Titan Racing Skyrim Elite – Mountain Guide’s Choice.

Before sharing my review of this bike, I rode it for more than 600 kilometers on mountain routes in North Carolina, USA.
I gained and lost 25,000 meters of altitude on this bike on different trails. And even got a few kudos in Strava.

My Skyrim Elite has an XL frame, and it is aluminum – after ten years on carbon bikes, I was very interested to know how modern aluminum bikes ride on trails. Over 25 years of riding MTB, I have learned to feel and understand various aspects of bike behavior very well. And my extensive experience as an instructor and mountain guide has given me the opportunity to understand that aluminum as a frame material is not much inferior to carbon in everyday trail riding. At the same time, an aluminum frame is significantly cheaper than a carbon one, and in some respects even more reliable, and this is already one of the components of my definition of “choice of a mountain guide”

The Titan Racing Skyrim bike frame really looks very reliable, and as one of my friends said, “it looks heavy, and heavy means reliable.” Although, in fact, the frame of this bike is not extremely heavier than a standard carbon frame of a bike of this class. I don’t have exact weight info this frame, and I don’t know what frame would be correct to compare it with, but in my opinion, the difference between relatively similar frames made of carbon fiber and aluminum will be about three hundred and fifty or four hundred grams. If we’re not talking about racing with the podium goal, then this difference in frame weight doesn’t bother me at all. But what’s really important to me in the issue of the quality of a bike frame is its reliability, stiffness, and the absence of creaking and noises. Of course, after only six hundred kilometers of running it is too early to talk about the reliability of the frame or its lack, but I do not see any prerequisites for the latter. And besides, Titan Racing gives a five-year warranty on the frame, so in this case even a mountain guide can rest easy.

The frame stiffness is superb! I must say that I have never owned a bike where the rear triangle of the frame was so stiff. The stays look and feel solid, the rear of the frame does not flex in sharp turns or under braking, this gives the whole bike a sense of integrity. The suspension system is based on the Horst link, which is a very stiff design in itself, in addition, the top stays of the rear triangle are connected by a very solid forged bridge for additional stiffness. The main pivot link feels indestructible, which probably helps to achieve the high overall lateral stiffness of the suspension.

The way the hydraulic line and the shift cable are routed inside the frame deserves special attention. And although my model does not have a mechanical gear shift, it is clear that the gear shift cable will run the same way as the hydraulic line, and it is routed simply perfectly. The hydraulic line enters the frame at the head tube and comes out directly at the brake. No loops of the hydraulic line, no bends under the bottom bracket or around the seat tube. This is simply the best solution I have ever seen – respect to the engineers!

The front triangle of the frame is made elegantly and qualitatively, in the XL size it does not look too big, and the bike itself does not feel like a fence when riding. The interframe space easily allows you to place two bottles or a bottle and additional accessories. The frame has a special mount on the top tube, you can attach a spare inner tube, a pump and tools, a light windbreaker, everything that you do not want to carry on yourself. Fans of trail bikepacking will appreciate the free space in the frame between the tubes. The frame paint is good, there are no complaints, only minor abrasions on the edges of the ports where the hydraulic line enters the frame.

During the entire time I used the bike, nothing noises in the frame. The bearings rotate well, I specifically removed the rear shock and checked the free travel of the suspension. The headset is silent and rotates well. I specifically opened the headset and looked at how well it was lubricated, I did not think about this part of the bike anymore. The BSA standard bottom bracket also does not make any sounds. Anyone who has encountered noises in the frame knows how extraneous noise spoils the ride, and that a quiet bike is faster on the trail.

The Skyrim Elite bike is equipped with a well-chosen combination of components from well-known manufacturers. Here again we can remember about the “guide’s choice” and the price/quality ratio. You can get acquainted with all the attachments in detail on the Titan Racing website, and I would like to discuss the choice of components and some features that, in my opinion, require attention.

In general, judging by the Elite’s configuration, one can assume that the brand manager who “assembled” this bike also has experience as a mountain guide or rides a lot on the tough trails of South Africa. Why do I think so, because the bike was assembled by a person who obviously likes aggressive riding downhill and prefers to suffer a little on the climb for the sake of a fun descent. As the popular saying goes – what is the trail, such is the trail bike.

The Fox 36 Performance 150mm fork and the Fox Float X rear shock providing 140mm of travel seem to hint that the Skyrim Elite can be used not only for green and blue trails but can also be used for red and black ones. And the suspension travel coupled with good shock absorbers will be quite enough to keep up with real enduro bikes. Perhaps the assurance coefficient may seem excessive for a trail bike, and it would be possible to install a Fox 34 fork and a rear shock without a remote reservoir to reduce weight, but remember that whoever equipped the Skyrim Elite, first of all thought about a fast descent along the trail. What can I say, I fully support him in this idea.

