Titus El Guapo Bike Review

Spanish for “The Handsome One”, The El Guapo is a 6” all mountain steed from Titus Bikes. Having spent many a Saturday gawping at it, it was time to take the bike out on demo.

Sitting in the same category as the Lapierre Spicy, the El Guapo has tough competition, but with trips to the Alps, Wales and the Lakes becoming increasingly common, a 6inch travel “do-it-all” bike is topping many peoples to-buy list. The Frame continues the Titus tradition by using the horst link, which over the years has been perfected by Titus under the license of Specialized.

 New for 2009, the front end has been completely reworked with Kylie like curves and a 1.5” head tube. The oversized head tube opens doors to 1.5” steerer tubes which means a stiffer front and stronger bearings, although step-down headsets can be bought to run a conventional 1 1/8” steerer. Kept supple by 4 oversized sealed bearings, the frame also has ISCG mounts meaning that a chain guide can be fitted to keep the chain in check on those rocky descents. With a trusty Fox RP23 coming as standard, the El Guapo can also take a Fox DHX coil shock to give a more freeride and rock eating feel to the bike. With 155mm (6.1”) of rear wheel travel, I wasn’t expecting the all mountain Titus to fly up the hills, and its by no means a cross country race bike. But considering there is the potential to eat singletrack, make mincemeat of downhill’s, glide over roots and inspire confidences to new levels, the El Guapo behaved remarkably on the inclines. 

The placement of the linkage (directly behind the BB) means that when you do apply pressure through the cranks on the uphill, pedal bob is kept to a minimum, and help is at aid with the 3 position pro pedal feature on the custom RP23 rear shock. The full build weight of around 30lbs (Spec. Below) also helped to get the 6” all mountain rig up the hill. A noticeable feature on the El Guapo, Is the super low bottom bracket. Sitting at 13.80” the bottom bracket is a fraction under an inch lower than the Spicy. This results in a much better handling bike, and a lowered centre of gravity, which in essence, is going to provide a more fun nippy, trail bike. The head angle is slack enough to allow the bike to feel at home on the steeper trails, yet avoids narrow boat like characteristics when turning. 

When riding the El Guapo down the steeper rooted sections, I couldn’t help but compare its handling with that of my Giant Glory DH. The frame felt fully at home on the rough, and could no doubt hold its own against bigger downhill specific bikes. 

Conclusion – with the aesthetic appeal of a half dressed Beyonce, the burliness of the Mitchell brothers, and the speed of that Jamaican bloke from the Olympics, the El Guapo ticks all the right boxes on a 6” bike checklist. Not only does it climb like a cross country bike, it comes back down like a downhill bike, and will eat jumps and drops alike without breaking a sweat. The El Guapo is a serious benchmark in the category. NB