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Titus broke my heart (sorry, long post)

Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
I Are Baboon said:
You missed a lot of griping, a brief discussion about dogs and hardwood flooring, some ideas on a new bike for me, DRB got confused a couple of times, and Titus said they're sending a new frame. You're better off riding. :D
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Ahh nice, you're almost as cool as Echo as being the most awesomest mod....:monkey:

i saw no Titus bikes on the trail, and saw no sign of paint flakes either...
 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
Mythconceptions:

i did find it amusing on the mtbr site that the homers were saying Titus was a small company of 8 employees... actually they are part of a much bigger corporation known as: Vyatek

http://www.vyatek.com

The original founder and president of Titus (Chris Cocalis) had a small shop of 20 people... then over the summer 2006 something happened:


Titus Founder Chris Cocalis Departs After 16 Years

JULY 06, 2006 -- TEMPE, AZ (BRAIN)—Chris Cocalis, Titus Cycles' founder and president, left the company June 30.

Cocalis founded the company in 1991 with the vision of developing flexible manufacturing processes for building high-quality custom titanium frames. In 2001 Titus Cycles merged with composites technology firm Vyatek Sports. Cocalis retained equity in both companies and secured a five-year contract as part of the deal.

Cocalis decided to leave when negotiations over a new contract failed last month.

“The things that they proposed in the new contract were not really in my best interest. For me it was better to sell my interest in both companies now than to agree to basically stay there as an employee. I owned and developed and ran the place for 15 years, and it was time for me to explore other opportunities,” Cocalis said.

“Of course, after 15 years here, I regret that we couldn’t come to an agreement that will work for both companies,” he added.

Pat Hus, Titus Cycles’ chief executive officer, said the company would miss Cocalis’ product development expertise.

“For the past year and a half we worked together in tandem really well,” said Hus, who joined Titus last April. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get past the contractual terms. Chris had wealth of knowledge in terms of product and we’re going to miss him around here.”

Cocalis plans to stay in the industry in some capacity. He can be reached at (480) 753-0153 or chris.cocalis@cox.net.
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MMcG

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
N8 said:
Mythconceptions:

i did find it amusing on the mtbr site that the homers were saying Titus was a small company of 8 employees... actually they are part of a much bigger corporation known as: Vyatek

http://www.vyatek.com

The original founder and president of Titus (Chris Cocalis) had a small shop of 20 people... then over the summer 2006 something happened:
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N8 - gonna unload your Titus bikes now?
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,504
20,303
Sleazattle
MtnBikerChk said:
yeah but nobody answered my freakin question!!!

Do I have to sand my floor before I put a coat of polyeurothene (no idea how to spell that) down and if so - HOW? :)
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I would sand it. It will allow the new coat to adhere better. I would use a fine grit just to scuff things up a bit and have a fresh surface to apply to. You probably don't want to go deep enough to remove the stained layer of wood as it would make things off color. I would do it by hand but gentle application of an orbital sander wouldn't be too bad.
 
MtnBikerChk

MtnBikerChk

Squeaky Wheel
Aug 3, 2001
5,478
38
Southern New England (where there ain't no TITUS d
Westy said:
I would sand it. It will allow the new coat to adhere better. I would use a fine grit just to scuff things up a bit and have a fresh surface to apply to. You probably don't want to go deep enough to remove the stained layer of wood as it would make things off color. I would do it by hand but gentle application of an orbital sander wouldn't be too bad.
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I think the stain is completely gone anyway. I have one of these:

http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/Product-Details.aspx?ProductID=6543

Can I use that?
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,618
9,620
^

Is IRB relegated to handing you tools while you work, or do you just tell him to entertain the dog or do something else?
 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
MtnBikerChk said:
I wonder where he is right now - and if he's reading the MTBR forums at all!!
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I dont know, but according to Jason Butcher on his Salsa blog:

http://www.salsacycles.com/amigos/2007_01_01_archive.html

Monday, January 29, 2007
Ongoing Education

I spent last week in Phoenix on a vacation with my family. I made it the whole week without my computer and phone. I vowed to do no work while I was away. Well, I found out that even if you take the tools away, you can still end up working and learning.

While I vowed not to work on this trip, I did have a pretty fun bike related day planned. I had a ride planned with my friend Chris Cocalis. Some of you may know this name. Some of you may not. Chris founded Titus Cycles way back in his college years. He's a smart guy and someone I respect a great deal. He's also one of the most knowledgeable guys I know regarding suspension design for bicycles. Chris is no longer part of Titus, but that is another story for another time. Little did I know that my fun ride with my friend would also turn into some ongoing education.

Since I was only going to ride one day, I decided to not ship my personal bike and planned on riding one of Chris' bikes. Chris set me up on one of his personal rides and off we went towards South Mountain. I've spent 95% of the year riding 29" bikes and I was a bit nervous and excited to ride a 5" travel 26" wheel bike, but that too is another story.

South Mountain is a pretty great place to ride and it has trails for every type of riding. Chris even took me on his little test section of trail that he uses for testing suspension and components. It is a cool section of trail. Chris also told me that he took some of the Shimano folks here when they were working on the new XTR. This section had a little bit of everything including a few jumps, some rocks, ledges, and stutter bumps. It also had some fast rolling sections and just as Chris said, I could see and feel that this section was in fact a very good test bed that could be ridden over and over testing equipment.

The ride wasn't all that long nor all that hard. We had fun talking and exchanging industry rumors. You know, nothing too serious, just two bike geeks out riding on some great trails.

What I learned from this experience is that when you are involved in product design, you really need to have that special place to test equipment. This special place really needs to have the proper terrain to test the equipment at hand. If Salsa made a down hill bike, testing at the MN River Bottoms would essentially be worthless. I also learned that when it all comes together, there are few things better than riding a bike in the specific conditions that the bike was designed and tested. Lot's of folks are probably saying, "Hey you can ride any bike any where." Well, your right, you can. All I'm saying is that when you get the chance and ride THE place where the specific bike you are riding was designed and tested, it is special.

OK, maybe I've lost you. Heck, maybe it was just the fact that I was riding in 60+ degree temps in January. I don't know, I just had fun and I learned a lot about testing equipment.

Thanks Chris. See ya next year in AZ!

Jason
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I Are Baboon

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,439
9,523
MTB New England
stevew said:
^

Is IRB relegated to handing you tools while you work, or do you just tell him to entertain the dog or do something else?
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I drink beer or play on the computer or watch TV. I only help when asked, and usually it's because she needs muscle or height.

Edit: Oh, I'm sure I'll have to watch the dog during this project because the sander will freak the hell out of her. :rolleyes:
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
here is my take on the cliff notes version:

MBC received no new frame, silver rear.
didn't like it, but accepted as it was only offer
titus sent some socks as well. maybe a tshirt
thread explodes the internet on 27Mar07
titus recants, claims they will be supplying new, blue, good paint frame to MBC
assumption is that MBC will send old front/new rear back to titus
socks are hers to keep.
 
MtnBikerChk

MtnBikerChk

Squeaky Wheel
Aug 3, 2001
5,478
38
Southern New England (where there ain't no TITUS d
narlus said:
here is my take on the cliff notes version:

MBC received no new frame, silver rear.
didn't like it, but accepted as it was only offer
titus sent some socks as well. maybe a tshirt
thread explodes the internet on 27Mar07
titus recants, claims they will be supplying new, blue, good paint frame to MBC
assumption is that MBC will send old front/new rear back to titus
socks are hers to keep.
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LOL - mostly right - except they don't make that color anymore. So it will mostly likely be black.

I told them Titanium was also an acceptable color but I think they are looking for a black one.
 
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