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Planet X Titanium?.... anyone?

I'm very tempted by Planet X's Titanium range (Spitfire, Meteor, Hurticane and Tempest), but I've searched high and low and can't find any form of review. 

I know the Pickenflick has been very well received, but has anyone ridden/seen/smelt the Mark Reilly designed frames?

 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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29 comments

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guycoz | 5 years ago
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I've just got my Tempest in Large. I'm just under 6' and it fits me well, if a little on the smaller side of what I expected. If you want minimal saddle-bar drop, I'd size up rather than down.

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maviczap replied to guycoz | 5 years ago
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guycoz wrote:

I've just got my Tempest in Large. I'm just under 6' and it fits me well, if a little on the smaller side of what I expected. If you want minimal saddle-bar drop, I'd size up rather than down.

Thanks, that was what I was going to do. However I stumbled upon a Kinesis Ti Gf disc on eBay.

Top tube is 55cm and headtube is a healthy 15cm, I'd have probably prefered the next size up, but the headtube was only another 1.5cm taller, and the top tube was over my usual size, long legs shorter body

It has all the elements I was looking for, although twice the price of the tempest, but including the forks.

So hopefully that'll do for me?

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kil0ran replied to maviczap | 5 years ago
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maviczap wrote:

guycoz wrote:

I've just got my Tempest in Large. I'm just under 6' and it fits me well, if a little on the smaller side of what I expected. If you want minimal saddle-bar drop, I'd size up rather than down.

Thanks, that was what I was going to do. However I stumbled upon a Kinesis Ti Gf disc on eBay.

Top tube is 55cm and headtube is a healthy 15cm, I'd have probably prefered the next size up, but the headtube was only another 1.5cm taller, and the top tube was over my usual size, long legs shorter body

It has all the elements I was looking for, although twice the price of the tempest, but including the forks.

So hopefully that'll do for me?

 

I'd say so - fine bike, I've never seen a bad review and it was on my list for a long time as the do-it-all, keep forever bike.

Then I fell out of love with disc brakes and couldn't find the rim-braked version in time, and settled on a Bowman Layhams instead.

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maviczap | 5 years ago
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Thanks for the feedback. I don't think I'm too srnsisese to the reach, but more so to the saddle to handlebar drop, doesn't do my arms or back any good to have a big difference between the two, so no slammed stems for me.

Cheers

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maviczap | 5 years ago
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So to resurect this thread, I've been looking at getting a Tempest V3, as they've just reduced them to £610 from £899

But here's my dilema, what size to go for?

My Usual size is a 55/56 road frame, with a 110mm stem. I'm 5'10

So going by their size chart, I should go for the medium, but its headtube is only 125mm. As I'm not that flexible in the spine, I prefer a taller headtube, so the large with a headtube of 155mm is the  headtube length of most of my bikes. But the top tube is 57 on the large.

So go for the large, with an inline seatpost & shorter stem, or go for the medium?

I've had a frame with a short headtube & I couldn't get on with it, and I'm not a fan of riser stems?

Similar Reilly frames have taller headtubes thier medium is 140mm, but twice the price of the Planet X

The Pickenflick has a 155mm headtube, but I prefer the Tempest v3 as it has flat mount calipers

Help!!!!!

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kil0ran replied to maviczap | 5 years ago
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maviczap wrote:

So to resurect this thread, I've been looking at getting a Tempest V3, as they've just reduced them to £610 from £899

But here's my dilema, what size to go for?

My Usual size is a 55/56 road frame, with a 110mm stem. I'm 5'10

So going by their size chart, I should go for the medium, but its headtube is only 125mm. As I'm not that flexible in the spine, I prefer a taller headtube, so the large with a headtube of 155mm is the  headtube length of most of my bikes. But the top tube is 57 on the large.

So go for the large, with an inline seatpost & shorter stem, or go for the medium?

I've had a frame with a short headtube & I couldn't get on with it, and I'm not a fan of riser stems?

Similar Reilly frames have taller headtubes thier medium is 140mm, but twice the price of the Planet X

The Pickenflick has a 155mm headtube, but I prefer the Tempest v3 as it has flat mount calipers

Help!!!!!

Other than the reach the important relationship to get right is saddle setback. Pop the geo of your current bike and the Tempest in to one of the online geometry trackers and see which works best. In my experience my fit is more sensitive in terms of placement of saddle over the BB than the reach.

See if you can get the reach to bars where you want it and the saddle in the same place relative to the BB.

This probably won't affect you but the days of long-setback seatposts seem to have come to an end - the only one I've found readily available with more than about 30mm is the Nitto S83 which has around 45mm (currently on sale at PlanetX...)

 

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mc | 5 years ago
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Brant is back at Planet-X as off last month, so it'll be interesting to see how things progress.

