It all began with a 2004 Marin Rocky Ridge and it ended with Rockyvento, effectively a titanium copy of the Marin frame...

Why? I loved the Marin's short top tube, ability to handle a 140mm hot fork injection and general chuckability, but I wanted something with a softer rear end and, erm, a more rounded feel to it. Turned out Setavento would make me a ti frame with the same geometry for a bargain £650. Sorted...

Well, not quite. I wanted to make sure the headtube was strong enough to keep the forks pointing roughly forwards and that the ride was soft rather than alloy like but made from ti. James at Setavento was brilliant all along and considering this was the first reinforced headtube the company's made, I think the result is pretty good.

To keep the ride compliant, the top tube, seat tube and stays are standard issue, while the downtube is oversized. There's probably a small reduction in torsional stiffness, but it pays off with a distinctive soft, damped ride from the rear end.

Genetic Engineering

And the geometry? I didn't trust myself to get the measurements and angles right, so I simply sent the Marin frame off to China to be replicated.

And just - ahem - eight months later, the frame turned up. To be fair to Setavento they moved their operation across the world during that time and I was a picky customer who insisted on weird detail touches like the brake hose routing on the right-hand side of the top tube for neatness.

Build was mostly bits cadged off the Marin. That means RockShox Pike Air U-Turns up front for a combination of relative lightness and front end oomph, reliable Shimano XT discs 203mm front and 180mm rear for Spanish-friendly stopping power and Crossmax XL wheels.

The cranks are RaceFace Turbines running on an SKF Isis bottom bracket - I'd had enough of short-lived HT2 bearings and the perversity of choosing Isis just appealed, and hey, they look nice on the bike.

Chasing Tails

But what you really want to know is how does it ride. Abso-fecking-lovely is the answer. It's got all the Rocky Ridge's high grin factor dog chasing its own tail in circles frisky foolishness, but with an uncanny added softness.

It's almost a sound barrier thing. Hit a certain speed and suddenly the ride smooths out uncannily, hard-edged bumps lose their bite and the bike serves up a damped, soft ride that just makes you want to hammer it over and through things it didn't really oughta like.

It's lost a touch of torsional stiffness over the taut-handling Rocky Ridge, but the pay-off is that softer ride - long seat post and big tyres help too - and it's worth it. The bike feels like a keeper, it can take all-day rides in the Peak or hard technical riding in its stride and it looks, well, judge for yourself... I'm happy :-)