The Titus El Guapo is finished! Our resident test Dave has it and will be taking it through its paces in the next couple of month. We'd be interested to see how the Cane Creek Double Barrel shock performs on it compared to the stock Rock Shox Pearl air shock. The bike came together very nicely and tipped the scale at ~34lbs with pedals. It's not your XC race machine but for all moutain riding and trails like Hilton Falls, you really want something like this. Long travel full suspension is the only way to go. This is completely different than the ML2 that Dave test rode last year. He is at home both on an XC race bike and on his Kona Stinky so we're looking forward to what he thinks of the El Guapo.
We have an initial review of the El Guapo already! Dave's amazing...
"I went to do a little tuning, specifically swapping the bar and stem for something a little more suited to the bike (bar 5 cm wider, stem 15 cm shorter).
And then there was the threat of rain later...kinda nudged me out the door. All of a sudden I was riding towards my normal trails (Guelph Lake, 5 min ride away). Most of GL is pretty tame but if you know where to look there are some pretty steep hills and a couple of stretches of extremely technical terrain.
Wow, what a bike! I felt comfortable on the bike right from the start, no awkwardness at all...just increased confidence. The ride in the rough stuff is simply sensational...I was cruising though stuff that I usually have to carefully pick my way through. The steering is a little slower than I'm used to, so that took some extra work (and some practice in counter-steering). One of my biggest concerns was the tall fork would harm climbing, but I had no trouble at all in that department. My other concern about the low BB also did not play out, but I consciously avoided pedaling on the sharper curves. The rear suspension is amazing. It's very tight with no unwanted flex and it just eats the big hits like they little ripples in the trail. I was very impressed with the shock, and I can't wait to spend some more time fine-tuning it to my riding style and terrain. The bike is unquestionably heavy, certainly on the porky side for a trail bike but it pedaled extremely well. It handles like my Stinky, but pedals like my Epiphany. Overall I am extremely impressed. I can't wait to get it onto the rocks at Hilton Falls."
Thanks Dave for the preview. Once Dave tunes the CC Double Barrel, we suspect the bike will really perform.
Team Spokewrench
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