After a few years of lusting a Ti 29er, finally bought one last week. Came down to Lynskey MT-29 frame and the Fly Ti with XT build, and the Fly won out based on price, build, good reviews, and looking a bit more shapely. I'm writing this to help those who are in the same position that I was in.
Ordering from Bikes Direct (10/10). Ordered on Thursday morning, delivered to Connecticut the next thursday, which was fortunate since I blew the rebound on my Tallboy shock, and needed a bike to race in the 24 hrs of Great Glen two days later. Easy to track using UPS, I even intercepted it at the local UPS building.
Packaging and assembly (10/10). Well boxed, no issues. If I didn't change a bunch of things for various reasons, this would have went together in less than an hour. No scratches or dings. More on my changes next.
Parts kit. As advertised. I pulled the XT chainrings (I run a single 32t narrow-wide up front), front shifter, front derailleur, and rear derailleur (I want a clutch derailleur) to resell as new takeoffs. I bought a large, and it came with a ridiculous 120mm stem (looked like a diving board), and a seat that felt fine initially, but after 27 miles tore my butt up so bad my sores were dubbed the "ring of fire" by those unfortunate enough to see them. The 710 handlebar on this is a keeper. I decided to use my Sun Ringle Charger Pros (might sell the wheels that came, but will probably hold on to as backups), so no comments on the Vueltas other than they were a little heavier than my Charger Pros (I have a digital scale but lost track of the weights). Not a big difference.
Sizing. I am 5'10" (32 inch pant seam), and went with the large. This is not a small bike - pretty long top tube, and not much standover clearance where I actually stand. That being said, I am glad I went with the large, but I do typically like bigger bikes, and I don't jump and flick bikes around. Immediately changed the stem for a 70mm, and seat to stem length is an exact match with my large SC Tallboy with a 90 mm stem.
Frame. Absolutely great looking. Beautiful welds, no scratches.
The ride. I used SB 8s, built the Fly Ti Thurs night, drove to Great Glen Friday am, and test rode the 8.5 mile course for the maiden voyage. Saturday I rode seven 8.5 mile laps in a 4 man relay about as hard as I could - literally. Coming off a Tallboy (averaging about 6 hrs/wk this summer), I had to quickly adjust to the hardtail. It felt dirty light and fast as heck on the smooth stuff, but I had my hands full through bumpy single track. As the race wore on, I felt more and more comfy on the hardtail - a lot more standing required than Tallboy, but it likes to go fast. Very stable, just didn't allow me to sit through the bumps like a full susser. I do plan on putting tires with a bit more volume on (there is plenty of clearance) to smooth rocky/rooty CT out, but no significant issues. Hard to definitively say at this point that there is any incredible Ti magic going on, but I really liked the ride and suspect there might be. Some cautioned that Moto Ti is flexy/noodly, but I'm 185 lbs and not weak (13th out of 132 on the major climb segment says Strava), and there was zero unwanted flex.
I'm still not sure if I would have been faster on my SC Tallboy, but I look forward to riding some familiar segments and comparing times.
In the end, I layed down about 60 miles (seven 8.5 mile laps) as hard as I could. No creaking, no seatpost slipping, no breakage, no issues at all. I am very happy I bought this bike, and look forward to laying down a bunch more miles and perhaps updating this review.
By the way, I couldn't upload photos after multiple tries. Maybe next time.
Ordering from Bikes Direct (10/10). Ordered on Thursday morning, delivered to Connecticut the next thursday, which was fortunate since I blew the rebound on my Tallboy shock, and needed a bike to race in the 24 hrs of Great Glen two days later. Easy to track using UPS, I even intercepted it at the local UPS building.
Packaging and assembly (10/10). Well boxed, no issues. If I didn't change a bunch of things for various reasons, this would have went together in less than an hour. No scratches or dings. More on my changes next.
Parts kit. As advertised. I pulled the XT chainrings (I run a single 32t narrow-wide up front), front shifter, front derailleur, and rear derailleur (I want a clutch derailleur) to resell as new takeoffs. I bought a large, and it came with a ridiculous 120mm stem (looked like a diving board), and a seat that felt fine initially, but after 27 miles tore my butt up so bad my sores were dubbed the "ring of fire" by those unfortunate enough to see them. The 710 handlebar on this is a keeper. I decided to use my Sun Ringle Charger Pros (might sell the wheels that came, but will probably hold on to as backups), so no comments on the Vueltas other than they were a little heavier than my Charger Pros (I have a digital scale but lost track of the weights). Not a big difference.
Sizing. I am 5'10" (32 inch pant seam), and went with the large. This is not a small bike - pretty long top tube, and not much standover clearance where I actually stand. That being said, I am glad I went with the large, but I do typically like bigger bikes, and I don't jump and flick bikes around. Immediately changed the stem for a 70mm, and seat to stem length is an exact match with my large SC Tallboy with a 90 mm stem.
Frame. Absolutely great looking. Beautiful welds, no scratches.
The ride. I used SB 8s, built the Fly Ti Thurs night, drove to Great Glen Friday am, and test rode the 8.5 mile course for the maiden voyage. Saturday I rode seven 8.5 mile laps in a 4 man relay about as hard as I could - literally. Coming off a Tallboy (averaging about 6 hrs/wk this summer), I had to quickly adjust to the hardtail. It felt dirty light and fast as heck on the smooth stuff, but I had my hands full through bumpy single track. As the race wore on, I felt more and more comfy on the hardtail - a lot more standing required than Tallboy, but it likes to go fast. Very stable, just didn't allow me to sit through the bumps like a full susser. I do plan on putting tires with a bit more volume on (there is plenty of clearance) to smooth rocky/rooty CT out, but no significant issues. Hard to definitively say at this point that there is any incredible Ti magic going on, but I really liked the ride and suspect there might be. Some cautioned that Moto Ti is flexy/noodly, but I'm 185 lbs and not weak (13th out of 132 on the major climb segment says Strava), and there was zero unwanted flex.
I'm still not sure if I would have been faster on my SC Tallboy, but I look forward to riding some familiar segments and comparing times.
In the end, I layed down about 60 miles (seven 8.5 mile laps) as hard as I could. No creaking, no seatpost slipping, no breakage, no issues at all. I am very happy I bought this bike, and look forward to laying down a bunch more miles and perhaps updating this review.
By the way, I couldn't upload photos after multiple tries. Maybe next time.