I was considering one of thier carbon bikes last month, but too many recent tales of woe pushed me towards Merlin instead.

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StraelGuy | 5 years ago
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I'm 5' 11" and hired a Planet X Pro Carbon in size L when I was in Lanzarote a couple of years ago and it was spot-on for me if that helps at all.

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Stiphodon | 5 years ago
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Thanks Don. I'll give that a go, cheers

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Stiphodon | 5 years ago
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I have an PlanetX Pickeflick. Have bikepacked around 2000kms on it, mostly on road with some gravel. I love the bike, handles well with sram force.  However, it has formed a large crease in the upper end of the downtube where it meets the headtube. I cant for the life of me figure out how it happened. I've contacted OnOne numerous times over a few weeks with no response from the company, which is a bit dissapointing from a support point of view

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don simon fbpe replied to Stiphodon | 5 years ago
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Stiphodon wrote:

I have an PlanetX Pickeflick. Have bikepacked around 2000kms on it, mostly on road with some gravel. I love the bike, handles well with sram force.  However, it has formed a large crease in the upper end of the downtube where it meets the headtube. I cant for the life of me figure out how it happened. I've contacted OnOne numerous times over a few weeks with no response from the company, which is a bit dissapointing from a support point of view

Pop over to singletrackworld.co.uk and see whether you can track down Brant in the forum, if he's still involved with the company, he should take an interest in this.

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brylonscamel replied to don simon fbpe | 5 years ago
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don simon]<p>
</p>

<p>I have an PlanetX Pickeflick. Have bikepacked around 2000kms on it, mostly on road with some gravel. I love the bike, handles well with sram force.&nbsp;&nbsp;However, it has formed a large crease in the upper end of the downtube where it meets the headtube. I

[quote

wrote:

Pop over to singletrackworld.co.uk and see whether you can track down Brant in the forum, if he's still involved with the company, he should take an interest in this.

The days of "giving Brant a call are long gone" as I believe there is no connection with Planet X any more. My experience of dealing with Planet X after-sales have not been good. I doubt I'll buy from them again. When I discovered multiple faults with a Ti frame, the tone of the conversations I had could be summarised as "what do you expect? We pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap. Here's £50 to get rid of you, now go away"

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jmw74 | 5 years ago
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I was doing some research about the tempest before I was looking to buy one and like folks here, didn't find much. Now that I've had it a few months, I've put some pics and some notes about it up here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wyllie/sets/72157689621217540/with/41259679502/

I have modified it since receiving it by:
1) adding a 400mm carbon in-line seat-post (to replace the 400mm carbon aero lay-back one that it came with)
2) putting a shorter stem on
3) putting my Pacenti Forza / Hope Hub wheels on that I use for commuting (the Fulcrum 700 they came with remain with gravel tyres on for off-roading)
4) Adding Time Atac XC8 carbon pedals (the bike didn't come with pedals and I'm a long time Time user)

Very pleased with it. About 9.5kg on the scales (size large). About 2kg lighter than my previous Boardman team CX and feels incredibly different. So much better. Feels incredibly responsive. Probably both a combination of the titanium frame (Boardman was alu) and improved groupset (was running Apex 1x before). Hydraulic brakes so much better too. 

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paulsimongill replied to jmw74 | 5 years ago
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jmw74 wrote:

I have modified it since receiving it by:
2) putting a shorter stem on

Hi

How tall are you? Guessing the shorter stem because the geometry didn't quite work for you - although the seat post height on that L frame suggests that you're pretty tall.

I'm 6ft / 183cms and wondering what size to go for. The Tempest spec says L is for 5′9″ to 6′0″ so I'm probably going for that, but I have a PlanetX / On One Dirty Disco (their carbon cross bike from a few years ago) in L and I find it a bit of a stretch.

Thanks

Paul.

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alan sherman | 6 years ago
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The tempest version 2 is cheaper than the 1st version. I wonder if it is still reilly designed became it seems similar to the sonder camino.

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peted76 | 6 years ago
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I'd speak to Mr Mark (Reilly) himself. He might have a few frames lying around which he can do a super deal on if you're looking at buying one.  He was very accomodating to me when I spoke to him a few months ago. 

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Manmurray | 6 years ago
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For those who may be interested in the Tempest as a gravel frame but were put off by relatively small tyre clearances - had a mail from PX this morning saying the v2 frames (due in shortly) have clearance for up to 50mm tyres. Had been looking at a Reilly Gradient, think I’ll wait and see what the new Tempest is priced at first (given it’s ‘Reilly designed’) - current build and frame set prices on the PX site are all over the pop. 

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kil0ran replied to Manmurray | 6 years ago
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Manmurray wrote:

For those who may be interested in the Tempest as a gravel frame but were put off by relatively small tyre clearances - had a mail from PX this morning saying the v2 frames (due in shortly) have clearance for up to 50mm tyres. Had been looking at a Reilly Gradient, think I’ll wait and see what the new Tempest is priced at first (given it’s ‘Reilly designed’) - current build and frame set prices on the PX site are all over the pop. 

