Softail titanium MTB 29/27.5+ (all mountain - bikepacking)

[QuentinLL]

First ride : not very confident at first, then the smile arrived after the first downhill.

The bike feels amazing with climbing, perfect position, the front wheel keeps stucked on the ground, the bike is stable and easy to place in technical climbs.
While downhill : tThe downhills were 50% noseturns, 50% trial on rocks. The bike is very long and slack, it needs some time to understand when I need to start the nose turns (even flat turns). Once it is OK, the confidence comes and the smile appears 

It feels like an "easy hardtail", not as smooth as a big full suspension MTB, not as stiff as a conventional hardtail. It feels like heaven to me.
I need some trial practice / manual / bunny up, to understand where is the "balance point" on this bike.









I used 80% of front and rear travel, suspension setting seems OK (no big jumps / compression on that ride)

[bxcc]

Looks great!

How is the rear shock mounted? Is it just pinched in there?

[QuentinLL]

It is mounted like this :










And on the upper side, I mounted an enduro bearing needle to have something as smooth as possible :

[bxcc]

Thanks. That mounts up better than I had thought.

Do you happen to know what the lowest amount of travel they can do with this style? I'm wondering if 30mm-ish is doable as it might play well with a Lauf fork on a gravel bike.

[tripleDot]

Very nice. Looking forward to see the bike loaded for bikepacking.

[QuentinLL]

Thanks. That mounts up better than I had thought.

Do you happen to know what the lowest amount of travel they can do with this style? I'm wondering if 30mm-ish is doable as it might play well with a Lauf fork on a gravel bike.

Very easy to mount indeed and stiff.
You can reduce the travel with short travel shock. I designed the frame around a 190x40mm.
You can design for a 170x27.5mm (sidluxe for example), it will give you around 40mm of travel.

Very nice. Looking forward to see the bike loaded for bikepacking.

Sewing has begun

[cst_jpr]

Thanks. That mounts up better than I had thought.

Do you happen to know what the lowest amount of travel they can do with this style? I'm wondering if 30mm-ish is doable as it might play well with a Lauf fork on a gravel bike.

The idea seems great but then I see many used ones for sale and this article: https://gravelbikes.cc/tests/4-forks-comparison-which-is-the-most-compliant-one/
Makes me question its usefulness.

[bxcc]

The idea seems great but then I see many used ones for sale and this article: https://gravelbikes.cc/tests/4-forks-comparison-which-is-the-most-compliant-one/
Makes me question its usefulness.

I've pondered the idea quite a bit for my new gravel bike but in the end, decided to stick with a rigid fork. For my wife though, it's more of a necessity than a novelty. She's been suffering from neck issues for the past couple of years and has pretty much given up on mountain biking at this point. Even riding her Domane on gravel roads is a bit much. I'm hopeful that a drop bar bike with 700c*45mm tires and roughly 40mm of squish would be a great option for her. Just trying to get creative and see what I can come up with.

[ottoreni]

Wow!  Let me start off by saying that is an amazing looking frame.

I have always loved the feel that soft-tail frames offer, but I did not like their long chainstays.  I looked at Dean and Funk Cycles, but their soft-tail frames have chainstays of 445mm and greater. Your frame is 427mm!  I find that 430mm is my sweet spot for chainstay length.

I have to ask, with 90mm of travel, does the tire hit the seat tube when the shock is fully compressed?

Also, did the frame come with the lower shock mount that you took pictures of?

I am seriously thinking of contacting Titan to have one of these built.  Again, awesome looking frame!

[cst_jpr]

I've pondered the idea quite a bit for my new gravel bike but in the end, decided to stick with a rigid fork. For my wife though, it's more of a necessity than a novelty. She's been suffering from neck issues for the past couple of years and has pretty much given up on mountain biking at this point. Even riding her Domane on gravel roads is a bit much. I'm hopeful that a drop bar bike with 700c*45mm tires and roughly 40mm of squish would be a great option for her. Just trying to get creative and see what I can come up with.

Yeah I had broken neck and went to 52mm tires to reduce the shocks and vibrations. The front tire can be bigger and softer. It helps a lot, although you still get bounce.
Suspension seatpost could be good to trial out if you want to add it to an existing frame: https://bikepacking.com/index/suspension-seatposts/
For bars there is also stuff like this: https://redshiftsports.com/products/shockstop-suspension-stem although personally I don't think I could use it, I just wrap lots of bar tape for now. That and gel type gloves.

[QuentinLL]

Wow!  Let me start off by saying that is an amazing looking frame.

I have always loved the feel that soft-tail frames offer, but I did not like their long chainstays.  I looked at Dean and Funk Cycles, but their soft-tail frames have chainstays of 445mm and greater. Your frame is 427mm!  I find that 430mm is my sweet spot for chainstay length.

I have to ask, with 90mm of travel, does the tire hit the seat tube when the shock is fully compressed?

Also, did the frame come with the lower shock mount that you took pictures of?

I am seriously thinking of contacting Titan to have one of these built.  Again, awesome looking frame!

I manage to have a short 427mm chainstay because I don't need a large chainring clearance.
I ride 26T chainring. The max chainring is 28-30T. This is a MTB for the mountains :-)

Lower shock mount is included.

The wheel doesn't hit the seat tube when fully compressed.


I sewed the first bags, I need to make top tube bag + saddle bag + handlebar bag and let's go bikepacking 

[ottoreni]

I live in an area with lots of flats, so 32-34 ring would be essential.  Still, if I can get close to 430mm chain stay length, I should be good.

Is this chain ring clearance something that Titan checked for you, or you had to figure out?

Thanks much!

[QuentinLL]

I live in an area with lots of flats, so 32-34 ring would be essential.  Still, if I can get close to 430mm chain stay length, I should be good.

Is this chain ring clearance something that Titan checked for you, or you had to figure out?

Thanks much!

Both : I made de calculation on my side and Titan checked for me as well.

[carbonazza]

What is this intriguing bottle ?
Isn't it too hard to pump up water from that low ?

[tripleDot]

What is this intriguing bottle ?
Isn't it too hard to pump up water from that low ?

It's a hydration hose with bottle cap adaptor so you can use it on PET bottles & etc. I use to have that too, I remember they even have adaptor caps for wide & narrow mouth Nalgene bottles. You just suck it like a long straw. I believe the length of the hose is (unless modified) pretty much the same lenght as those with hydration bladder placed inside a backpack.

Here's one...
https://sourceoutdoor.com/en/accessories/22-convertube-hydration-system