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A Tale of Two Titanium Bikes.
Way somewhen back in the second half of the 1990s, both my brother-in-law and I bought Ti bikes. It was my second mountain bike, and I bought a Moots YBBeat. He bought a Merlin hardtail
I was temporarily "rich" (and had an employee discount) and set my Moots up with XTR parts and anno-blue highlights. It had the traditional long stem and flat bar of "the day" -- at the time it was the widest bar of any of my riding buddies. 80mm Bomber fork. And I rode the heck out of it. It's been my main "Hey, let's go mountain biking" machine for most of the years I've had it.
It's taken some time off while I was separated from it by circumstances, travel, or experimenting with other bikes. But it's been the bike I keep coming back to. Which means, it's kept evolving over the years.
My buddies kept up with the times by buying new bikes. The bikes in my crowd changed, and I, slowly, often begrudgingly, upgraded and changed mine to keep up -- or, at least to not be completely left behind.
I burned through a SPOX wheelset, but then put the original XTR wheels back on. The Oh-so-wide flat bar was soon the narrowest bar among my buddies. I swapped to a shorter stem and wide riser bar and lost the bar ends. XTR was replaced with X.0. 80mm fork upgraded to 100mm, and the stack left high. Tires got fatter.
The only important upgrade that I've (so far) decided NOT to make, has been not having a disc tab added to the frame. Sort of made a spiritual decision to leave it as a V-brake bike, which for my local desert dryness, is entirely justifiable and suits me fine. And which led me to my most recent upgrade and its current form.
MikeSee had some sweet non-disc classic DT Hugi hubs laying around which he was willing to part with for an exorbitant and entirely appropriate price, since they were bright brilliant GREEN! I built them up with DT 4.1 rims, set them up tubeless. Also had to trade out the Chris King headset (those things only have a 10 year warranty, ya know...) for a sweet-but-less-blingy cane creek.
So now my classic ti ride is once again all blinged out -- if you ignore the scratched and worn parts that will be replaced as soon as they stop working or fall off. The parts -- most importantly the "fit" -- have evolved with me to match my riding style.
The original XC racer-boy set-up is gone for a more comfortable, maneuverable feel. There is probably a bit of a franken-bike look to the bar set-up for some folks, but the function is there. I no longer endo on every ride, with the higher, wider bar position and taller fork. Handling is stable and smooth. Way less flats from either punctures or pinches, and the tires roll more smoothly and grip better than the stiff old knobbies I used to ride.
My bike's evolution was driven home on a recent visit to my brother-in-law's place. I was traveling light, so no bike. Did bring shoes and gear. I had some time to ride, so pulled his Merlin down off the hooks in the garage and adjusted the seat post.
My bro-in-law has led a different life in the last dozen years than I have. Instead of a slacker bike shop hack who lives to ride, he's been a husband, father, and has been running his own business. He's a sucker for new parts, so he's changed out some over the years. But since his purchases weren't based on actually riding the bike, they were more or less equal replacements for the original parts. His bike is something of a time machine, taking me back to all those years ago...
I climbed on and went for a ride. I pedaled out of Longmont, Colorado on the paved roads and all was good. Felt like a nice, ti ride, zoomy and swift, almost like a road bike. I headed to Lyons and to the trail at Hall Ranch.
I've ridden that trail numerous times and have enjoyed it, never really having more than moderate trouble on the tough, rocky climb. But that day, on his bike, I was hopeless. I couldn't control the narrow twitchy bars. Stiff tires and un-plush fork threw the force back at me when I rode into rocks. My weight was awkwardly forward, and on one move I flew forward and plowed my kneecap into the handlebar -- just like in the olden days!
When I'd finished crying, I clumsily rode the rest of the climb and decided that, hey, mountain biking doesn't have to be fun! So I turned around and twitched down, everything even worse than when riding up. I almost endoed twice -- something I rarely do these days. Managed to escape further doom and to have only the slightest hint of fun. Rode back to his house vowing to mail him a high stem and riser bars. (In case I ever have to borrow his bike again...)
I'm obviously retro-grouch enough to be riding the same bike for the last dozen or so years. And I'm a big fan of ride-what-ya-brung. But I have to say: Here's to evolution! Bring it on! And let's go ride!
