes me <£2200 which is more than I really wanted to spend, but £1000 of that will come from the original SS sale and £800 from the parts of the El Viajero that I didn’t keep and I already had the brakes. Not too bad I just what I wanted – a proper XC (backcountry?) hardtail.

Nice! Full marks for putting it on the sofa already.

Nice!

Very nice, that frame looks great for the money.

The rebuilt version is a huge improvement, very nice.

Reminds me of my ‘bargain’ Scandal.

Great bike once I’d changed over the wheels, tyres, rotors and fork to what I had already in the workshop – plus added a dropper and new bars & grips.

And added the stuff taken off into my spares ‘pile’.

WTF is that dropper lever?

It’s not. It’s the remote lever for the fork.

Nice 👌

Daffy

It’s not. It’s the remote lever for the fork.

Ah, right – you might actually be a customer for those crazy double/triple levers they do

How are the DT forks to ride? They look great, although I prefer the clean look of no lockout ones.

just checked my watch…. i got a lot of time for that!

and i am mesmerised by the inbuilt scales on your stand!

I haven’t ridden it yet. I’ve got a slipped disc (perfect time for a new hard tail) and it took all my local supply of ibuprofen to get it to this stage.

Lovely build.

I built up a Titus Mutsu ti frame a couple of years ago and put around 9,000kms on it so far, mainly off road and gravel. Still looks as good as new. My first ti frame and hopefully not my last.

That looks lovely. A Ti HT is an itch I need to scratch one day. Not arsed about weight, just love the look of them and the thought of not having to add tape anywhere.

Sorry but I can’t look past the fugly seatstays. I loved my old Ti456 which bent but never cracked.

That’s lovely that, but what are those weird coloured chess pawn-looking things under the radiator?

what are those weird coloured chess pawn-looking things under the radiator?

I was about the post the same question, nice clean, minimal looking bike that.

Nice bike, that’s about 5kg lighter than my hardtail (with chunky wheels, tyres and a 200mm dropper), I really need to get some better wheels

“ That’s lovely that, but what are those weird coloured chess pawn-looking things under the radiator?”

Noticeboard magnets!

Correct – little neodymium magnets we use on the Radiator. My daughter likes to line them up like little people.

@stevenmenmuir – I used to agree, but they do serve a purpose. There’s much more room for the calliper between the seat and chainstays when using a post mount calliper especially if you’re going up a rotor size. They also intersect at a better angle to the seattube/top tube for bracing. I also kind like the symmetry between the front and rear triangles As there’s a flat(ish) edge on both rather than a point.

Is that xr4 the wrong way round on the front? Or more likely I’ve been running mine backwards for years.

“ Is that xr4 the wrong way round on the front?”

Looks like it, ramps are backwards!

Nice! Full marks for putting it on the sofa already.

I think every picture I’ve seen of Daffy’s bikes have been on that sofa!

Looks very nice though, and serious weight saving. Love the position of the bell, too – I’m copying that.

@StuF – very well spotted. I’d already swapped it for the shakedown pedal today.

Backwards front tyres is a recurring theme for me. I always seem to overthink it and balls it up, though I don’t know how…?

Nice looking bike. I’d like something like that.

Ti bikes are the best….. FACT.
very nice

You can’t beat a cheeky splash of blue bits with titanium frames, it just works.

Truthfully the Matte Turquoise hubs were my 3rd choice, but Chris King stuff is hard to come by at the moment, especially discounted and in 28h. When they arrived I was delighted – they looked soo much better in person than in pictures.