US made Sage Powerline Titanium Hardtail MTB ready to go full gas on a trail near you

Written by Jessie-May Morgan Jan 20, 2020 12:01 a.m. ET

SAGE_POWERLINE_OWL_titanium-hardtail-mtb

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Sage Titanium add a new mountain bike to their line-up of US-manufactured Titanium bicycles in the form of the Sage Powerline, sitting between the Sage Optimator XC hardtail and the more aggressive geometry Flow Motion all-mountain bike. The Portland-made Powerline sits within the “Trail” category with a not-too-slack 67.5° head angle, but a surprisingly slack 71° seat tube angle, 1° slacker than the Flow Motion. Pitched as a versatile MTB, Sage Titanium say the Powerline will feel just as at home on your local flow trails, as it will racing an XC endurance event.

Sage Powerline Titanium Hardtail MTB

The Powerline sits on fast rolling 29″ wheels, with sufficient clearance for 2.5″ wide tyres. The frame geometry is designed around 130mm of fork travel and a 1x chainring drivetrain with clearance for up to 34T. Rear end spacing on the Powerline is modern at BOOST 148x12mm, chosen for the strong and nimble ride feel it brings.

While a great many hardtail manufacturer are going down the “longer, lower and slacker” route (eye-roll), it feels almost as though the designers of the Sage Powerline did quite the opposite in defiance of this rather overused phrase. The BB sits at a drop of 50mm, while the reach figures are relatively short across the Small to XL size range, from 396.8mm stretching out to just 469.3mm.

The Sage Powerline incorporates internal cable routing for a dropper seat post, and features Sage’s patented CCS (CCS Cable Clip System), bringing a clean overall finish to match the impeccable aesthetics and neat welding of the precision US-made 3/2.5 titanium frame.

SAGE_POWERLINE_CLIP-ccs — Sage’s Cable Clip System for neat routing of cables

Designed with input from the Sage Pro racers and ridden to victory in some of the most grueling Endurance races in Oregon such as the High Cascades 100 and the 6 Hours of Mt. Hood, Sage say the Powerline has shown a versatility that sets it apart from other hardtails within the category.

Sage-Powerline-Titanium-Hardtail-MTB-Geometry — Sage Powerline 29er Hardtail Geometry

Pricing & Availability

With that mouth watering finish, it will come as no surprise that this premium made-in-the-US Ti Hardtail mountain bike is a little on the pricey side, with the frame alone coming in at an eye watering $3,100. Full builds of the Sage Powerline are also available, with all spec from drivetrain and wheels, to headset and cockpit, customisable so you can build your dream bike.

SageTitanium.com

Jessie-May Morgan

1,362 articles

Jessie-May Morgan is the UK & Ireland Tech Editor of Bikerumor. She has been writing about Mountain Bike Riding and Racing, and all its weird and wonderful technology for 4 years. Prior to that, she was an Intern at the Mountain Bike Center of Scotland, and a Mountain Bike Coach and Leader in the Tweed Valley.

Based in Innerleithen, Scotland, Jessie-May can often be seen riding the Glentress Trail Center, and its neighboring Enduro and Downhill Tracks. She regularly competes in Enduro at a national level, and has recently competed on the World Stage at a handful of Enduro World Series events.

For Bikerumor, Jessie-May is testing the latest mountain bikes, equipment and kit, letting readers know what’s hot and what’s not.

For context, she weighs 60kg and stands at 5ft 4″ tall (163cm).

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17 Comments

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bmx

4 years ago

ti hardtails rule, no messy linkage to get mouldy with winter grit and enough spring to get through most rock gardens. I’d like this over my lynskey as the seatpost size isn’t very dropper friendly on mine but this is 3 times what I paid at cc for the ridgeline.

TomM

4 years ago

Reply to bmx

Last I heard, this and other Sage ti frames *are* Lynskeys. Sage contracts out to Lynskey to build the frames.

