TITAN RACING SWITCH PRO:
Two Road Bikes In One + Scott Addict 20 Disc, Merida One-Twenty RC9
TTitan Racing is changing the game in South Africa.
Once defined by kids’ bikes and supermarket specials, recently they’ve branched out into the premium segments – and they’re doing it right. Take the Switch Pro: it’s a beautifully refined bike that oozes quality, and on spec alone it offers far more value than any international import.
It’s a gravel bike, but the name hints at its →ekyll-and-Hyde tendencies. ‘Switch’ the standard
Vittoria Terreno 40mm tyres for a pair of 28mm or 32mm slicks, and you have a super-capable road bike that will satisfy most weekend warriors. Go one step further and get a second wheelset, and you’ll essentially have two awesome bikes in your garage, with more space to park the Polo.
All good bikes start with a good frame, and Titan are so confident about their carbon creation, they’ve backed it with a five-year, multi-user warranty. The internal cable routing is neat, and the dropped seat stays are on trend. There are mounts for mudguards and racks on the carbon fork, and through-axles front and rear add an extra dose of stiffness and speed.
Speaking of that stiffness… the Switch is definitely a race bike. Power transfer is immediate, and the bike responds gleefully when you stamp the pedals, but it does lack some of the ridesoftening compliance offered by other gravel bikes. It’s fantastic when you’ve got your roadie slicks on, though.
It’s amazing how much Shimano goodness Titan has managed to cram into this bike. The drivetrain is the standout: full Ultegra, with hydraulic disc brakes. The brakes are exceptional, and give you tonnes more confidence whether you’re descending the Noordhoek side of Chapman’s Peak or a sketchy gravel pass in the Karoo.
The chainring/cassette combo is quite aggressive: 46/36T up front, and 11-34T at the back. You might want to swap out the chainrings for a 50/34 combo, or use an 11-36T cassette to make
climbing easier. The tubeless wheelset is also Shimano – bombproof RS170s, which should give you many happy kilometres over all sorts of terrain.
The gravel handlebar is another highlight. It’s wide enough to give you extra confidence on the dirt, especially when you’re in the flared drops, but it’s not so wide that you’ll be nervous when you’re jostling for position on the CT Cycle Tour.
I’m also a fan of the hot red-orange paintjob. The cheaper Switch ▲lite, with Shimano 105 and cable disc brakes, is stealth black. Some people reckon it should have been the other way around, but there are way too many black bikes out there. The Pro draws attention to itself, and so it should.
Road bikes are evolving. (Have a look at the new Trek Domane on p85, for example.) The days of skinny tyres are over, and versatility is the new buzzword.
The Switch Pro? You can buy a faster road bike, or a more compliant gravel bike, but you won’t find one bike that can do both so well, especially at this price.