Bicycling (South Africa)

UNLEASH THE BEAST!

- TITANRACIN­GBIKES.COM

Of all the bikes featured here, the Drone Comp is the most modern and offers the best value for money.

It looks like something that a pro would race around an XC course, with boost spacing front and rear, a 1x11 Shimano SLX drivetrain and 180mm brake rotors. This is up-to-the-minute stuff, folks, at a price that will make you think the shop assistant has made a mistake.

The frame is long and stretchedo­ut, which takes some getting used to. The medium we tested rode more like a large – a feeling amplified by the lay-back seat post. A straight post and a shorter stem would have suited my proportion­s better.

Speaking of the frame, it’s a brutalist piece of engineerin­g – all blunt angles and square edges, with welding like keloid scars. It looks fast and angry. Luckily the slack geometry and the excellent Shimano Deore brakes help to tame the aggression, and it delivers a balanced ride. The stock tyres are superb: 2.25-inch Vittoria Barzos that grip like Velcro.

Just as Apple ditched the headphone socket on their phones, Titan has ditched cable routing for a front derailleur. You don’t need one! Instead, they’ve included internal routing for a dropper post, which would be the first thing we’d buy as an upgrade.

All the other bikes have RockShox forks, but Titan have gone for an X-Fusion RC32. It does a good job levelling out drops and bigger bumps, but on the whole, the fork doesn’t feel as smooth as the RockShox Judy Gold on the Cannondale Trail, or even the cheaper air forks on the other bikes. (Maybe we could have corrected this by fiddling with the pressure and rebound settings, but we didn’t go down that rabbit hole.) Still, it’s a boost fork with a through-axle and stiff, 32mm stanchions, which is more than you should get at this price point.

In short, the Drone Comp is fast, lightweigh­t and decked out with quality components – and it’s going for a song.

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 ??  ?? FRAME ALUMINIUM, X6 BOOST QR
FORK X-FUSION RC32, 100MM TRAVEL, BOOST THROUGH-AXLE
CRANK SET SHIMANO SLX M7000, 32T
DRIVETRAIN 1X11 SHIMANO SLX, WITH CLUTCH REAR DERAILLEUR
CASSETTE SUNRACE 11-46T
BRAKES SHIMANO DEORE M6000 HYDRAULIC DISC
TYRES VITTORIA BARZO 29X2.25”
WEIGHT (M) 12.6KG
FRAME ALUMINIUM, X6 BOOST QR FORK X-FUSION RC32, 100MM TRAVEL, BOOST THROUGH-AXLE CRANK SET SHIMANO SLX M7000, 32T DRIVETRAIN 1X11 SHIMANO SLX, WITH CLUTCH REAR DERAILLEUR CASSETTE SUNRACE 11-46T BRAKES SHIMANO DEORE M6000 HYDRAULIC DISC TYRES VITTORIA BARZO 29X2.25” WEIGHT (M) 12.6KG
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