Chris Perry of Perry Titanium rocked up to Lee Valley Velodrome last week to show his prototype Habu 130mm Titanium Trail Bike at Bespoked 2022. The 130mm travel mountain bike runs a basic single-pivot suspension platform, a fixed titanium seat post and a multi-hand position comfort handlebar also fabricated from titanium.
Perry Titanium Habu
Chris Perry made his first titanium mountain bike back in 1987, and has remained faithful to the so-called “magic metal” ever since. He says that first bike was as good as any titanium XC bike available on the market at the time, putting it through its paces racing multiple cross-country events.
Thirty-five years later, Chris is still fabricating components from titanium – not just for the cycling industry, though. While he also makes his own seat post and handlebar, Chris has also been in the business of making Ti components for Caterham 7s. The Habu 130mm Trail Bike is his most recent creation.
“I don’t worry about trends and I ride what I want to” – Chris Perry. Kudos for that! For Chris, it seems that if other people want to ride his components and bikes, too… well, that’s simply a bonus. He says that, on his website, you will find only dependable products that he has made for himself and enjoys riding with.
With that in mind, the Habu isn’t exactly what you might expect from a Trail Bike by today’s standards. It is missing a what-now-seems ubiquitous dropper seat post, and it is home to a “comfort” titanium bar offering multiple hand positions. It is also dedicated to 27.5″ wheels only. Chris based the Titanium Habu on a 2:1 leverage ratio, largely because he had very much enjoyed riding bikes with a similar ratio in the past, and wanted to reproduce that here.
Chris’s Habu prototype has a Boost rear-end, and is designed to run 120mm or 130mm of rear wheel travel, but the prototype we saw at Bespoked was a 130mm. It can be designed to take a 120mm, 130mm or 140mm fork with a head angle of the customer’s choosing. The recommended seat tube angle is 74 or 75 degrees, while reach and thus wheelbase can be specified by the customer. Chris’s frame has a 440mm chainstay length offering clearance for a 27.5″ x 2.6″ rear tire. The BB height is set at 335mm static, assuming a 720mm tire outside diameter.
The frame is composed of a Grade 9 Titanium tubeset, tig-welded, with water-jet cut Grade 5 titanium plates. All of the machining is done on manual, non-cnc machines. Chris gets all the welding done by the very same he same Lloyds Registered coded welders and fabricators who welded his first bike frame back in 1987 – a company with over 45 years experience working with titanium.
The Titanium Habu frame is still in the final stages of design and testing and is not currently available to purchase. However, when ready, each frame will be made to order to the customer’s requirement and a dimensioned working drawing will be produced for sign-off by the client prior to manufacture. The standard specification is as follows:
- 44mm straight internal diameter headtube for tapered steerer tubes
- 41mm internal diameter x 92mm wide press fit bottom bracket shell
- 148mm x 12mm
- 230mm eye-to-eye shock length
- 1x drivetrains only with maximum 38T chainring
- 30.9mm diameter seat post diameter
- External cable routing
- ISCG-05 Mount
- ISCG plate type rear disk brake mount
Chris sets up his Habu prototype with a comfort handlebar of his own making. He designed the bar such that, at the widest point you have an effective shorter stem for when you are going through singletrack or down steep hills and chutes. Then, on the flat, you can come forward on the bars for a better position for powering along. If you are going along a road or a fire road into head wind, you can come onto the extensions and get more aero. He says his bars are not just for mountain bikes, but gravel bikes too.
For more information on Perry Titanium, head to the website.