--Greg
Way somewhen back in the second half of the 1990s, both my brother-in-law and I bought Ti bikes. It was my second mountain bike, and I bought a Moots YBBeat. He bought a Merlin hardtail
I was temporarily "rich" (and had an employee discount) and set my Moots up with XTR parts and anno-blue highlights. It had the traditional long stem and flat bar of "the day" -- at the time it was the widest bar of any of my riding buddies. 80mm Bomber fork. And I rode the heck out of it. It's been my main "Hey, let's go mountain biking" machine for most of the years I've had it.
It's taken some time off while I was separated from it by circumstances, travel, or experimenting with other bikes. But it's been the bike I keep coming back to. Which means, it's kept evolving over the years.
My buddies kept up with the times by buying new bikes. The bikes in my crowd changed, and I, slowly, often begrudgingly, upgraded and changed mine to keep up -- or, at least to not be completely left behind.
I burned through a SPOX wheelset, but then put the original XTR wheels back on. The Oh-so-wide flat bar was soon the narrowest bar among my buddies. I swapped to a shorter stem and wide riser bar and lost the bar ends. XTR was replaced with X.0. 80mm fork upgraded to 100mm, and the stack left high. Tires got fatter.
The only important upgrade that I've (so far) decided NOT to make, has been not having a disc tab added to the frame. Sort of made a spiritual decision to leave it as a V-brake bike, which for my local desert dryness, is entirely justifiable and suits me fine. And which led me to my most recent upgrade and its current form.
MikeSee had some sweet non-disc classic DT Hugi hubs laying around which he was willing to part with for an exorbitant and entirely appropriate price, since they were bright brilliant GREEN! I built them up with DT 4.1 rims, set them up tubeless. Also had to trade out the Chris King headset (those things only have a 10 year warranty, ya know...) for a sweet-but-less-blingy cane creek.
So now my classic ti ride is once again all blinged out -- if you ignore the scratched and worn parts that will be replaced as soon as they stop working or fall off. The parts -- most importantly the "fit" -- have evolved with me to match my riding style.
The original XC racer-boy set-up is gone for a more comfortable, maneuverable feel. There is probably a bit of a franken-bike look to the bar set-up for some folks, but the function is there. I no longer endo on every ride, with the higher, wider bar position and taller fork. Handling is stable and smooth. Way less flats from either punctures or pinches, and the tires roll more smoothly and grip better than the stiff old knobbies I used to ride.
My bike's evolution was driven home on a recent visit to my brother-in-law's place. I was traveling light, so no bike. Did bring shoes and gear. I had some time to ride, so pulled his Merlin down off the hooks in the garage and adjusted the seat post.
My bro-in-law has led a different life in the last dozen years than I have. Instead of a slacker bike shop hack who lives to ride, he's been a husband, father, and has been running his own business. He's a sucker for new parts, so he's changed out some over the years. But since his purchases weren't based on actually riding the bike, they were more or less equal replacements for the original parts. His bike is something of a time machine, taking me back to all those years ago...
I climbed on and went for a ride. I pedaled out of Longmont, Colorado on the paved roads and all was good. Felt like a nice, ti ride, zoomy and swift, almost like a road bike. I headed to Lyons and to the trail at Hall Ranch.
I've ridden that trail numerous times and have enjoyed it, never really having more than moderate trouble on the tough, rocky climb. But that day, on his bike, I was hopeless. I couldn't control the narrow twitchy bars. Stiff tires and un-plush fork threw the force back at me when I rode into rocks. My weight was awkwardly forward, and on one move I flew forward and plowed my kneecap into the handlebar -- just like in the olden days!
When I'd finished crying, I clumsily rode the rest of the climb and decided that, hey, mountain biking doesn't have to be fun! So I turned around and twitched down, everything even worse than when riding up. I almost endoed twice -- something I rarely do these days. Managed to escape further doom and to have only the slightest hint of fun. Rode back to his house vowing to mail him a high stem and riser bars. (In case I ever have to borrow his bike again...)
I'm obviously retro-grouch enough to be riding the same bike for the last dozen or so years. And I'm a big fan of ride-what-ya-brung. But I have to say: Here's to evolution! Bring it on! And let's go ride!
--Greg
