AM Banshee Titan

teK-- said:
Sorry been busy working, and riding :p

But thanks for your interest so here are a few updates!

1. Cable routing for derailleur was terrible and causing unreliable shifting. I jumped on the AXS bandwagon and instantly noticed the weaker clutch and noisy chainslap. It was so bad I wasn't even enjoying riding the bike as much.

Then I found this: https://madronecycles.com/products/super-shims

(sourced the relevant parts for the kit myself off Fleabay)

Also found a part of the chainstay was getting the shit smashed out of it by the chain, and have added mastic tape to cover this area:

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End result, the bike is quieter than even when I had Shimano running gear. The bike is actually a joy to ride again.

I will soon have a bunch of leftover parts for the Madrone kit and set up a post to distribute them to fellow burners if there is interest.


2. Some Ti-bling to replace the rusty stem bolts. Leftovers fit the brakes too; bonus!

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3. Deep dive into hot waxing the chain. Recommend not using the default stovetop pot method as it takes bloody ages for water to melt the wax in packet. Missus was also cussing me to not leave a mess in the kitchen.

Will buy a cheap rice cooker for next time and pour the wax directly in.

2 rides later and the chain is still dead silent and dirt just hoses off the entire drivetrain. Recommended.

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4. Fork was feeling noticeably softer/slower than 6 months ago. Thought I was just getting fat.

During the 6 month service I found the Smashpot spring had shrunk about 2mm in length, causing me to be running near zero preload. Once this was rectified, on next ride it literally transformed the feel of the bike.

As it turns out this is not an uncommon issue with the Smashpot springs, so best to check yours. Stock length should be 400mm but they can be a few mm less from new, and settle after use.


5. Been riding! Last week was end of season at Lake Mountain and boy was it a misty beautiful weekend breaking out into sun from the halfway point. The 20mm of rain made everything extremely tacky and is one of the best rides I've had there. Hope you got to enjoy it!

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Do you go through the full process laid out on the Silca website when waxing your chain? Seems like an awesome product , but also a pretty onerous procedure compared to dousing the chain with some Rock ‘n Roll Gold.
 
johnny said:
Do you go through the full process laid out on the Silca website when waxing your chain? Seems like an awesome product , but also a pretty onerous procedure compared to dousing the chain with some Rock ‘n Roll Gold.
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I think I did... except I didn't use their expensive grease strippers or the stuff that turns grease into wax.

Just ran the chain through 2x loads of mineral turps in the ultrasonic cleaner, then 2x loads of meth spirits, and final rinse with water. Seems to have got rid of enough grease that the wax stuck like shit to a blanket.

Apparently once you've done the grease strip once, you don't need to do it again. Just clean dirt off and hot dip again. The intermediate rides you can use their liquid wax to topup as-required.
 
northvanguy said:
Feels that way. Sales on Phantom and Rune.

Titan would be the bike I’d be looking for.

Will keep watching. Cheers
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Keith seems to be pretty sure there is nothing ready to drop just yet.
 
teK-- said:
I think I did... except I didn't use their expensive grease strippers or the stuff that turns grease into wax.

Just ran the chain through 2x loads of mineral turps in the ultrasonic cleaner, then 2x loads of meth spirits, and final rinse with water. Seems to have got rid of enough grease that the wax stuck like shit to a blanket.

Apparently once you've done the grease strip once, you don't need to do it again. Just clean dirt off and hot dip again. The intermediate rides you can use their liquid wax to topup as-required.
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That sounds a lot more manageable (except for the cost of their liquid wax top up stuff).
 
Had an awesome weekend up at Mt Beauty.

It's a shame that it's 4.5 hours drive out from our place, but so worth it. Trails are phenomenal and in mint condition.

Would be difficult to choose a favorite trail as many are so good and only get better once dialed in. Darkside, Honeysuckle, Short Course DH, Twisties, are the ones we mostly rode.

A few minor tumbles along the way, until the second last run of the last day where a mate got caught up in a deep rut on Josh's Track, which lead to a detour to the local hospital on the way home.

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northvanguy said:
@teK-- what do you make of the Rulezman ZeroBack contraption?
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Very intrigued!



Works out to around $700 shipped to AU, but it is a small volume part so am not that surprised.



I was so close to getting one, but kept floundering between the Zeroback, Ochain, and WRP Freewheel mod which are all on about the same price bracket.



Zeroback:

Claims to eliminate pedal kickback, by reducing Antisquat to 100% at sag.

My concern is that it would cause the front wheel to get light when standing up and putting down the power hard. The Titan feels efficient when needing to accelerate fast, and when climbing, and I don't want to lose that characteristic.

Max chainring size is 32T whereas I currently run a 34T with a 10-52 and like that ratio.

Loss of bash guard. I smashed my bash guard hard on a rock feature on the weekend. You can run the shortest cranks in the world but still hit your chainring.

Some maintenance/replacement required in due course with the idler wheel, and slight extra drag/noise.

Looks cool and is a nice talking point



Ochain:

Requires going to 4 bolt chainring system; so need new ring and bolts.

