Titus El Viajero – Mini Review

Like many of us, my riding changed quite a bit during lockdown and the continuing pandemic. Unlike a lot of folks, I was already heavily invested in Gravel and had explored my local area finding what was suitable for the gravel bike and what wasn’t. What I did struggle more with was MTBing locally. I had a SS 29er, a big 29*3 Stache and my Yeti SB95c. The gravel bike was fast on gravel/road, but a chore on stuff you’d enjoy on a MTB, so I avoided those routes, the Yeti and the Stache were great on the MTb stuff, but a real slog (and boring) on the bits in between. The SS – well, it was just kinda wrong everywhere for the riding that’s on my door. It spins out on the gravel, it (I) struggle on the steep technical climbs and it just generally feels inefficient. It’s really an XC race bike, so perhaps this shouldn’t have been a surprise.

It took me 2 years to realise that I needed something different. I needed a good XC bike. Just enough travel to make descending at speed fun, light enough to huck around on and geared right to allow for the technical stuff and the spinny stuff. I have a strict one-in-one-out policy and had decided the SS was for the axe, and given the SS was supposed to be a cheaper bike, the replacement had to be cheapish – well, maybe not cheap, but good value. I didn’t want a full sus, I wanted a hardtail, with good clearance and modern standards. I considered a few things like the Specialized Chisel, The Yeti ARC, Chameleon, etc, but the prices were high and availability was low and so I shelved the whole thing.

…Until I spotted the Titus El Viajero at PlanetX. With lines reminiscent of my old Indy Fab and Singular Pegasus, but with clearance for BIG tyres and a price point that made it appealing (even more so using the C2W scheme) I took the plunge. Ordered in the first week of February and delivered (early) in the 3rd. It was everything they promised. Pretty and HEAVY. 13.6kg for the large in a standard build – as my 10 year old commented at the time “oof”.

I stripped it bare, right down to the 2.0kg frame/rear axle and started anew looking for lightweight, but with an eye on the price.

Being patient and shopping around, it’s now pretty much dripping with nice stuff. DT F232 100 forks, Full XTR drivetrain, (but with lighter and cheaper EAGLE XX1 Cranks), Hope T3 X2 Brakes, Enve, Easton/OneUp finishing kit, Chris King/Sapim/Nextie wheels, King Headset and BB. All bought either used or at significant discount.

After selling everything I didn’t want from the PXEV and the SS, I think the cost to change was around £550, but that to be paid monthly over 12 months, so cost neutral at the time. Not bad. Total bike weight is just a shade over 10kg (on summer rubber it would be under) representing a massive saving over stock. It should be said that most of that weight is from the wheels and tyres, probably over 2kg, so you don’t need to change everything.

First Ride.
The first ride was at Ashton Court and Leigh Woods in Bristol. This isn’t really what it was bought for, but it was convenient for an after work run and would be a nice comparison to the SS which it replaced. After a few aborted stops to dial in saddle height, position, tyre pressures, brake and shifter positions, we got going. It was utterly pouring down on the first ride so traction was always going to be limited, but the Bontrager XR4s 2.4s did a fabulous job in appalling conditions. Only a flat wet rock did they ever really give me a scare. The bike itself is fabulous, it rides superbly and feels really nimble despite its reasonable wheelbase and big(ish) tyres. It’s also more planted at the rear compared to the SS which seems (to me) to make it more stable/predictable in the air. 2 hours of riding, lots of smiles and a great feeling.

Second ride
The second ride was a proper local ride, just the thing it was built for. This is a 35km loop with around 700m of elevation a lot of that on rocky, technical sections that’re rarely dry even after weeks of sunshine. There are bits of road, gravel, proper singletrack, byways, bridleways and unmarked trails. Geared at 34t and 10-45, it’s specifically designed to be quite high geared within the strictures of modern 12s drivetrains as I’ve got decent legs for the climbs and need the speed on the gravel/flat. How’d it go? Fabulously!

It wafts along just nicely on road and gravel and tracks superbly on the descents. Even with such small suspension travel I never felt like I needed anything more, even when hucking off some 4-5ft stuff at the end of a long, fast run.

In every area it feels less of a compromise compared to the other bikes and in several areas it truly excels. Climbing on this is phenomenal. It’s light, nimble and well geared with a decent BB height, so you can clear quite a lot. The 2.4 rear also helps. In terms of comfort, it’s a wonderful thing – as a chronic sufferer of lower back pain, bike fit and comfort is an issue for me. This feels great, I feel like I’m in it, not on it; part of it, not perched on it. The frame/tyres/suspension all work well together and after 2hrs, I felt just fine.

Summary
If you’re looking for a cheap (relatively), fun and comfortable XC bike that delivers in smiles per hour – this might just be the bike for you.

Thanks for posting that! I really enjoy the ‘story behind why’ it is that bike etc.

Who makes these frames ?

Titus, Planet X owned.

jonnyrockymountain
Full Member
Who makes these frames ?

It may still be Kinesis in Taiwan, but I’m not at all certain.

