Spokewrench Cycles

Titus 2008 Frames and Bikes Now Shipping!!

Titus 2008 frames are now being shipped from Titus.  Email us at info@spokewrench.com to find out how you can order yours today!!

Team Spokewrench

Titus 2008 Motolite2

We're really excited because we have a 2008 Titus ML2 coming!  Our customer will built it up similar to the ML2 we built last year but with some updated 2008 components.  We saw the bike at the 2007 Interbike (see pic) and the mango colour looked great.

Now's the time to order your 2008 frame so that it'll be built ready for the start of the season a few short months away.  Email us to find out how you can get a free Cane Creek headset or Free Shipping anywhere in Canada!

UPDATE:  The frame is in and it looks fantastic.  Colour looks great, it's so eye catching.   Pictures are up and we're finished building the bike. 

Paint finish on the 08 Titus frame looks great.  Clearcoat is thick and looks to be very durable and resistant to chipping and or scratches.  Headset and BB went in with no issues.  Everything was faced and tapped nicely.  Can't wait to see the Racer-X carbon.

A few comments regarding the bike build.  We really like the Mavic XM819 rims, 450g is slightly more than the XC717 disc but it's UST compatible so you don't need to use rim tape if you don't use UST tires so the weight savings are a wash.  It's a much nicer rim.  Builds up nice and we like the fact that someone can buy a set of UST tires tomorrow and it's ready to go tubeless.  We think this rim is perfect for any XC race or Epic 4-5" bike such as the ML2.

The 08 XT cranks look great.  Shimano is coming back strong with the 08 XT line. 

SRAM continues to make shifters and derailleurs that work well together.  It's got a much more mechanical feel than Shimano's light shifting.  I think it's a matter of preference.  The SRAM rear derailleurs don't hit the Titus rear Horst Link so that's a big reason to go with SRAM.   Shimano has redesigned the rear derailleur somewhat but we have not tried one with a Titus yet.

It's about time fork manufacturers and disc brakes all follow Avid's lead to go with Post Mount.  It's so much better than the old IS mount for getting the caliper centered over the  rotor without fiddling with  shims and  having them fall all over the place.  It's easy to change rotor sizes with different adapters and since Fox has adopted this mount, it'll likely stick. 

Kenda claimed tire weights on their website are very accurate.  If you want to see comparisons of weights for their different sizes and compounds, the listed weights are real.  We've been weighing Kenda tires for a number of years now and they're very consistent.  Kudos to Kenda. 

Shimano XT (non Center Lock) disc hubs are by far the best value you can get today for disc hubs.  For less than $120, you get a quality hub with double contact seals, smooth bearings, proven design and skewers!  We love Chris King as much as the next guy but it's hard to argue when you can get a set of XT hubs with skewers and spokes for the price of one front Chris King hub. 

Complete bike weight of 27.2lbs is very close to the Project bike we built last year (26.96lbs).  The difference being the lighter Chris King wheels.  There are not too many places that we can save weight other than going with lighter wheels and tires but lighter tires are great on the scale but not necessarily on the trail.  We could have saved weight on the saddle but does anyone really want to sit on a piece of carbon for a 4 hour epic ride let alone a longer event like a 24 Hour race to save 100g?

 

Frame / fork with Cane Creek Solo headset installed, Stem/bar, brakes, front/rear derailleur, seatpost/saddle - 14.46lbs

Mavic XM819 UST rim / XT front disc hub / Sapim Race spokes / alloy nipples - 2.05lbs / 930g

Mavic XM819 UST rim / XT rear disc hub / Sapim Race spokes / alloy nipples - 2.44lbs / 1106g

Complete bike weight - 27.2lbs

Medium 08 ML2 frame - 5.89lbs Note:  This is lighter than the frame we weighed last year!  Last year, the medium frame we weighed was 6.15lbs.