Ongoing maintenance required to the internals.

the new R version with adjustable angle (and complete lockout option) is cool

The take-up slack when wanting to put down a half pedal in technical situations, would be annoying.

Can’t think of any other cons with this product otherwise except whether it is as effective as people say it is.



WRP Freewheel mod:

Need a DT Swiss hub which may require building up a new wheel

Bloody expensive for what you are getting

Completely silent coasting would be the shiznit

Reliability is a big question mark for such a new product

What effect if any, does it have on pedal kickback? It doesn’t seem they are including this as a marketing angle, so it is all supposition at this stage.


So you can see why I ended up not getting anything yet 😊
 
Ya no bashguard is a deal breaker for me I think as I always smash the sh*t out of mine.

like all the concepts though.

Perhaps Titan v4 is UDH meaning could run transmission with the built into cranks bashguard as a solution.......

Still though the extra $$ for transmission plus the ZeroBack and still a very expensive adventure.

Old mate in Italy is kidding himself wanting $700 for that shipped to AUS.
 
northvanguy said:
Ya no bashguard is a deal breaker for me I think as I always smash the sh*t out of mine.

like all the concepts though.

Perhaps Titan v4 is UDH meaning could run transmission with the built into cranks bashguard as a solution.......

Still though the extra $$ for transmission plus the ZeroBack and still a very expensive adventure.

Old mate in Italy is kidding himself wanting $700 for that shipped to AUS.
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Is there a reason a Transmission crankset and ring cannot be used with regular Eagle?

Different chainline, or are the teeth profiles or ring mount different?
 
teK-- said:
Is there a reason a Transmission crankset and ring cannot be used with regular Eagle?

Different chainline, or are the teeth profiles or ring mount different?
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Good point. There's always GX Transmission cranksets for sale on FaceBook as well so there must be some cross compatibility.

I'm just Titan curious at the moment............
 
northvanguy said:
Good point. There's always GX Transmission cranksets for sale on FaceBook as well so there must be some cross compatibility.

I'm just Titan curious at the moment............
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If I can make a suggestion and that is to see if you can get a demo of the Titan (are you in QLD??)

TBH after all this deep dive to reduce pedal kickback, it's actually made me question how much of an issue it actually is when considered in isolation...

I.e. once I'd resolved the chainslap, drivetrain noise, and fork spring rate issues, the bike is so sublimely quiet and composed now.

It's generally accepted that riding a quiet smooth bike frees up mental capacity to focus on riding. That would include adapting to pedal kickback, which was only a bother previously when combined with other distractions.
 
I'm Sydney based so the options to see / test are very limited particularly as I'm a true Burner and in the XL department.

And it is an indisputable FACT that a quiet bike makes you a better rider.... which is why I think I've had enough with my current bike.

Not sure if pedal feedback would even be noticed on Titan if i hadnt been doing some research and stumbled across it and thought i'd ask
 
northvanguy said:
I'm Sydney based so the options to see / test are very limited particularly as I'm a true Burner and in the XL department.

And it is an indisputable FACT that a quiet bike makes you a better rider.... which is why I think I've had enough with my current bike.

Not sure if pedal feedback would even be noticed on Titan if i hadnt been doing some research and stumbled across it and thought i'd ask
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Do you ride flat pedals? I imagine if you do then it is more noticeable.

With clipless I'd declare it a non issue. Certainly not one worth spending $700 on anyway.

Unfortunately I'd gone back to clipless pedals for a good part of a year before I got the Titan. It would be interesting to do a B2B test with flats.
 
teK-- said:
this deep dive to reduce pedal kickback, it's actually made me question how much of an issue it actually is when considered in isolation...
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I ride with Onyx hubs. Exy, I know. I was warned about excessive pedal kickback. I noticed it (very) marginally on flats. Not at all on clips. Worth ever penny for the silence. And tech climbing.
 
birddog69 said:
I ride with Onyx hubs. Exy, I know. I was warned about excessive pedal kickback. I noticed it (very) marginally on flats. Not at all on clips. Worth ever penny for the silence. And tech climbing.
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Just a pity they seem to be pretty hard to get here, unless you go for a complete wheelset via LB etc.
 
Asininedrivel said:
Just a pity they seem to be pretty hard to get here, unless you go for a complete wheelset via LB etc.
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I was tempted by those as well, but same problem with availability. Would hate to think if I needed small parts for it.

Plus the weight... The Vespa seemed like a good and lighter alternative, but unsure of durability with the downsized internals.
 
Asininedrivel said:
Just a pity they seem to be pretty hard to get here, unless you go for a complete wheelset via LB etc.
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I run Onyx on several bikes, they pair especially well with a Pinon gearbox for a completely silent ride. I order them direct from the US and they have always been great to deal with, even spare parts haven't been a problem. Had an old 135mm spaced Zelvy hub that I remembered buying from someone here a long time ago and had a need to fit it to a 142mm frame, Onyx were very helpful in supplying an axle kit and some fresh bearings.
 
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