Sea Otter 2010: Titus Rockstar

Titus Rockstar on the XC loop

On Saturday afternoon Tim & I took out a couple of Titus’s on the XC loop (about 18 miles and almost 3k feet of climbing). I grabbed a Titus Rockstar. The Rockstar is Titus’s full suspension 29er with 100mm of travel. It comes equipped with all the new stuff including the tapered headtube, hydroformed front triangle along with a beefy carbon rear.

Aluminum front triangle with a nice low standover height and nice graphics/color

Our short ride netted me just a few thoughts on the bike: the suspension is very active. On climbs and on downhill sections the horst link was active even when locked out. I really enjoyed the plush sensation on the downhills and although plush, the carbon rear end still felt stiff and strong. The carbon rear is really quite thick which I am sure increases stiffness.

Carbon rear triangle was nice and stiff

The Rockstar climbed very well with the caveat that the suspension was moving even with propedal engaged. This could also be a matter of set up as the rider before me was “about” my weight so I didn’t touch the shock. The XC trail loop at Sea Otter does not have any particularly technical climbs but it did have some nice singletrack climbing which the Rockstar did great on. There was a little front lift on the climbs but not enough that better pedaling form couldn’t fix.

Nicely executed Horst link suspension and the white is HOT

And if you’re a fan of the old Racer-X geometry, the Rockstar can be setup to handle that way. For the Rockstar Titus slackened out the head angle for a more stable ride, but this Rockstar used a low handlebar setup which lent a “Racer-X”-ish feel. I had no quibbles with this either way as I enjoyed the snappy handling.

About the only negative with the bike is the choice of tires which did not work well for the trails around Sea Otter. The Mountain Kings hampered my confidence to rail the bike on turns and through the singletrack.

For more info on the Titus 2010 Rockstar, click here.