Thomson 110x5 stem - 190g

XT front disc hub - 240g

XT rear disc hub - 425g

08 XT Crankset with integrated BB - 865g

XT 9spd cassette - 300g

Terry Firefly saddle - 250g

08 SRAM X.9 Shifters - 240g

08 SRAM X.9 Front derailleur - 160g

08 SRAM X.9 Rear derailleur - 225g

Avid Juicy 5 Front disc brake - 310g

Avid Juicy 5 Rear disc brake - 325g

Avid 6" rotor - 115g x 2

Mavic XM819 disc rim - 450g x 2

Kenda Blue Groove Stick-E 2.1" - 615g 

Kenda Nevegal Stick-E 1.95" - 548g

Titus 2008 Racer-X Ti

Spring is around the corner so that means that it's time to start thinking about the new season.  A customer ordered a new 2008 Racer-X Ti from us and we're really excited about it.  It should be here within the next week and as usual, we'll post some great photos of the frame so you can see the details and and work that goes into each frame. 

The Racer-X is one of our favourite frames and being made out of titanium just makes it that much better.  No paint to scratch, easy to maintain, lightweight and durable.  What more could we ask for?

UPDATE:
The frame is in and it looks incredible.  The carbon swing arm and the brushed Ti finish is much better looking in real life than on the pictures you see on other websites.  What I try to show in the these pictures is some of the details that you may miss if you're not looking carefully.   A bike frame is not just several tubes welded together. 

It's the start of something unique and personal.

Medium 2008 Racer-X Ti - 5.66lbs
2008 Fox F100 RLC (uncut steerer) - 3.50lbs
Shimano XTR wheelset Front - 1.69lbs / 766.5g
                                  Rear - 1.96lbs / 889.0g

Titus Super Moto

A customer is building up her Titus Super Moto and it's looking really nice.  It's too bad that Titus has discontinued this frame since it's one of the most capable frames out there for serious trial riding.  Here is a picture of the bike almost built up.  Once we have the El Guapo built up, we can compare the two bikes and see how they match up.

Team Spokewrench

Titus El Guapo Frame In Stock

The Titus El Guapo frame is in and it looks great.  This frame will be different than others out there because we're putting a Cane Creek Double Barrel on it.  We'll be the first to do this.  We know this because at the Interbike show, I had the Cane Creek rep come personally to the Titus booth to do the measurements to be sure that it'll fit the frame.  So we're looking forward to putting this frame together over the next few months and be on the trail with it come next year. 

Dave has agreed to give the El Guapo a test to see how it compares to the ML2 he just reviewed.  This is a different bike all together with 6" travel and is more of an all day long travel fun bike.  The ML2 is more of an all day epic bike, perfect for the 24 Hour race or just bombing around in the back woods. 

Different bikes but in the end, all fun.  We'll have some weights and pictures of the bike shortly.

Update:  We received the Cane Creek Double Barrel shock and WOW, that is one nice looking shock.  This will really change the way the El Guapo handles on the trail.  It will take a weight penalty over the stock Rock Shox Pearl air shock.  However, from talking to Jack about his Cane Creek Double Barrel on the Super Moto, it will be well worth it.  We're looking forward to trying this rear shock and see how it performs. Do a search on the Double Barrel and you'll find that it consistent get great reviews from riders, magazines and the industry.

We just received out 2008 Fox 36 Van RC2 fork and it weighs 5.35lbs with an uncut steerer tube.  For 2008, Fox has introduced a quick release 20mm through axle that would make it much easier to take the wheel on and off for transport.   Fork looks great.  We hope to be installing it on the frame shortly.

We pretty much have all the parts we need to build up the bike minus the wheelset and disc brakes.  Those should be coming in shortly over the next month or so which would give us plenty of time to build it up before spring hits in a couple of months.

Bikeradar.com recently posted a review on the El Guapo and gave it a great review.  Check out the Bikeradar.com Review to read the full story.  We'll be conducting our review in the spring time as well so stay tuned.

