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Anybody know anyone that has broken a Titus???

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J

JRB

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I do - I am so sick of dudes in Austin saying that they have never heard of it and they are the best there is. I think they are great bikes. I do not think they are the be all - end all of bikes. I know some peeps here ride them and wondered. One of my buddies broke his seat tube on a hammerhead 100x which is a beefy racer x. It took months to get it back, and then it was welded, ground down, and gussetted. Then they had to PC since it couldn't be re-anodized. I get sick of hearing how a frame that is not a boutique frame sucks. All frames can break. Just give service when it happens. In the instance I witnessed, that didn't happen. Lame that peeps bash the big guys just because they are big. just complaining out loud.
 

Mike B.

Turbo Monkey
Oct 5, 2001
1,522
0
State College, PA
Yeah, a few people broke their Loco Motos back in 2002 when a bad batch of weld wire was used. Titus voluntarily recalled every frame that may have been affected and sent out new front triangles. Titus is a good bunch and Charles Coker at Hammerhead is probably one of their biggest dealers so I'm surprised you're not seeing better service. I've got 3 seasons on my Loco and have loved everyone minute of it. I will be replacing it next year with their new Motolite though after riding it at Demo Days.

Oh yeah, I recently saw a pic of a cracked seat tube on a Riddler as well. They replaced it with a new frame. Too bad the Riddler has been discontinued, I now must find a used one to build as a SS commuter.
 

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,441
9,532
MTB New England
I know someone that broke one, and it was not one of those defecto Locos.

I love my Quasi Moto! :love: I beat the piss out of that thing and it's holding up just fine.
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
I wouldn't mind thrashing the living crap out of one of those new Motolites. :)

Or scoring a great price on a leftover Quasi-moto lite. Babs is right his bike kicks major ass!
 
J

JRB

Guest
I Are Baboon said:
I know someone that broke one, and it was not one of those defecto Locos.

I love my Quasi Moto! :love: I beat the piss out of that thing and it's holding up just fine.

Is this subliminal??? :D

No - I dig on them, but point out that there are some imprefections in customer service on warranty on mojo from time to time and it is like I am kicking people in the nuts. They are great bikes. Just the one instance that I was close to was crap. Different color on warranty is one thing. Different frame finish, ie from ana to powder, is just not cool to me.

Quasis are the schit for heavy XC stuff. I've got a friend that broke several enduros and got one and loves it.
 

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,441
9,532
MTB New England
loco-gringo said:
No - I dig on them, but point out that there are some imprefections in customer service
I really do not want to get into it again Loco, but I will just say I had "issues" ordering the bike.

EDIT: Actually, ordering the bike was not the problem, receiving it was.
 
J

JRB

Guest
I Are Baboon said:
I really do not want to get into it again Loco, but I will just say I had "issues" ordering the bike.

Can you simply say manufacturer or bike shop???
 
J

JRB

Guest
Enough said. I don't try to bash them. I am just reinforcing my reasoning for not wanting one. If there can be anything wrong with something, I am the one to find out.
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Long waits are commonplace for builders like Titus etc. etc. - hell look at how long people have to wait for SC bikes sometimes. One reason I didn't opt for a Heckler as a complete bike was the ginormous wait time I would have had to endure.

I think Titus has and is taking steps to speed up their production etc. etc. - at least from what I've read recently about their decision to go with powdercoat on the new motolite frames - and damned that white motolite that I saw in Charles Coker's Interbike web page looked really sharp.
 
J

JRB

Guest
MMcG said:
Long waits are commonplace for builders like Titus etc. etc. - hell look at how long people have to wait for SC bikes sometimes. One reason I didn't opt for a Heckler as a complete bike was the ginormous wait time I would have had to endure.

I think Titus has and is taking steps to speed up their production etc. etc. - at least from what I've read recently about their decision to go with powdercoat on the new motolite frames - and damned that white motolite that I saw in Charles Coker's Interbike web page looked really sharp.

Agreed that lead times are to be expected. Warranty lead times are BS. You should have product available, or should make a special run. Lead times on warranty here is 1/3 less. They took well over 3 months for Steve's frame and then sent a bare frame back that Charles had powdered in Austin. I am saying they don't service the customers well from what I see. I don't own one, but I sure loaned my NRS to a dude several times for a few months. They blamed the PC on Spectrum. Spectrum supposedly was the hold up when I broke my Dean, but when I raised hell, it got done. Not with Spectrum, with Dean. I think maybe it just hadn't gotten there. Same with Titus. How do you blame the painter and still have the frame in house to send it home raw??? :confused: Oh well - they make a great bike. It just doesn't work well if you need service looks like to me.
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Well yeah it does sound like your buddy got kind of shoddy service - you would think if he was going through Charle's that he would have gotten better attention, but obviously not.
 
J

JRB

Guest
MMcG said:
Well yeah it does sound like your buddy got kind of shoddy service - you would think if he was going through Charle's that he would have gotten better attention, but obviously not.

