// The Inaugural Ride: A Review of my New Titus Motolite
Posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
I rode my brand new mountain bike for the first time last night. It was underwhelming in some respects, but great in others! Orion also dutifully took pictures of every stage of the build, which I’ll organize, upload, and post soon. For now, my initial thoughts on the new bike:
Size and Proportion:
The bike is a men’s bike, and I am a woman, so there were some interesting sizing issues. Primarily, the handlebar was way too wide. The bar is supposed to be about as wide as your shoulders in order to be comfortable, offer good handling, and not look ridiculous. I think Titus assumes that the men who buy their bikes must be of the super-burly-extra-broad-shoulders-masculine type. Having such a wide bar meant that I had less control over the direction of the bike than I would have liked. I felt like every time I turned the bar, I was over-correcting instead of going where I wanted to go. At any rate, the next big project is to rip the grips off, cut the bar down to size, and install new grips. I am currently looking for some in a nice shade of lime green to match my fabulous pedals.
In addition to the size of the handlebar feeling strange, I also had this strange feeling that I needed to install a basket on the front of this bike, wear a full length skirt, and head off to the beach for a picnic. It felt like a cruiser. That’s because the stem of the bike is angled up. I felt like I was riding nearly upright, which, coupled with the ridiculously wide handlebar gave me the feeling that I had no control over the bike. I’m going to try flipping the stem, so it’s more parallel to the ground to alleviate this.
I also felt tall in general on this bike. It has a little bit higher clearance than my last bike, which is great for getting over rocks, logs, and other obstacles. However, it was a little bit like getting off a horse when I finally got off the bike. The step down was a little longer than I was expecting. I think I’ll get used to it though.
The Feel:
Well, I suppose by now I should know to never ride a stock saddle. I’m going to outfit this one with the same one I have on my road bike, a Selle Italia Ldy.
The suspension felt ok. I haven’t spent much time on a full suspension bikes, and the first ride off the curb was smooth. I still have the hardtail habit of standing up and taking my weight off the seat over every bump, but I think I’ll get used to the full suspension soon. The road in front of my building is a mountain bike playground right now–totally tore up, muddy, bumpy, with fun obstacles like raised (and covered) man holes, chunks of plywood, and the like. I think I may need to pump up the fork a bit, but overall, the suspension performed well. I think the biggest problem was feeling like I had insufficient control over the bike (see the info on extra wide handlebars above).
The Prettiness Factor:
The bike is pretty good looking. It’s anodized, not painted, so it has a beautiful finish that is a cross between matte and sparkly. I put lime green pedals on, and am hoping for lime green bottle cages and grips, too. I’d also trade all the green in for orange, since there is some orange trim on the headset. But I already had the green pedals. Maybe I can do blue, green, and orange. I don’t know–it might be too much.
Overall:
I’m grudgingly happy so far. Once I iron out some kinks, I’m sure I’ll like it, but I’m avoiding getting my hopes up too high until I get the bike dialed in just where I want it. Stay tuned for more on the process…and pictures!