El Guapo Medium frame with no shock - 6.93lbs
El Guapo Medium frame with Rock Shox Pearl 3.1 air shock - 7.78lb
El Guapo Medium frame with Cane Creek Double Barrel shock - 8.9lbs
2008 Fox 36 Van RC2 uncut steerer - 5.35lbs
Cane Creek Double Barrel rear coil shock - 870g
Rock Shox Pearl 3.1 air shock - 385g
Race Face large ring Bash Guard - 135g
Easton EM90 stem 110mmx5 / Monkey Lite XC carbon riser bar - 315g
Thomson Masterpiece 330mm x 30.9mm lay back post - 190g
Kenda 2.35 Nevegal Stick-E tires - 800g per tire
Hope M4 front brake with adapter to fit 8" / 203mm front rotor - 315g
Hope M4 rear brake - 285g
Hope Float 8" / 203mm rotor - 150g
Magura 160mm rotor - 105g

We were quite surprised that the Rock Shox Pearl 3.1 was so light.  So by going with the coil shock, there is a gain of approximately 1.1lbs.  This is something we expected and for the intent purpose of this bike, I don't think it's unreasonable.  It was brought to my attention that Cane Creek does offer a Ti spring option, then the weight gain would actually only be about ~1/2lb.  All things considering, that is not bad for getting a shock that is much more tuneable and linear.  You'd want of course to get the spring rate correct from the start.  What we did was order the shock and got the spring for someone 160lbs in mind, then got an additional spring for someone that's lighter. 

We'll be weighing the parts that will go on the bike as we get them in the near future.  Stay Tuned!

Team Spokewrench

Titus ML2 Demo Frame/Fork SOLD

Now that Dave has completed his review of the ML2, it's time for the Spokewrench season sale!  This is the perfect time to get this incredible frame/fork for an amazing price.

SOLD!  Thanks everyone for their interest.  Email us at info@spokewrench.com for more information if the ML2 interests you. 

Team Spokewrench

Titus Supermoto Built Up

The Titus Super Moto has arrived and we have some pictures taken by Jack all pretty and built up.  We hope to have a review of it once Jack has more riding time on it over the winter and spring.  Jack is still tweaking the rear shock to be the way he likes it but initial impressions have been very good.

This bike is essentially a custom built bike with specific parts in mind.  Kenda Nevegal DTC 2.35 tires, Shimano Saint crankset, Hope Mono M4 disc brakes, E Thirteen chainguide plus other parts that Jack wanted to make it an all terrain, fun bike good for any trail or ride park.

We've updated some of the pictures to show Jack's new wheels.  Chris King HD disc hubs built with Sapim Race spokes, Stan's ZTR rims and tubeless kit with Kenda tires.   So as you can see, this is one very unique and custom built bike and it looks absolutely amazing.

Email us and see what we can do to help you with your next project.  Winter is the best time to start thinking about spring and start getting parts or frame ordered! 

Titus Motolite Built Up

Phil recently built up his Motolite and it looks great.  Check out the fork, you can see that he's using all the travel on the RLC!!  We'll be posting more pics of his bike in the near future.  This was essentially a custom built bike from the ground up.  All the parts were chosen and picked carefully so in the end, Phil got the bike he wanted.  There is very little compromise here, Chris King headset and disc hubs, Fox RLC fork, Magura Marta 180mm front and 160mm rear disc brakes all under 28lb.  He had some parts already so he only got the parts he needed from us.  The bike is looking great and we're really excited about getting a Supermoto in the near future as well.

Team Spokewrench

Titus Supermoto

We're bringing in a Titus Supermoto for resident Spokewrench tester Jack and we can't be more excited.  This is Titus's ultimate long travel all terrain bike featuring Fox's new DHX 5.0 high volume air shock for 170mm of travel.  We hope to be be getting this frame in shortly and will post up some pics and details as soon as we do.   

Team Spokewrench

Titus Motolite Frames Are In Stock!!

Our shipment of Titus Motolite frames are in!!  They look amazing and ready to ship.  We'll have some pics once we have a chance to take some and post them here.  Email us at info@spokewrench.com for more information.  We have blue medium frames in stock so if you've been looking for one, this is the time.  They've been really hard to get a hold of this season so once we're sold out, it'd be tough to get another one until 2007!

Team Spokewrench