 

Ooh, interesting. Do they mention anything about the Spitfire? It was perfect for me except the 25mm tyre restriction.

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Jimnm | 6 years ago
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I bought a Spitfire ti with ultrega drive train. I paid a lot more than they are selling them for now. Great bike, I love it. 

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Tslater | 6 years ago
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Rob
I'm thinking of buying a planet x hurricane and 4 months after you posted above Ithere still arent any reviews. Are you still happy with the bike, and particularly the brakes? I've not read the greatest things about mechanic disc brakes, the Avid BB5 in particular.... lots of adjusting required etc. I suppose they could be on the list for an early upgrade..
Thanks
Tom

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jollygoodvelo replied to Tslater | 5 years ago
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Tslater wrote:

Rob I'm thinking of buying a planet x hurricane and 4 months after you posted above Ithere still arent any reviews. Are you still happy with the bike, and particularly the brakes? I've not read the greatest things about mechanic disc brakes, the Avid BB5 in particular.... lots of adjusting required etc. I suppose they could be on the list for an early upgrade.. Thanks Tom

BB5 brakes have been around forever and while they "work" when set up correctly, setting them up is a b#stard of a job, and you need to do it every five minutes.  The problem is they have one moving and one fixed (adjustable) pad, so the pad on the moving side actually has to bend the disc towards the other pad.

I replaced the BB5s on mine with TRP Spyre (where the pads grip the disc from both sides) and they're a million times better.  Five minutes to fit them too: fit loosely, connect the cable, pull the brake lever to centre the caliper, tighten the bolts.

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bertisfantastic | 6 years ago
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No worries. If you are near to brighton then you are welcome to come and have a look

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ChrisB200SX | 6 years ago
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There are some cheap Linskey(?) frames on offer in one of the major cycling online retailers, sorry I can't remember the details.

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Spangly Shiny replied to ChrisB200SX | 6 years ago
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ChrisB200SX wrote:

There are some cheap Linskey(?) frames on offer in one of the major cycling online retailers, sorry I can't remember the details.

Fat Birds Don't Fly is your best destination for Lynskey frames. I got mine there, 100% satisfied.

https://www.fatbirds.co.uk/lynskey

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CXR94Di2 replied to Spangly Shiny | 6 years ago
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Spangly Shiny wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

There are some cheap Linskey(?) frames on offer in one of the major cycling online retailers, sorry I can't remember the details.

Fat Birds Don't Fly is your best destination for Lynskey frames. I got mine there, 100% satisfied.

https://www.fatbirds.co.uk/lynskey

Fatbirds Hunstanton
King's Lynn Rd

https://goo.gl/maps/GicEKMvvMx42

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bertisfantastic | 6 years ago
2 likes

i have a px hurricane with sram force 22. ive got the xl size and its about 9.5kg. 

 

its a lovely bike. incredibly comfy to ride, significantly more so than my pro carbon. there is no road buzz at all. the brakes are good and it was surprisingly well set up when it arrived. there was a bit of a delay in getting it because they didnt have the forks so i ended up with some selcof cyclocross jobbies - they are a bit wider than the originals and are through axles but thats fine. 

 

it is not a race machine but then im not exactly a racing whippet. i can keep up on a club ride but the boys on the carbon are faster up hill than i am. i wanted an all round do anything bike and this is it - club rides, touring, commuting, putting a child seat on, even a bit of cyclocross / gravel riding. it can take tyres up to 35mm on the back and as ive got slighlty wider forks on the front; probably 40mm.

at some point ill put better wheels on it but at the moment it is perfect as a jack of all trades bike. 

 

rob

 

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Jimboakimbo replied to bertisfantastic | 6 years ago
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bertisfantastic wrote:

i have a px hurricane with sram force 22. ive got the xl size and its about 9.5kg. 

 

Thanks so much for this Rob - you are officially the first person to give feedback on these bikes!

Glad to hear you like your Hurricane.

 

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StraelGuy | 6 years ago
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I was looking at those and thought they looked a lot nicer than the Pickenflick with it's mangled downtube. I find the wording on the site very ambiguous as well. One paragraph suggests they're all hand built over here, the next paragraph suggests they're probably just designed over here and made in Taiwan like most bikes actually are.

Anyhow, I think they look brilliant and very good value for money.

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Jimboakimbo replied to StraelGuy | 6 years ago
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StraelGuy wrote:

 One paragraph suggests they're all hand built over here, the next paragraph suggests they're probably just designed over here and made in Taiwan like most bikes actually are.
 

 

I believe the frames are built in Vietnam... a country with a fine cycling pedigree of it's own!

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