# XS Titus Moto-lite?



## yangpei (Apr 18, 2004)

A friend of mine is looking into an XS Titus Moto-lite. I've checked the specs at titusti.com and the bike should fit her. She is 5'1" and about 105 lbs. Her inseam is about 28 in. Given the fact that it is a custom bike and there are few dealers that actually have an XS in stock, we haven't been able to test ride one. Any ladies on this forum that have an XS Moto-lite - any impressions, advice? We were planning on running it in 4" mode with an adjustable travel shock such as a Talas RLC set at about 100mm. Maybe a 90mm stem and riser bar (24 or 25" wide). Does that sound okay? What kind of setups are other smaller-statured riders running? Thanks.


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## *rt* (Jan 15, 2004)

yangpei said:


> A friend of mine is looking into an XS Titus Moto-lite. I've checked the specs at titusti.com and the bike should fit her. She is 5'1" and about 105 lbs. Her inseam is about 28 in. Given the fact that it is a custom bike and there are few dealers that actually have an XS in stock, we haven't been able to test ride one. Any ladies on this forum that have an XS Moto-lite - any impressions, advice? We were planning on running it in 4" mode with an adjustable travel shock such as a Talas RLC set at about 100mm. Maybe a 90mm stem and riser bar (24 or 25" wide). Does that sound okay? What kind of setups are other smaller-statured riders running? Thanks.


i am the exact same size/weight as your friend (with a slightly longer inseam = 31") and while i can't give you much feedback on the moto-lite, i am currently riding a Racer-X. my guess is that your friend will fit well on the XS moto-lite. i ended up going with a custom frame for my racer-x simply because what i don't lack in inseam length i lack in upper body lenght! in other words, i am really short waisted and as a result i fell in-between sizes (XXS vs XS) as far as top tube length went.

i love my racer-x. it is a phenomenal bike and titus's customer service is excellent. i would highly recommend giving them a call and chatting with them about the bike and sizing. i am currently running it with a 3" rear (Fox RP3) and up to 100 mm in the front (Manitou Skareb Platinum) but since my frame was designed around an 80 mm fork i find that setting my fork at 100 mm tends to really jack the front end of the bike up and negatively affect the handling (though it is nice on steep descents!). i will likely be putting an 80mm Skareb Super (w/ lock out) on it soon.

a 90 mm stem sounds about right but that is something she will just have to try out and see how it feels. IMO, a 25" riser bar may be too wide for your friend unless she has really broad shoulders. a 24" would be better or maybe even cut down a 24" bar a bit. however, take that FWIW since i run a flat bar that i cut down to 21.5" (and i have fairly broad shoulders).










over all, i would guess that the XS Moto-lite is a good choice for your friend but only she will be able to say whether it is comfortable after she gets to ride it.

rt

btw, the stock frames from titus aren't custom but they are boutique so it is difficult to find a dealer who carries them in some areas.


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## Steve71 (Mar 15, 2004)

My wife is 5'1 110lb and has a 28" inner seam, and rides an XS Moto Lite.

It's her 5th XC bike (and she has tried 20+ bike over the years), so she has a bit of experience with fit and she is very happy with this one - she running a laid back seat post and a 100mm stem (-5 deg iirc). Cranks are 165mm and the bike is about 28lb.

If you do a search, I've written a bit of stuff (and posted pics) here and there on the bike, but I'd be happy to ask my wife any specific questions you have.


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## milehi (Nov 2, 1997)

yangpei said:


> A friend of mine is looking into an XS Titus Moto-lite. I've checked the specs at titusti.com and the bike should fit her. She is 5'1" and about 105 lbs. Her inseam is about 28 in. Given the fact that it is a custom bike and there are few dealers that actually have an XS in stock, we haven't been able to test ride one. Any ladies on this forum that have an XS Moto-lite - any impressions, advice? We were planning on running it in 4" mode with an adjustable travel shock such as a Talas RLC set at about 100mm. Maybe a 90mm stem and riser bar (24 or 25" wide). Does that sound okay? What kind of setups are other smaller-statured riders running? Thanks.