But what I don’t support this guy in is the choice of wheels. However, I understand that this choice is dictated by pricing, and in order not to jack up the cost of the bike, it was necessary to install more reliable wheels, which in this case means heavier ones. Alas, the light and reliable wheels that everyone would like to see in the basic bike set cost more than half the cost of the bike Skyrim Elite. Therefore, you just have to accept it, pump up your legs and save up money for a cool and super-rigid (preferably carbon) wheelset. But, with all this, it must be said that the standard wheels spin well and you can really ride on them on any terrain. The installed Vittoria Mazza Trail 29×2.4 tires roll well on hard ground, grip well on difficult descents over roots and rocks, provide good control at speed, traction in flat turns and on a steep segment of the trails. Their only drawback is weight. They weigh a one kilo each. But if your priority is fast trail descent and reliability, then this is a great tire!

The entire weight of the wheels is perfectly compensated by the wireless SRAM GX AXS T-type transmission. It works perfectly, you just have to press the button. It switches under load, uphill and downhill, you only hear the motor buzzing and feel with your feet how the cassette star is changing – a very cool thing! Not only that, when I crashed, I hit the derailleur hard in the roots, and the derailleur did not even wince, it worked clearly and continues to do so. In all this time, I put the battery of the derailleur on charge only once, after about four hundred kilometers of running.

Otherwise, all the components are of a very good level, the steering wheel, stem, brakes, crankset, cassette – no complaints. Perhaps, it would be great to see a dropper in the XL size with a travel bigger than 175 mm, preferably 200 or 210 mm.

The Skyrim has modern and progressive geometry, but without being radical. At 190 cm tall, I find the Skyrim in size XL very comfortable in terms of fit and I like bike behavior on the trails. The bike turned out to be suitable for my goals, basic skills and location – North Carolina is a great testing polygon for trail bikes. Descents and ascents on mountain trails of varying difficulty. These are mostly fast and long trails with lots of turns, root and rock sections, regular pedal accelerations and various jumps. On average, in a two or three hour ride you can gain and lose about a thousand meters. I would be happy to ride more downhill than uphill, but such pleasure is rare in our area.

Despite the heavy wheels and powerful tires, Skyrim climbing well, I fixed my best time on the segments in Strava on this bike. The seatpost angle is 765 degrees, and in the “climb” position, the fit is shifted forward, which ensures effective pedaling and loading of the front wheel on steep slopes. At the same time, not all my weight shift to the handlebars, the rear wheel maintains traction and rows over roots and rocks on climbs as well as you can pedal. In uphill, the Fox Float X shock lockout is also a great help. The shock swing is significantly reduced and noticeably less effort is spent on the climb. After riding for a couple of days, I moved the stem lower by one ring to add control to the handlebars and lower the center of gravity on the climb.

On the trail’s descent, the Skyrim reveals its full potential, despite its weight (15.8 kg with a Cushcore Trail set in the wheels and Shimano XT contacts) the Skyrim accelerates pretty well and quickly gains cruising speed. The low standover of the frame provides excellent maneuverability and control for a bike on toothy 29” wheels. The fit on the descent is optimal for me, with a reach of 500 mm I have a lot of space to maneuver and shift weight forward and backward. The wheelbase of the Skyrim in the XL size is 1267 mm, it is stable at high speeds, keep flat turns well and at the same time easily ride into all local trail’s switchbacks. Thanks to the stiffness of the frame, the bike shifts well in turns and does not “float” when the rear wheel locked. Turning in the “Scandinavian flick” technique almost always turns without errors. On very hard trails, where the trail’s surface resembles large steps of stones and roots, the fork slows down a little in processing the terrain, perhaps the Grip cartridge can no longer support a DH load. But, in general, I rate the suspension as good. The suspension works progressively, elastic and capacious, the bike can easily be sent flying from any natural bump or pump up the terrain on the trail.

In the future, I want to experiment with the cockpit, change the stem to a shorter one and install a handlebar with a higher rise. I also plan to install a dropper with a bigger travel. But now, in the basic configuration, the Titan Racing Skyrim Elite is a really very comfortable, reliable and affordable bike for its specification. A bike that will take you for a long time on any trails, with strong and well-functioning components and a real guarantee – the choice of a mountain guide!

REVIEW: By Vadim Savelyev   |  PHOTOGRAPHY: By Vadim Savelyev 

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