Powerful, robust and rad – so who is it for?

| WORDS: Myles Kelsey | IMAGES: Chris Taylor | Location: Paarl |

Across their extensive range of kids’, road, gravel, and mountain bikes, Titan Racing’s commitment to innovation, quality, and value is unmistakable. So it comes as little surprise to see them step into the full-suspension eMTB market with a striking new model backed by a spec sheet that delivers in all the right areas.

Over the past six years, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time riding and reviewing Titan Racing’s XC, Trail, Gravel and Road bikes – each one proving to be a strong performer with price points that are hard to beat. However, bringing that same level of success into the more technically demanding full-suspension eMTB segment – where design and engineering challenges are far greater – may well be the brand’s biggest test yet.

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Video Review

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Features and Details

The Volt is a 140mm rear and 150mm front suspension, full 29er and full-power eMTB. With three models in the range pricing starts at R65k and rolls up to around R85k. All three models in the lineup feature the same alloy frame, driveunit and battery, with different build kits.

For this review, Titan Racing supplied us with the eThree model which sits at the top of the range, with the eTwo and eOne below. The rear suspension layout is the well-known and popular for good reason, Horst Link design.

The Volt is available in four frame sizes, that’s small through to extra-large. The corresponding reach numbers for those sizes are 435, 455, 480 and 505 which is a healthy spread, covering a wide range of the rider spectrum.

The designers opted out of any geometry adjust features, flip chips and gadgetry. Meaning the head angle is pegged at 65.5° and the bottom bracket height is 343.5mm. Head tube length is pretty contemporary, for example the size large sits at 120mm, which starts the stack height from a good base.

I’d classify the rest of the geometry numbers as ‘middle of the road’ – in other words, there’s nothing overly progressive or too futuristic about the layout of the chassis. Of course, being a Trail bike, built for any kind of terrain, all models in the lineup are sold stock with dropper posts.

Looking closer at some of the more important parts of the build kit on an eMTB, the suspension is from RockShox with a Lyrik fork and a Super Deluxe rear shock. The fork has rebound adjust and a single compression dial that when turned all the way in, does lock the fork out. The shock has rebound adjust and an open or closed compression dial – again, will full lockout as an option.

The brakes are a base level model from the house of Shimano, known as the MT401, which are also known for performing far above expectations. Along with the all-alloy frame is an alloy wheelset with rims from Prime laced to Shimano hubs.

Vittoria’s eBike-specific Agarro 2.4″ tyres run front and rear on the Volt. They feature a four compound layering to optimize grip, rolling speeds and durability. As far as eMTB tyres go, these are a pretty minimalist tread pattern which scream low-rolling resistance and an upside of increased range per charge – which rang true in the range test.

The 12-speed drivetrain is Shimano’s mechanical XT, that’s the derailleur and shifter. Also, there’s plenty attention to detail to be seen, like the fully customized chainstay protector, mostly internal cable routing and a utility mount under the top tube.

The charge port sits on the side of the downtube and has a simple rubber cap that folds closed. The remote controller has a fixed display showing essentials like the remaining battery charge, current speed, distance and support mode.

The Ananda driveunit has five support modes of Boost, Turbo, Sport, Tour and Eco, plus a walk mode. The maximum torque available is 100Nm, which is on par with where most full-power eMTBs currently are and personally, I don’t think the industry should go higher than this number.

The Ananda motor weighs around 2.8kg (unconfirmed) and has a two-year warranty backed locally by Titan Racing themselves. The Volt features a 630Wh internal battery that charges from zero to full in around five hours and the crew at Titan Racing tell me they will carry stock of extra batteries. For a full-power motor, the Ananda is pretty compact looking.

Our size large test bike weighed in at 24.09kg which is inside the ballpark of where many full-power, alloy, 29er eMTBs are these days. A key feature of this bike is the multi-user warranty that runs for five years from date of first purchase and I’m battling to find the words to emphasize how much value this adds to the investment. Massive kudos to Titan Racing for this.