It would have been a real crapper without Charles.
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
i'm willing to bet Titus is held highly because of Charles. his rep helps Titus' whose rep helps Charles'.

given what other companies have to offer, i don't think i'd ever but a Titus. i do like HH100Xs, though.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
the Inbred said:
i'm willing to bet Titus is held highly because of Charles. his rep helps Titus' whose rep helps Charles'.

given what other companies have to offer, i don't think i'd ever but a Titus. i do like HH100Xs, though.
My experience with Charles (and I've noticed other threads at mtbr mirroring my experience over the years) has been completely opposite. I ordered the first generation Balfa 2-Step from Charles when I was in college and it was a big debacle. He wasn't very professional at all - tons of delays, he sent me wrong parts MULTIPLE times, and just didn't seem to have his act together.

I've dealt with lots of companies over the years and Titus was among the most professional and on-time companies. The bike (04 Locomoto) arrived early and my special requests were fulfilled. The quality was unbeatable :thumb: It was easy to get ahold of the VP of the company and he often answered the phone himself and I exchanged many emailed also with prompt responses.

Titus' prices are slightly lower than boutique brand average and yet the quality is among the best. Probably the only other company with similiar quality would be Ventana. They tried the outsourcing once with the Locomoto, but realized it was a mistake and took the steps to make it right. They are one of the few companies that does their work in-house and the quality of the final product shows.
 
J

JRB

Guest
I think Charles has had some issues. It works better sometimes to be local. He has worked through most of his kinks I hope. I ran my own horseshoeing business for 8 years and it is hard to always be motivated. Bummer that it happens. Charles is a super cool cat and I hope the gig works for him. He picked up several new lines at Interbike, so we will see if service will ramp up with other companies.
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
syadasti said:
My experience with Charles (and I've noticed other threads at mtbr mirroring my experience over the years) has been completely opposite. I ordered the first generation Balfa 2-Step from Charles when I was in college and it was a big debacle. He wasn't very professional at all - tons of delays, he sent me wrong parts MULTIPLE times, and just didn't seem to have his act together.

I've dealt with lots of companies over the years and Titus was among the most professional and on-time companies. The bike (04 Locomoto) arrived early and my special requests were fulfilled. The quality was unbeatable :thumb: It was easy to get ahold of the VP of the company and he often answered the phone himself and I exchanged many emailed also with prompt responses.

Titus' prices are slightly lower than boutique brand average and yet the quality is among the best. Probably the only other company with similiar quality would be Ventana. They tried the outsourcing once with the Locomoto, but realized it was a mistake and took the steps to make it right. They are one of the few companies that does their work in-house and the quality of the final product shows.
Didn't know you owned a 2-Step at one point - how did you like it when you had it?

Seems like the most reputable mtbr.com type dealer is Larry Mettler at Mountain High Cyclery in Colorado - I don't think I've ever heard a negative on Larry.
 

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
syadasti said:
My experience with Charles (and I've noticed other threads at mtbr mirroring my experience over the years) has been completely opposite. I ordered the first generation Balfa 2-Step from Charles when I was in college and it was a big debacle. He wasn't very professional at all - tons of delays, he sent me wrong parts MULTIPLE times, and just didn't seem to have his act together.

I've dealt with lots of companies over the years and Titus was among the most professional and on-time companies. The bike (04 Locomoto) arrived early and my special requests were fulfilled. The quality was unbeatable :thumb: It was easy to get ahold of the VP of the company and he often answered the phone himself and I exchanged many emailed also with prompt responses.

Titus' prices are slightly lower than boutique brand average and yet the quality is among the best. Probably the only other company with similiar quality would be Ventana. They tried the outsourcing once with the Locomoto, but realized it was a mistake and took the steps to make it right. They are one of the few companies that does their work in-house and the quality of the final product shows.
I just ordered a Banshee through Charles, and he got me my stuff pretty quick. It did take a while for Romic to send the coil, though, but there was a holiday in there(labor day). If you need something right away, he is probably not the place to get it from. His shop is pretty small so he can't stock a lot of stuff, and he only has one part-time employee.
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
fo' sho' it helps to be local with Charles. especially since he is a 2-man opperation. charles sometimes doesn't communicate too well with people not in town. look at the latest thread on MTBR about hammerhead. a guy ordered some Maggies and was ranting and raving. didn't know charles was out of town, as was Magura, so getting his brakes took a while. oh well, glad we have him in Austin.
 

slowSSer

mnoeky
Aug 14, 2002
553
0
Stepford
Mike B. said:
...Oh yeah, I recently saw a pic of a cracked seat tube on a Riddler as well. They replaced it with a new frame. Too bad the Riddler has been discontinued, I now must find a used one to build as a SS commuter.

yikes! I love my riddler, and I dont want anything like that to happen to it.
ugh- now im all worried and stuff. and its been discontinued? damn. honestly, its the best riding alu HT that I've ever thrown a leg over.
 
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