Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Fe, NM
Date Reviewed: October 17, 2006
Strengths: This is the Columbus NiVaChrome version of the Team Titanium frame. It still says "Team Titanium, but it's Steel, and steel si real. The frame is very light and laterally stiff, yet supple and absorbs vibrations from the trail making the ride predictable and plush for a Single Speed hard tail. Nice long sloped top tube makes it comfortable.
Weaknesses: My foot rubs on the cable guide on the chain stay and has worn what's left of the paint off - bad placement of cable guide. Other than that, it's a really great frame.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line: I love this bike. I have no idea what this bike was like originally as a geared racer, but the way I've built it up as a SINGLE SPEED is great and it didn't cost me a lot of money or my marriage. It weighs around 20 lbs, it handles very nicely on descents, even compared to my Dean Duke, it's great for climbing the foot hills of NM. As a single speed, the lateral stiffness is something to consider since a lot of time is spent out of the saddle cranking up hill. This frame does not bend laterally much that I can notice, and I think I would after 3 years of weekly rides. The ride is very sweet, which I'm sure has mostly to do with the Columbus NiVaChrome frame set. Apparently the frame is very durable, as I've nothing but abuse it for 3 years and it was used when I bought it. I'd recommend this frame for anyone wanting to build up a high end hard tail XC, or Single Speed conversion.
Favorite Trail: Dale Ball foot hills for this SS bike
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At: from an individual - frame only
Similar Products Used: Dean Duke Titanium SoftTail, Gunnar Rock Hound, Specailized Hard Rock and Stump Jumper.
Bike Setup: Large frame set up as as Single Speed: Rockshox SID XC 100mm, FSA head set, Bontrager Race rims & hubs, old school Shimano M952 180mm cranks with a Vuelta 34T chainring and square taper BB, SS spacer kit on free hub, no-name stainless 20T rear sprocket, Paul chain tensioner, ODI Lock-On Rogue Grips with cool retro flanges, Richey Stem, Salsa Pro MOTO bar with 11 degree bend, cheap-o Tektro V-brakes and levers with XTR pads (they work fine), Crank Bros. SS Egg Beater pedals, Selle Italia Flight Gel Flow saddle with Ti rails and American Classic Ti seat post.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Bruce Dance
a Cross Country Rider
from Cambridge, UK
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2004
Strengths: stiff, light, pretty bombproof, rare bike out on the trails
Weaknesses: too stiff for some in the back end, longish top tube, not many sizes available
Bottom Line:
This bike was made for one reason and one reason only; to go racing. As such it is not the absolute lightest Ti bike frame, instead being pretty stiff in the back end. It makes a very strong and stiff foundation for a race or trail bike. The top tube sizes are quite long for a given frame size. My frame is 17.5" CC, (18" CT, 19"CTL), has a 73 degree seat angle, and a 22.75" top tube (effectively 23" if it were flat) . This can make for a stretched out position, good for racing. Having said all this, it makes a pretty good trail bike and is superb on singletrack, despite a slackish head angle (no more than 71 degrees as far as I can tell) that can make the bike 'flop' a bit into very slow turns. Mine is a 'medium' frame, with 'large' (~20" CT) and 'small' (~16" CT) being the only other options.
I bought my Team Ti as a complete bike in need of much tlc, for not much more than I thought the frame was worth used. I've upgraded the spec on mine over about two and a half years of ownership.
Although I have not been able to confirm this, I understand that these frames were probably built from Sandvik Titanium by TST (Titanium Sports Technologies, formerly part of Sandvik) in Washington State. If so,they are in good company, as I understand that some or all of the following are/were similarly produced; Kona Hei-Hei, Kona King Kahuna, Fisher Ti, MRC, Dean USA Colonel, DBR Axis TT, Bontrager Ti-Lite, Mongoose, Cove Hummer.
The team Ti was for several years top of the Marin range. They typically sold new for 1500GBP with a rigid fork. Mine cost the first owner 1900GBP with its then 'best available' 400GBP fork.
In the UK Marin dropped the team Ti model in the late 90's as they wanted to push their fine (Jon Whyte) UK-designed full-suspension bikes. They were successful in this, with Paul Lasenby winning the UK championship series several times on a marin FS bike. However, his bike was about 2lbs heavier than the previous hartail and by all accounts he had the rear shock so hard it would hardly move...Anyway, with this successful marketing of the new bike, the excellent Team Titanium model slipped out of the public eye.
Mine is kitted out with XT and various Ti components. Overall the emphasis is on strength and durability rather than weight; even so, with relatively heavy wheels, pedals and BB the all up weight is a genuine 23 (and a bit) lbs. In full-on race spec its an easy sub 21lb build.
Much of the fine handling in singletrack I attribute to the Manitou SX-Ti fork. This is one of the last non-disc brake style manitou forks made; the fork legs are too close together to allow disc clearance. The result of this narrow design is one of the stiffest, best steering forks ever made in the genuine 3.0 to 3.25lb weight range bar none. I've converted mine to a full coil-spring set-up, retaining the original Titanium springs with additional lightweight steel ones. The cartridge damper in these forks has a bad reputation, but I have had no real problems with mine after a careful rebuild and a further 1500 miles or so. I think you can pop the damper doing big drop-offs and the like- not my style. The fork seals are not great (boots are essential), but the bushings have not worn.
Springing and damping are 'firm' on mine and I run only 3/8" sag in this fork.
I would not fit a fork with more than about 3.5" travel to one of these frames as I think it would make the steering too slack unless you run more than 1" sag.
I use my Marin for occasional singletrack blasts (2hrs or so) and often on my half-off, half on-road 25 mile round trip daily commute. Any longer and I start to feel beaten up a bit. I am lucky enough to have more comfort oriented options for longer rides or repeated days in the saddle. The Marin is less culture shock going on and off the road bike, and no other mountain bike I have ridden has such a stiff and positive back end; no matter how violent you are, you get the feeling that any amount of out-of-the-saddle effort is being laid down on the trail, not being wasted twisting the frame up in knots.
Similar Products Used: Moots YBBeat SL, various light steel hardtails, had a go on my mate's Mongoose DX10 Ti(very similar in lots of ways)
Bike Setup: 18" Marin Team Titanium frame 8-speed XT groupset except the following; 2003 model 9-speed type XT-GS rear mech. White bros crankset Flite Ti/Kevlar saddle Bianchi Titanium seatpin Titec Titanium 'fathead' stem Custom-made Ti bars (~100g) X-lite bar ends Cane Creek C2 headset (properly packed with waterproof grease) Manitou SX-Ti fork with full Ti/steel coil spring conversion, tweaked damper. Datatag.