I would guess at Waltly, I know at least some of the recent PX Ti road frames are made by them (my dad has a PX Hurricane frame that came in a Waltly box). It’s a very well made frame so I would have no issue buying a ti frame from PX.

@Daffy another lovely looking bike!
So pleased to hear that it rides nicely, looks to be a great bike to just pull out of the shed and ride with no hassle.
So tempting.

Absolutely love mine. Great review I just bought the frame when they where on offer makes a great mileage muncher .

Gotta take my hat off to PX in that they seem to have really upped their game recently. Especially on the customer service side of things.

I had an old 45650b that i never really got on with but recently bought the titanium tempest in gravel format. Finish is stunning and as you found with this, ride is superb.

When you put your first noticeable scratch on it and feel gutted, the bonus of raw titanium is you just get the kitchen pot scourer and rub it out!

Or more specifically there are some red 3M pads used for welding and metal work. Cut a strip about 10cm long, wrap it round the frame and a quick scour. Comes up like new.

Thanks for this review! Can’t find any others. This seems to be exactly the bike I need, as an alternative to my Pinnacle Ramin rigid 29er that’s on permanent duty. Just out of interest, has anyone got experience of the Whippet as well?

@daffy
You still loving the bike?

My finger is hovering over the buy button…

Looking to replace an 11 year old OG 29 scandal as the go to grab bike for XC and trail rides.

I have the whippet as a post heart op “treat” to get back to riding an acoustic bike.
So far only the Ashton court and Leigh woods man made stuff as the legs aren’t up to much yet. So far love it. I too suffer back issues and mine’s not caused problems as much as the Tinbred does. Built from the parts off the e- bike so not Uber light for a carbon build – just about 10kg. A mix of slx/xt. Hunt wheels and fox 32 rhythm forks.

So far really enjoying the whippet. It’s a bit more forgiving than the original 26” I had as that was a might twitchy to say the least. Feels planted but quick if you know what I mean.

@daffy – have you got that route as a gpx or Komoot ?

What do you think is the biggest tyre you can get in that frame? it’s not really very clear from the PX website.

@bobodaclown – I do still love it and have no thoughts or intention to replace it or anything on it at this time.

@thervokid – sorry, I don’t.

@supernova – Not sure – I’m on fairly chunkey 2.4s and there’s plenty of room on the chainstays. My guess would be 2.6-2.7 would be about max with that limit being defined by the seatstay bridge.

34t is the max chainring you can fit for sure. It’s pretty close.

@daffy
Nice. Yikes, I have pulled the trigger a moment ago. Now to find all the bits for it…

I bought a carbon selcof fork for now and will try to hunt down a reasonably price fork.

Exciting.

Wow,
Ordered at 18:30 last night delivered 10:30 this morning, fair play to PlanetX(never had a bad experience with them they has not been sorted out, except a pair of wheels with a freehub made of cheese)

Now to wait on the rest of it…

Shameless plug, but mine is sadly for sale… Medium size frame, unridden…

Latest Classified Ads

I wish that circumstances were different, but only MTB I’m likely to be able to do in the next 6 months or so is likely to need a motor…

Bit of a thread resurrection! I’ve just got hold of a bargain 2nd hand el Viajero frame. It’s replacing a very similar geometry Kona Unit frame. I loved the manners and versatility of the Unit but it always felt like a bit of a lump. So this came up and it’s an ideal replacement, dropping 1kg in frame weight. It’ll be pretty much a straight swap of all the Unit parts. How are current owners getting on with theirs, a year of two down the line? Keen to hear if the positive thoughts above still stand, and that hopefully no warranty issues have occured!

Following too …

I’ve just picked up a used Vandal frame, was about to say very similar to the Titus, but having checked, quite different geometry. 

Mine will be a dual-purpose trail HT, with a 150mm fork (recent CRC discounted RS Revelation), but with an eye (and a second set of wheels/tyres/possibly a rigid carbon fork) for bike-packing and ‘Gravel +’ big days out.

Interested in any other Titus/Vandal owners’ experiences.

Maybe I shouldn’t have given a shoutout to @daffy @bobodaclown that might help..?

I’m still happy with mine it fits the bill perfectly for what I want.  Sadly it hasn’t seen as much use this last 6 months due to a variety of things including having bought a Spur, but it still makes me happy when I ride it.  

Brilliant bike, super fun to ride, you will have lots of fun on it.

@hardtailonly

I’ve got a vandal set up with a ridgid fork an 50c gravel tyres for commuting with some gravel/ light singletrack on the way home.

600 miles in and it’s great. Mostly commuting on the road 8 miles a day with a few longer gravel rides. I should have gone with something with rack mounts. The p clips I’ve got the rack attached with have given be a wee bit of trouble.

It was down to 10.? Kg as bought

It’s gone up with the rack, mud guards, lock, Jones type bar and a big sprung brooks saddle 😃

It

Finally built up the XL el Viajero frame I bought a few months ago. Really pleased with the final thing. Much lighter than the Unit it replaced, but it’s also no weight weenie. It’s meant as a do it all rigid 29er, but I will use a sus fork on it when necessary. It’ll get a short dropper at some point and some things might be swapped around. Looking forward to the first proper ride now!