Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

first to post on Titus- guess why?

22K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  WHALENARD 
#1 ·
Well...

2 weeks on the new TALAS Switchblade and I'm very impressed with it. Very impressively built, reasonably light, adjusable travel, and better geometry (for me) than my Turner XCE. Plus a really cool semi-evil black anodized finish. I'll post a pic when that feature is turned on.

Tommy
 
#3 ·
Out with it! :eek:

tommyrod74 said:
I'll post a pic when that feature is turned on.
Well, it IS turned on. You just gotta upload it to the regular boards (act like you are posting over there so you can upload a pic, but just never click the Post Message button), then scoot back over here and put it in an html "img src=" tag.

Out with it!

tscheezy
 
#5 · (Edited)
well...

Gonna try this again...

<img src=https://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/switchblade1.jpg>

Hope it worked!

Mark-

SB is 1/4" longer in the top tube, slightly steeper HT angle for a given travel setting (balances the longer TT a little), plus a slightly slacker seat tube angle.

This all adds up (for me) to being able to run a shorter stem (100mm) and still have a decently strtched out position for climbing. So far I prefer the Titus geometry to that of the Turner, where I never quite felt right- probably a combo of shorter TT and and steeper seat tube, I always felt too far out over the front wheel with the 120mm stem I needed to feel comfy. I know I'm in the minority here, I think I was a little too much between sizes for a Turner (5'10").

So far, I love the SB- a little lighter than the XCE, still plenty strong, and I THINK it feels a little stiffer laterally- not 100% sure it's not just new buyer's syndrome. The TALAS rear is great with the front, as far as the BB height concerns, it's 13.75" in the longest travel mode (5" front, 5.6" rear). I ride it mostly in the 4" front, 4.5" rear mode for general XCish trails here where it's hilly but not mountainous, I use the long-travel mode for more techy trails, light freeride stuff, and Pisgah downhills. It handles very well in each mode, surprisingly well in the short-travel (3" front, 3.5" rear) mode- similar to a race bike there, just a little heavier.

The interrupted ST thing is a non-issue for me- I almost never touch the seat height, even on really technical stuff, so I didn't consider it a drawback. Plus the design gives ridiculous amounts of standover clearance.

The SRAM X9 stuff rocks- and doesn't bang on the Horst Link. My buddy tried them and bought the X9 rear derailleur for his wife's bike (along with the X0 shifters- she just likes Grip Shift).

It's a damn pretty bike, too- that never hurts!

I got it from a LBS- good deal and help with the build.

Tommy
 
#8 ·
It is a carbon copy of my bike

My bike is black with a Fox Vanilla up front. Also, my bike is not a Talas. Too bad. Laugh. I really like my Blade. A great bike! How are you enjoying the SRAM X.9 stuff? I'm going to stop by Universal Cycles tonight and buy both the shifters and derailleur. It will give me something to do this weekend. Pretty bike. I'm jealous that you have Talas...I must admit.

Jaybo
 
#9 ·
I really like the x.9 stuff...

... seems a little nicer than XT (subjectively)- just seems to be a little more positive feeling when shifting, nice feedback from the shifter. The derailleur is cool, it doesn't bang on the horst link at all. I'm pretty pleased with the SRAM stuff so far.

Here's the funny thing... the TALAS doesn't get used as much as I would have thought. The bike rides well in all modes, and I tend to pick one more on group speed than anything else- longer travel if the group I'm riding with isn't super fast (or if the terrain is nasty enough that speed isn't really a concern), mid-travel for faster groups. The bike actually does a passable impression of a race bike in the short-travel mode, believe it or not. Just a little heavier than your typical race rig...

Tommy
 
#10 ·
Congrats Tommy. I'm sure you'll be very happy with the SB. The black looks good! I feel between sizes on bikes too. My SB is size small, but other bikes I ride medium for the same fit, and I've ridden large Santa Cruz.

About tire cleanance, I'm running 2.35 front (talas fork) and 2.25 rear. I've got room to spare with this setup. The 2.35 would fit in back and 2.4's would probably fit depending on brand.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top