GTTurbo's Titan 1/2 Trac

[gtturbo]

I must admit I've been rather fortunate these last few years and have managed to get nearly all the bikes I wanted, but couldn't afford, as a teenager in the early 90s. There was one that had eluded me however and that was a Titan 1/2 trac. Whilst not mega rare I can't imagine they produced huge numbers of these and even less would have made it to the UK. So imagine my surprise when scrolling through Marketplace and I spotted this..



Damn, I knew what it was immediately despite the lack of decals and a description of simply 'retro mtb'. So message sent and I waited for a reply hoping its not already sold. The seller got back me to and sure I could buy it and collect that evening. So I spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for my phone to ping because someone else had bought it or as is often the case gazumped me. But the seller was good to his word and a few hours later I was driving home with it. I've learnt on Marketplace until its in the back of the car you ain't bought shit. Too many times have I been disappointed in the past.

So here it is in all its glory.

 

[gtturbo]

First things first I removed all the parts.

The headset was badly fadded and what should have been black was now almost a copper colour.





Now it's a YST headset and I never really had a lot of luck with them back in the day as they constantly came loose in my experience however 1" 1/4 headsets don't grow on trees these days so let's give it a go before I use one of my spare XT's.

Out with the oven cleaner.



And after leaving it to soak for about 15 mins and then a little polish we have this. Still needs a bit more polishing to remove the last specks of anodising. I've also fitted a locknut which fixes in place with 2 grub screws so that may solve the comming loose issue.
.

 

[gtturbo]

One thing that struck me was the colour. I wouldnt even pretend to be an expert but all the Titan's I had seen previously were either the grey or blue hammered finish. I thought perhaps this one had been painted over but no it's powder coat. So I did a little digging,

Mombats bike is black - https://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/Bikes/1990_Titan.html

As is @mrkawasaki bike - https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/titan-1-2-trac-e-stay-campag-update.88027/page-3

I also found this which lists black as a factory colour - https://www.oldschoolracing.ch/archiv/titan/

So as I've found probably as many in the non hammered finish I think I'm going to say the black is original. With that in mind the decals have now been ordered.

 

[gtturbo]

No prizes for guessing why these are often called a Titan 1/2 ton. Being a weight weenie at heart let's see if we can drop a bit of weight with the rebuild.

The first thing that struck me was the factory stem and bars weigh a lot.





So a quick rummage in the spares boxes.





The stem also got a ti expander bolt, every little helps as they say !.

 

[gtturbo]

Just for reference is the weight of the forks as I had them off of the bike.

 

[Double-E F]

Nice project !

 

[player]

Woah....very nice, looking forward to the build.

 

[Retro_Roy]

cool to see another one come up. mine had a horribly stuck seat post which a buddy
got out for me just this year. but it's been so long that i have misplaced numerous
parts. such as the bottom bracket. i will be watching you rebuild with interest.

 

[pete_mcc]

I had one back in the 90s, super fun bike, but justifiable in its nickname. I added to mine with a set of Quadras, Magura hydrostops and profile tribar add ons. It’s amazing the bike thieves who stole it managed to lift it

 

[27motorhead]

Lovely! I have one of these. Have a soft spot for these bonkers bomb proof bikes. I started a build thread, but life has very much gotten in the way. Look forward to seeing what you do with this as I can't imagine they sold many in the UK.