Jarrod Moore

4 years ago

Reply to TomM

Made by Lynskey =\= Lynsky

TheKaiser

4 years ago

Reply to TomM

As of Oct 2018, in the Flow Motion all mountain bike article linked in the 1st paragraph above, Sage were claiming the frames are “not” Lynskey and are instead welded “in house in Portland”. This article still says “Portland” made, and I would think there was some of the typical bike industry obfuscation conflating location of design and manufacture, were it not for the explicit denial from the previous article.

You all would know the Lynskey signatures better than I though.

steve

4 years ago

literally anyone offering production-run quantities of american made ti frames is selling you a lynskey.

Alan

4 years ago

The chart lists the “effective seat tube angle”, which, if I interpret correctly, is the better reference vs the actual. I think the actual is a result of the kink lower down. 73.75 is not unusual for a hardtail.

Jeff

4 years ago

So tell me again what benefit is gained in the performance and usability of this bike by the location in which it is made? Other than a marketing ploy and justification to drastically overcharge, what benefit does it being US made bring to the table? (Asking as a US citizen).

Anytime I see a company pushing the US made thing I assume that the product is inferior to non US made products compared to it’s price and is trying to invoke some patriotism emotional response in its customers to look past those short comings and still make the purchase.

bmx

4 years ago

Reply to Jeff

Probably quality of material if its ti tubing. Sure Asia can get quality tubing but its difficult to confirm that they are using the right stuff. in America the tubing would be coming from a aerospace supplier and probably be fabricated by aerospace engineers so the story goes. Also jobs at home keeps the money in the country which is possibly the best argument going.

Jeff

4 years ago

Reply to bmx

I would bet the tubing is all coming from the same place and it of the same quality. Also, I am pretty sure the no aerospace peeps are making bike frames. They are bike frame peeps that know how to weld ti. Just like in Asia. There are many consumer direct Ti frames now that can even be made to custom specs for less than half of what this company is charging. 50%+ price difference is more than just increased labor cost, that is greed.

bmx

4 years ago

Reply to Jeff

lynskey were originally an aerospace suppliers. ti alloy was originally only available as an aerospace material. its cost was prohibitive for anything else due to production costs.

Ol' Shel'

4 years ago

Reply to Jeff

This site is based in the US, and I would guess that the majority of viewers are in the US. I don’t know about you and the customs where you live, but in the US there is , among some, a feeling that keeping US dollars circulating within the US helps to keep US wages and employment higher. Sending money to countries where wages are lower results in US wages also dropping. SOME think that this is a negative thing.

JNH

4 years ago

Reply to Jeff

Mehanically nothing, it probably won’t ride any better than a well made Taiwanese Ti frame nor will it be better made. It will be better than a Chinese Ti frame, ChiTi is like ChiSteel, cheap tubes welded about half as straight as the cheapest factory over the border in Taiwan.
.
It does help you in a more statistical way though. Money spent in the US stays in the US, contributes to US taxes, gets spent in US businesses. Once that money’s gone to Taiwan/China/wherever it’s out of your economy forever, they aren’t buying anything from the US.

Jon

4 years ago

I am based in the USA. We manufacture non-bike equipment in the US and China at factories that we own. The supply chain in the USA is more likely to get you a legitimate part or material. There is tremendous pressure in China to substitute lesser materials. We would get quotes for very inexpensive parts made in China only to find out that if we wanted the part made out of a verifiable UL listed material it was not much less than something made in the USA. Unless you are careful your supplier will substitute cheaper materials. As long as you spend time continuously auditing the supply chain you are fine.

Yawn

4 years ago

who wants a bike with geometry from 8 years ago? nothing “full gas” about this thing.

tom j

4 years ago

Reply to Yawn

yeah, because every few years you need to satisfied by a new gimmick? only so many ways to alter geometry, and ….gasp…. some of those ideas have be proven for decades!