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Ride Impressions

PERFORMANCE OF THE DRIVEUNIT | In total, I’ve done about nine hours of riding on the Volt. I’ll just start off by saying there’s plenty of get-up-and-go coming from the Ananda motor. If I did a drag race against my personal bike which has a Shimano motor, the Volt would be a good few seconds faster in a 100m sprint from standing start. Whilst it is punchier than my Shimano bike, it isn’t quite as natural or refined in feeling as the Shimano motor. Some people like numbers for this kind of thing and although it’s purely subjective I’d say the Ananda is perhaps 5% less natural than my Shimano motor that I’ve spent a lot of time on. Unlike can be found on some other systems, low-cadence efforts didn’t seem to be a problem with the Volt – you can grind away and the system responds with just as much power as on higher cadences.

There’s a few things I really liked about the Ananda system. It wins with five support modes, in terms of ease of operation – there’s no Apps and no tuning needed – again, it wins. The aesthetics of the motor are right up there with the best. More winning. In terms of motor noise I used pure bro science and no lab testing on this one. So the Ananda is not loud like the early generation Bosch motors, nor is it as quiet as the new Levo – I’d peg the noise level as acceptable and slotting in somewhere between the older Bosch and new Levo. Analogue riders will hear you coming but they won’t throw multi-tools or bananas at you for disturbing the dassies. When descending and the motor is disengaged, there’s no rattle or any sound whatsoever from the driveunit and there’s absolutely no perceptible motor drag. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the performance of the driveunit and personally wouldn’t shy away from owning one.

RANGE TEST | With this bike leaning a little more towards stage racing, trail riding, adventures and exporing as opposed to full-bore Enduro, an Eco mode range test was in order. Now, I’ve heard rumours of riders clocking 100km in Eco mode on the Volt and whilst I think that’s possible, I’d hazard a guess that was done with minimal elevation gain.

My range test was more of a real-world Trail ride – with mixed terrain that I have from my doorstep. So, on a single charge, using only Eco mode (the lowest support level) I completed 83km, with 1600m of elevation in 4.5 hours of ride time. A couple other crucial details: with my riding gear, GoPro and a steak dinner, I weigh 75kgs. My fitness level is okay – I do about 6 hours of analogue riding per week – plus gym and core work.

95% of the terrain I used for the range test was made up of walking paths, forest trails, district roads and 5% would have been on short sections of public (tar) roads that link the dirt. I think, for a 630Wh battery, that’s a very decent range number. Having ridden many eBikes in the last 10 years, I can say the Volt does have impressive range. However, shredders, who fit the Volt with a chunkier set of tyres, would see those range numbers diluted somewhat – I’d figure potentially by as much as 15%.

BUILD KIT AND DURABILITY | Whilst I never disrespect a test bike or do anything on them that I wouldn’t subject my own bike to, I do ride them hard. That’s the only way to establish any weak spots, creaks or flaws. Other than a little rasping of the mechanical shifting that was easy enough to fix (took all of 30 seconds) there’s no unwanted frame flex in the Volt, no weak wheels or anything untoward, to report.

The saddle is really comfortable, the grips are soft, the cockpit is perfectly specced and the suspension has been flawless. Opulent shoppers may move to more powerful brakes or a more stout fork but on every ride I was repeatedly impressed with the build kit. Initially I thought the weakest link would be the rims (I haven’t come across that brand before) but on my last test ride, when I pushed a little too hard in the forest and smashed both rims directly against a huge root, there was no damage. It was a huge impact, the kind that breaks a carbon rim, yet there was no damage to these wheels, or tyres.

WHO IS IT SUITED TO | So I think about 2% of the eMTB riding community, let’s call them the absolute hardcore Enduro crew who ride extremely technical terrain, might prefer more aggressive geometry, MX wheelsizing and more travel than the Volt has. However, for 98% of eMTB riders, the Volt is a do-everything eMTB that’s also a lot of fun to ride.

VERDICT | With the Volt, Titan Racing has delivered a well-rounded, thoughtfully engineered eMTB that blends raw power with composed trail manners. Whether you’re powering up rocky climbs, dropping into your favourite descent or smashing miles on district roads, the Volt feels like the real deal — powerful, robust and ready to ride. //

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