Titus Loco Moto Review

Scott

bAdmin
Staff member
"..Running 4-5 inches of rear wheel travel and 100mm travel forks it was fitted out perfectly for the trailriding community. Our bike was finished in a stunning anodised blue finish with all the manufacturing qualities you’d expect from a bike like this. Beautiful welds, simple yet effective gusseting and a very cool machined shock and pivot mount on the swingarm were some of the standout features..."

Check it out here.
 

MrPlow

TMBC
I checked this bike out the day Lindsay got it. Although it is a nice simple, light bike it puzzles me why they places the pivot point in a position that actually encourages pedal induced bob? Might be nice and active in the granny gear but as soon as you are in the higher gears, often accelerating hard that chain is going to pull MrBob out to say g'day, not good....
 

xero

Supersports
so did you ride it, i had a ride on one the other day and found it to pedal very well under acceleration, with MrBob not even worth a mention :eek:
 

MrPlow

TMBC
Xero. no I didn't, but I don't need too. Look at the pic. yes it may ride nicely thanks to SPV but it still doesn't make a lotta sense.
Higher pivots up to a point can reduce bob as well as create a better path for rear suspension, as well as allow a shorter chainstay length possible (not such a prob on smaller travel bikes)
The only advantage of that lower pivot that I can see is a low cofg. but there would be a bees fart in the difference. my guess is simply differentiation from other bikes.
 

Ty

Eats Squid
yeah and 222s have some of the worest pedaling and braking characteristics (on paper) of any top DH bike on the maket, but hey they ride really well, so who cares.
 

S.

ex offender
MrPlow said:
Xero. no I didn't, but I don't need too. Look at the pic. yes it may ride nicely thanks to SPV but it still doesn't make a lotta sense.
Higher pivots up to a point can reduce bob as well as create a better path for rear suspension, as well as allow a shorter chainstay length possible (not such a prob on smaller travel bikes)
The only advantage of that lower pivot that I can see is a low cofg. but there would be a bees fart in the difference. my guess is simply differentiation from other bikes.
There's a lot of factors in how a bike reacts under acceleration. Having a low pivot still gives you some amount of chain extension, and until you have a seriously low pivot (eg this one), the chainline isn't going to create any compression force even in the highest gears, and even on a bike like that, the compression it induces will be miniscule, and somewhat offset by the chain growth anyway. That bike will pedal very similarly (to the point where virtually nobody could tell the difference) to most FSR bikes. A lot of bikes like that appear to be designed for minimum suspension interference (from pedalling) rather than minimum bob, so that when you're climbing you get more traction (at least I believe that's the theory). Not to say there's no better way of doing it, but it's not a particularly bad system, especially on an xc/trail bike.
 

Ty

Eats Squid
MrPlow said:
If nobody cares, why bother reviewing bikes at all? :p
we review bikes based on how they ride in the real world, thats what people care about.
 

MrPlow

TMBC
Ty, I just wanted to discuss this because I wanted to know what the advantages of such a low pivot would be. That is what this discussion forum is for. Your reply wasn't really informative, so that is why I :p at you. However, I meant no disrespect mate, he is smiling at you as well you just can't see it :D

socket's post does make some sense, it would be more active too.
 

leighha

Likes Dirt
If you type in pivot point on google and do a few hours of searching/reading (as I did) it is pretty clear that in terms of pedaling effeciency a pivot point placed as close to the BB as possible is best. I am a bit confused is there a suggestion in this thread that higher pivot points reduce bob. That is the opposite of everything that I have read on rear suspension design.
 