At 5'3", 110#'s, my girlfriend was right inbetween a sm and an xs. Her inseam is 30.5" so we went with the small Motolite. Her setup is 172.5mm cranks and a 90mm stem. Riser bars are cut to 23" Her fork is a Pushed Talas RLC and the front and rear are set at 5" of travel. The geometry doesn't change when the rear is switched from 4-5 inches. Weight came in at 25#s on the nose. Thanks to the ladies here for answering my questions when specing the bike.


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## yangpei (Apr 18, 2004)

*Thanks*

Thanks for the replies. That really helps. The one thing I didn't address is crank length. I'm 5'10", so have always run 175mm cranks. I would assume that a shorter rider would be more comfortable on shorter cranks. Is 165 okay for someone that is 5'1"? Thanks.


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## *rt* (Jan 15, 2004)

yangpei said:


> Thanks for the replies. That really helps. The one thing I didn't address is crank length. I'm 5'10", so have always run 175mm cranks. I would assume that a shorter rider would be more comfortable on shorter cranks. Is 165 okay for someone that is 5'1"? Thanks.


IMO, 165 would be too short. i run 170s on all my bikes.

actually there was a post about this recently. you might want to do a search on "crank length" in this forum and see if you can find it. lots of replies.

rt


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## AZtortoise (Jan 12, 2004)

I am on a different bike, and with 4" travel fork upfront I decided to run a flat bar, 25" wide. The front end was still a bit high so I also run a negative rise stem. That may or may not be an issue, just something you may need to consider.

Rita

Edit to add, 170mm cranks should be just right.


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## yangpei (Apr 18, 2004)

*Test ride*

My friend had a chance today to test-ride a XS Racer X, which has similar dimensions to the Moto-lite. The bike had a 100mm stem, 24in low-riser bar, and 170 mm cranks. Overall, it fit very nicely. She didn't appear stretched out or too upright. Her Moto-lite is on order. Now the waiting part


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## Steve71 (Mar 15, 2004)

*rt* said:


> IMO, 165 would be too short. i run 170s on all my bikes.
> 
> rt


hmmm.... I though crank length was determined via your inner seam length and IIRC you said you have really long legs for your height . 165 is recommended for someone with a 28" inner seam yes/no?


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## *rt* (Jan 15, 2004)

Steve71 said:


> hmmm.... I though crank length was determined via your inner seam length and IIRC you said you have really long legs for your height . 165 is recommended for someone with a 28" inner seam yes/no?


crank length is based somewhat on your inseam length. but also on other stuff.

i do have a sort of freakishly long inseam for my height (31") but your friend's 28" inseam is not all that short. i would think that she would have no problem running 170 mm cranks. the advantage to the longer crank is in the climbs where she will have more torque.

the only person i know who might be running 165s is a friend of mine who is 4'10".

i would highly recommend 170s for your friend.

rt


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## yangpei (Apr 18, 2004)

*Fork suggestions*

I recently started thinking about fork choices. I was looking at a Fox TALAS RLC for reasonably light weight, adjustable travel, and air (rather than coil) which I thought would be easier to adjust for a lighter rider. Any suggestions or input. Given the ML is 4-5 inches, I thought a 100-130 mm fork would be nice. Thanks.


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## *rt* (Jan 15, 2004)

yangpei said:


> I recently started thinking about fork choices. I was looking at a Fox TALAS RLC for reasonably light weight, adjustable travel, and air (rather than coil) which I thought would be easier to adjust for a lighter rider. Any suggestions or input. Given the ML is 4-5 inches, I thought a 100-130 mm fork would be nice. Thanks.


