Melbourne Commuter Bike (Titus Racer X content)

[rearviewmirror]

I've been commuting for 3 months on my Giant Bowery Fixie, now that racing season is upon us I need something with gears so I can tread lightly on my commute to save for longer harder training rides. I find riding my road bike after the Bowery a bit boring, the road bike does have gear, but it's uninspiring on a 40 minute commute. Enter my elder Racer X, retired from racing at Camp Eagle in Fall 2008 (due to a Racer X 29er build). I thought long and hard about selling this bike, now it has a new life as an urban/commuter bike. I can say this with complete confidence, the Titus Racer X is/was the best handling 26er F/S MTB ever built.

[trailgumby]

Very nice.

I've never ridden a DW-link rear end bike for any distance. I hear they're exceptional. Mine's a single pivot.

Those Sport Contact 26x1.3's work well, don't they?

[rearviewmirror]

Very nice.
I've never ridden a DW-link rear end bike for any distance. I hear they're exceptional. Mine's a single pivot.

Those Sport Contact 26x1.3's work well, don't they?

Yeah.. the tires are brilliant on the road, I'm very happy with them. The rear suspension on the Racer X is actually a Horst Link, which Specialized holds the patent for.

[trailgumby]

The rear suspension on the Racer X is actually a Horst Link, which Specialized holds the patent for.

Ah, yes, you're right. My bad. With the axle mounted on the chainstay it's a four-bar. DW-Link has a solid rear triangle with two small links to the front triangle.

My commuter is a Cannondale Furio hardtail with 700c rims. I get lots of surprised looks on account of the Lefty fork. Will post a photo when I get it back from the workshop.

[Fletcher]

Very nice.
I've never ridden a DW-link rear end bike for any distance. I hear they're exceptional. Mine's a single pivot.

Those Sport Contact 26x1.3's work well, don't they?

Yeah.. the tires are brilliant on the road, I'm very happy with them. The rear suspension on the Racer X is actually a Horst Link, which Specialized holds the patent for.

I've used sport contacts on my flat bar. Really great tyres.

[Ozchuck]

Might I be so bold as to wask how come you guys find them so great?

I ride to work on a roadie and a fixie, and cant imagine going any good distance on a big heavy tyre like that.

Is it a grip thing? a rain safety thing? puncture proof?
To me, they look like a tyre for someone who is scared of a 25mm.

[rearviewmirror]

Might I be so bold as to wask how come you guys find them so great?

I ride to work on a roadie and a fixie, and cant imagine going any good distance on a big heavy tyre like that.

Is it a grip thing? a rain safety thing? puncture proof?
To me, they look like a tyre for someone who is scared of a 25mm.

Because it's an XC bike, like a motard you can go bangin' off of curbs, do some fun urban assault type riding. I commute 99% of the time on a fixie with 23mm tires on it, it's the most efficient, but who cares about being the most efficient on a 45 minute commute? Riding a heavier bike makes a shorter ride a better workout. Lastly, that bike there weighs 24.5 lbs, not bad for a full suspension MTB, some cheap "fixie" out there weigh over 20 lbs. To answer your final questions, there is no grip advantage, rain safety advantage, or puncture proofing, it's just fun to ride.

[Ozchuck]

The bicycle itself, I understand.
The tyres are what I found a little confusing.

I guess what you're saying is that its the only tyre than can handle to abuse you're going to administer?

[rearviewmirror]

The bicycle itself, I understand.
The tyres are what I found a little confusing.

I guess what you're saying is that its the only tyre than can handle to abuse you're going to administer?

Not at all.. I think the narrowest tire you can run a MTB rim is around 1.125 inches... The Gatorskins come in that size, but beyond that, I picked these tires because they were cheap on Wiggle.