S.

ex offender
leighha said:
If you type in pivot point on google and do a few hours of searching/reading (as I did) it is pretty clear that in terms of pedaling effeciency a pivot point placed as close to the BB as possible is best. I am a bit confused is there a suggestion in this thread that higher pivot points reduce bob. That is the opposite of everything that I have read on rear suspension design.
There is a HELL of a lot of misinformation out there (mainly because VERY few people fully understand what makes a bike pedal well). Pivots as close as possible to the BB do NOT make bikes pedal as well as possible (they generally don't provide enough anti-squat to counter the bobbing that your weight shifts due to pedalling causes), they simply reduce pedal kickback. And the same applies to too-high pivots (but with different effects), you'll get a bike that tops out under pedalling and can actually cause "reverse" bob, where the bike pushes UP as you pedal - this feels different and generally not as noticeable as "normal" bob, think 222 for example. Higher pivots also have other differences such as more pedal kickback (unless you have a pulley system or something, a la BB7s). You have to find a happy medium. If there was such a simple answer to pedalling efficiency (and believe me every bike company out there is spending many more hours than you've spent reading up on it, trying to work it out), don't you think everyone would be using it?
 

Hagar

Likes Dirt
A comment about the rant at the end of the article.

Rapid Rise

Ok I have never used rapid rise with rapid fire, but I have been using rapid rise with dual control for the last few months.

The Dual control and rapid rise system is simply an amazing way to change gears, its extremely intuitive and changes incredibly quickly and crisply. This is by far the best shifting system I have ever used. I shift more often because of this system and in 5 months of use I still have had no problems with bad shifting due to contamination etc. The shifting into easier gears at the rear is amazing with the spring pulling the deraileur up, it shifts under full load extremely accurately.

It took about 10 hours of riding before I was used to the system but after that it was great.

I cant understand the negative response this system has received, use it for more than 5 rides and re evaluate.

How the rapid fire goes with rapid rise I dont know, possibly the rapid rise was designed to compliment the dual control levers.
 

Hagar

Likes Dirt
Yes and no hhmm

I have tried it but have not used it for longer than about 15 minutes. and I dont consider that long enough to adequetely assess the system. Im certainly not saying anything against SRAM but I was more concerned about the rant against rapid rise so I thought Id wack up a different opinion.

So it is hard to judge, but XTR as a complete system still cant be beat.

waiting for SRAM to bring out a complete groupset, now that will be interesting!

Dont get me wrong I think SRAM stuff is damn good I love the look of the New XO rear mech and the trigger shifters are a great idea Ie never take your finger off the brakes (personally dont like grip shift)

Just always negativity for the big player, and I dont like this as shimano are constantly putting together great product that others then follow ie the new crank system (stiff light and so easy to clean!)

Also must say that it will be great to have another big S. Competition is always healthy for the consumer.
 

Hagar

Likes Dirt
Oh yeah

A quick extra comment.

Im using the dual control on my XC race bike, in this situation they are fantastic as stated. Would also work very well on a trail bike or all day bike

Would I use them on my DH/Free ride bike - NO in this case X9 shifters would have to be the go. Am thinking about swapping my rapid fire for X9 on my stinky dee at the moment. hmm
 

lindsay

Likes Dirt
I was waiting for someone to comment on this. My rant was never intended to go in the article but Scott thought he put it in for good measure.

I stand by my comments, I think rapid rise is shit, it makes no sense and is a pain. The troubles I had with it wouldn't change no matter how long I used the system. I cant change into an easier gear when I'm braking and I think this is one of the most important points when it comes to changing gears.

Other people may not find this a problem, people have different tastes.
 

scblack

Leucocholic
I have SRAM X-9 trigger on my bike and cannot imagine a better system. Everything is done by the thumb, so braking can be done whatever gear changing is happening. I took about two or three rides to get used to, but once there, it's just natural. Had it for nearly six months now, not a single problem. I can't rate SRAM enough. Thought I'd add my bit.
 

Hagar

Likes Dirt
I didnt like the idea of them either, then I ended up with them on my race bike.

Now i love them, you do need to give them a bit of time and then it all comes together.

As John Stevenson fromcyclingnews wrote

Nevertheless, I'm sold on the effectiveness of Low Normal shifting. The Palomino never missed a shift, despite being ridden in some fairly silly situations including an eight-hour race at the end of which I could barely stand, never mind think about changing gear. Click the shifter and the derailleur, chain and sprockets do all the work for you. It's great
 
Top