FWIW, i was steared away from the Fox forks when i was looking for a fork for my racer-x. the general consensus was that the Fox forks really don't work well for very light riders and it was likely that i would have a clearance issue between the crown of the fork and my downtube.

so, instead of the Fox (that i really wanted) i went with a Manitou Skareb Platinum, which right now i am having a h#ll of a time setting up and i am really not particularly happy with. however, it does not have any clearance issues with my downtube (tested it out on several crashes!  ) and it is possible that once i figure out how to get it set up properly i might love it. in the meantime i have put in an order for a Skareb Super with a lockout. if that doesn't work out for me i will probably go back to my first choice of the Fox and deal with the lack of clearance.

all that said, you're looking for a 100-130 mm fork and i'm telling you about 80-100 mm forks so i guess my input might not be all that useful!! 

nevertheless, i would definately check with titus to make sure that the Fox, if you decide to go with that fork, will have sufficient crown to downtube clearance on the ML.

rt


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## Steve71 (Mar 15, 2004)

*rt* said:


> crank length is based somewhat on your inseam length. but also on other stuff.
> 
> i do have a sort of freakishly long inseam for my height (31") but your friend's 28" inseam is not all that short. i would think that she would have no problem running 170 mm cranks. the advantage to the longer crank is in the climbs where she will have more torque.
> 
> ...


Well just to offer the OP another perspective, my wife (28 inner seam) prefers 165mm cranks. 170 do give better leverage, but 165 are better for spinning. She has 170 on her "road bike" (MTB with slicks) and always complains about her crappy spin as compared to her MTB.


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## Steve71 (Mar 15, 2004)

*rt* said:


> FWIW, i was steared away from the Fox forks when i was looking for a fork for my racer-x. the general consensus was that the Fox forks really don't work well for very light riders


The only fox that works well for lighter riders is the TALAS as it has a linear air spring. It still could benefit from changing out the oil to 5wt (or less) to reduce the compression damping for a 110 lb rider. The 05' TALAS on my wife's MotoLite uses the same amount of travel as my 05' Vanilla, when we run over the same stuff, but we're planning on sending it in to PUSH to have them work their magic.


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## milehi (Nov 2, 1997)

Steve71 said:


> The only fox that works well for lighter riders is the TALAS as it has a linear air spring. It still could benefit from changing out the oil to 5wt (or less) to reduce the compression damping for a 110 lb rider. The 05' TALAS on my wife's MotoLite uses the same amount of travel as my 05' Vanilla, when we run over the same stuff, but we're planning on sending it in to PUSH to have them work their magic.


Same results here. I bought an 03 TALAS RLC off the classifieds here at MTBR for $200 for my GF's Motolite. Since it needed the TALAS cartridge rebuilt, I sent it out to Push. They revalved it for her weight(110#) and riding style(all mountain.) The zip tie on her fork shows she's getting 4.5" of travel but it's still not broken in all the way since the rebuild. Also, there is a half inch of clearance between the down tube and the fork's top caps. Her frame is a small, not an extra small however.


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## crankpuller (Feb 27, 2004)

yangpei said:


> I recently started thinking about fork choices. I was looking at a Fox TALAS RLC for reasonably light weight, adjustable travel, and air (rather than coil) which I thought would be easier to adjust for a lighter rider. Any suggestions or input. Given the ML is 4-5 inches, I thought a 100-130 mm fork would be nice. Thanks.


a marzocchi marathon would be a great choice - I have last years SL 120mm. With the ETA feature it is truly the best of both worlds - flick a switch to knock it down to 80mm for easy climbing, then flick the switch back for 120mm on the downhills.

After having this feature I wouldn't even consider a fork without it. its that good.


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## yangpei (Apr 18, 2004)

*Thanks*

Thanks to everyone for their input. We finally ordered the frame and all the parts. Now, we just have to wait.

We ended up going with:

05 Moto-lite XS baby blue
06 TALAS RLC
Thomson stem (90mm)
Easton EC-90 carbon riser (24" wide)
Race Face Deus XC cranks (170mm)

Pics will be posted after bike is built!


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