Like the look of Planet X titanium

[Liffy99]

Hi
Very taken by the PX range but without the opportunity to try them I’m trying to figure out which might best suit. Use is mostly minor road, towpaths, tracks etc. No need for high speeds or tackling very difficult terrain. Gearing might be an issue though as none of the PX bikes offer me anything lower than my 105 triple (27 gear inches).
To the nearest cm I’ve compared the geometry with my current, decade old, Aravis audax bike.. It has been a dependable steed but having suffered a botched hip replacement, swinging my leg up over the frame is sometimes awkward ( saddle height is quite high, I’m 6’3” with 34” inside length - my height tends to my legs rather than a long torso).
There is an XL Tempest for sale at the moment but the head tube is substantially shorter than my current bike.
opinions ?
Would I be better off with a London Road or even Roadrunner, although the letter would be limited to 32mm rubber with mudguards ?

	My Bike	London Road	Tempest	Roadrunner
Top Tube	58	59	59	59
Seat Tube	58	57	55	57
Head Tube	19	17	15	18
Chainstay	43	44	44	44
Forks	39	40	40	40
Stack	59	59	59	59
Reach	41	41	41	41
Wheelbase	106	108	106	107

 

[cougie uk]

Love my tempest. Can take really fat tyres if I want to but usually its 32s with mudguards on the road - I can still do canal paths on those.

I'd just get the XL one thats being sold. Don't know nuffink about the other bikes.

I thought they do a single speed that's got a 42x42 combination - is that not 27" ?

And you could bung on 650s for even lower gears if you needed ?

 

[Sittingduck]

London Road Ti - stock setup was 42T single chainring and 11-42 cassette. Got 38mm gravel tyres atm but ample room for a bit wider. Have spare wheels with road tyres and will be back to 32-35mm winter tyres and full guards back on for winter road use (off road will be on my hard tail from Nov - Mar). Road tyre shod wheels have 11-34.

 

[GuyBoden]

Nice, I'd prefer a carbon seat post than the standard alloy. An alloy seat post in a Titanium frame could easily seize.

 

[cougie uk]

Nice, I'd prefer a carbon seat post than the standard alloy. An alloy seat post in a Titanium frame could easily seize.

Is this really a thing ? I've not checked mine in the last year or two ?

 

[dan_bo]

Is this really a thing ? I've not checked mine in the last year or two ?

Yes. Yes it is. Go and check.

 

[Liffy99]

Love my tempest. Can take really fat tyres if I want to but usually its 32s with mudguards on the road - I can still do canal paths on those.

I'd just get the XL one thats being sold. Don't know nuffink about the other bikes.

I thought they do a single speed that's got a 42x42 combination - is that not 27" ?

And you could bung on 650s for even lower gears if you needed ?

Yes, that is a 27”. But that’s not low enough for steep hills or fully loaded sometimes.

 

[Liffy99]

Thanks for the replies, but not really answering the question about geometry. On paper they all look similar ( albeit small differences in some places can make big differences apparently) and photos dont seem to show saddles much higher than the bars. I’ve nevervridden a full-on road bike, just mainly tourers and my current audax oriented bike. I really like the idea of a reasonable ‘do it all’ bike. Tourers are fine if a bit dull, my audax is ok on road and can cope with decent tracks on 28mm rubber, but it would be nice now to have something newer - esp with disc brakes !

 

[vickster]

Nice, I'd prefer a carbon seat post than the standard alloy. An alloy seat post in a Titanium frame could easily seize.

Ti seatpost ftw

 

[vickster]

@ianrauk has a PX Ti

 

[Venod]

From your figures posted, the stack and reach are the same, the Tempest could have a longer axle to fork crown measurement to allow for bigger tyres.

 

[craigwend]

A vote for the Hurricane

I've done bits of off road, old railway tracks and getting lost on a 'by-way' thanks to @Soltydog

Im running 28, can take up to 30, I suspect possibly 32.


Gearing wise - went from a 105 triple with 34 back and could spin (forever) up anything - coped much better than anticipated with compact and 30 (or 32) back including some 25° gradient on a coast to coast.


Friend has a London Road which I like as well.


Geometry wise - technically no idea about angles etc.... Though feels a very nice place between my Galaxy and my racier Van Nich Euros.

Watch the video below for a review of the Hurricane

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QUmuLBTTbJ0&feature=youtu.be

 

[Liffy99]

From your figures posted, the stack and reach are the same, the Tempest could have a longer axle to fork crown measurement to allow for bigger tyres.

Does that mean my position on the bike would be much the same ?

 

[Liffy99]

A vote for the Hurricane

I've done bits of off road, old railway tracks and getting lost on a 'by-way' thanks to @Soltydog

Im running 28, can take up to 30, I suspect possibly 32.


Gearing wise - went from a 105 triple with 34 back and could spin (forever) up anything - coped much better than anticipated with compact and 30 (or 32) back including some 25° gradient on a coast to coast.


Friend has a London Road which I like as well.


Geometry wise - technically no idea about angles etc.... Though feels a very nice place between my Galaxy and my racier Van Nich Euros.

Watch the video below for a review of the Hurricane

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QUmuLBTTbJ0&feature=youtu.be

Chainstays a bit too short ( for lightweight touring / small rear panniers). Tyres a bit too narrow and gearing over my current 27” with SRAM. PX not offering any alternative.

 

[Sittingduck]

Go up a size and shorten the stem and or slide saddle forward a tad on rails.