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New Guru Praemio R Oversized Titanium Road Bike Makes Ti Racier

Written by Tyler Benedict
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Guru Praemio R oversized titanium racing road bike

The new Guru Praemio R is a race-level full titanium bike.

“We wanted to build a ti bike that could go toe to toe with any crit bike out there,” said Josh Novis, Guru’s sales rep. “The Praemio R frame features make it stiff enough to crank on but with the compliant ride that ti is known for.”

The Praemio R has the tapered 44mm headtube, a PressFit BB30 bottom bracket and “the industry’s only 1” ti chainstays. Combined with the massive 44.5mm diameter downtube, the bike has a very stiff bottom half for proper power transfer.

Guru Praemio R oversized titanium racing road bike

Up top, the thinner top tube and 12mm seatstays provide a more compliant ride, something the titanium exaggerates in a good way.

Guru Praemio R oversized titanium racing road bike

The massive chainstays provide some tire clearance challenges. They had to mount them wide on the BB, which required welding as far put as they could without distorting the BB shell.

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They also had to get a new roller die tool to pinch the tubes at the front to clear both the tire and chainrings. Another new tool was needed to cold work a bend into the back of the tube. The result is clearance for a 700×25 tire and a fatter chainstay than you’ll find on any other ti bike.

Guru Praemio R oversized titanium racing road bike

Dropouts are machined aluminum and are mainly done to differentiate it visually. The added flair doubles as a replaceable dropout.

Guru Praemio R oversized titanium racing road bike

Starts at $4,500 in full custom geometry with an ENVE 2.0 tapered fork. Frame weight is around 1300g for a 54.

Guru is primarily a custom builder, with lead times only around 4-6 weeks. However, they’ve expanded their Fast Forward program to offer more stock choices and help some rider get a new bike for less than full custom if a stock bike will fit.

New Photon, Evolo R and Praemio andthe CR901 and CR701 triathlon/TT bikes are now available through their Fast Forward geometry program. That offers several stock geometries and paint schemes that can speed up delivery to as little as one to two days.
Tyler Benedict
11,295 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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Kovas
Kovas
12 years ago

Hasn’t Kent Eriksen (Steamboat, CO) been building bikes with 1″ Ti chainstays for a while now?
Pretty sick looking bike nonetheless.

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Dan
Dan
12 years ago

Kovas, that is absolutely true. So does Spectrum and, if memory serves correctly, a couple other builders.

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Sascha
Sascha
12 years ago

Aluminium dropouts seem silly on a Ti bike to me…6/4 dropouts on my Merlin’s have been bombproof so far…

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Don
Don
12 years ago

Great looking bike, however……………BB30 is no good. Tolerances between the BB shell and bearing are never going to be close enough and you will get a creaking or cracking noise. It also does not add stiffness to a Ti bike, not sure where people get that from?
My only other knock on the frame is I would prefer a chainstay bridge.
All that being said, it’s still a great looking frame and I am sure it’s a blast to ride.
I have a Litespeed Archon and love it!

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brian
brian
12 years ago

They should have built this wit SRAM RED and used the real BB30 crank instead of an adapeter-ized Shimano. Much more heel clearance, lighter, and more kickass.

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brian
brian
12 years ago

Looks real nice though. Sweet!

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J
J
12 years ago

Nice looking bike,,,but its still a Guru. Based on all the Guru’s that keep coming back into our shop for warranty. I’ll pass.

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Joey Sivilla
Joey Sivilla
12 years ago

Those are not aluminum dropouts… You obviously cant weld aluminum to Ti but it’s just an insert trim piece doubling as a replacable dropout. I work for Guru and I’ve never seen 1 titanium frame come back.. The only reason carbon frames come back is because they push the envelope of technology, stiffness, weight to points never explored by other companies and they take that chance. Whether or not the frames come back, they handle each warranty return with priority, respect and care. Trust me. You cannot go wrong with any Guru purchase. Also, this frame is available with any Sram, Campy or Shimano gruppo. The quality that goes into each of those frames is crazy. The frames will not advance in any steps of fabrication unless

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Paul Usypchuk
Paul Usypchuk
11 years ago

I have owned a Guru Praemio for 4 years setup = Frame: Titanium with custom rear carbon stay, Forks: Easton EC90 Carbon, Groupset (Shifters , Brakes , Crankset , crank arm , Rear Derailleur , Front Derailleur, Chain , Cassette, Bottom Bracket): Shimano Dura Ace 7800
Peddles: Dura Ace 7800, Wheelset: (rims/hubs/spokes/quick release skewers) Reynolds Assault Clincher 700C Road Bike Carbon Wheels, Handlebar: Ritchey WCS Evolution Carbon Fiber Road Drop Handlebar, Axis Stem: Ritchey Pro, Headset: Cane Creek, Seat Post: Carbon 9cm stem, Saddle: Fizik
Just had it stolen and I was devastated. I now have the opportunity to purchase/ride just about any bike I want and I am going back to Guru to purchase another Praemio.. This was, and will once again be the BEST ride every… I logged more than 20,000 Kilometers on the Guru that was stolen and the bike rode as if it was new. Trust me these guys at Guru know what they are doing. Oh one more thing any time I had any questions regarding anything biking the folks at Guru always treated like I was their best customer.

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ginsu
ginsu
11 years ago

The Praemio still doesn’t use butted tubing, and a lower grade of titanium as well. Although it does have higher elongation so it will be more comfortable than 6Al/4V. Of course, anybody who pays too much for cheap tubing is going to argue about how ‘great’ the bike is. But, I expect a reviewer to be more objective and, at least, not make completely inaccurate statements like:

“They use diameter rather than butting to doctor the stiffness of the frame. They say this gives the desired result without adding the additional weight and complexity of butting.”

Titanium 3Al/2.5V 90-95 KSI
Titanium 6Al/4V 130-145 KSI

From Reynolds:

“Reynolds as a lighter alternative to straight gauge tubing offers double-butted 3Al/2.5V titanium tubing. Thicknesses are down to 0.6mm on mainframe tubes. This tube set will build a very reliable, lightweight, and excellent riding frame that will last a lifetime.”

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