Forbidden Bikes Unveils Hardcore Titanium Hardtails Built for a Lifetime of Abuse
Lately, it's all been about eMTBs, carbon this, high-pivot that, but not today. Forbidden Bikes pours up a cup of refreshing titanium hardtail goodness with two new options for riders who want a bike that won't let you down for a lifetime of year-round abuse, questionable adventures, and poor-route planning. The Heathen and Puritan are bikes that adhere to tried-and-true standards, proportional geometry, and a frame material that will never be obsolete.
Forbidden is calling the Puritan and the Heathen the newest members of their "Bicycle Witchcraft family". Made from titanium, with proportionally sized geo numbers, these are designed for the rider looking for a lifetime of simplicity. And no, there’s no idler pulley or a high-pivot layout, just burly titanium tubes and an insatiable hunger for singletrack. This limited run of titanium frames is designed to be ridden without a delicate foot on the pedals and kept for a lifetime.
The Puritan
Details
- 50mm Rockshox Rudy XL Fork and Cane Creek headset included
- Designed for a flat bar with a 60mm stem
- Optimized for 700c x 2.0″ (50mm) tyres
- 160mm brake rotors recommended
- Clean, rattle-free external cable routing
- 73mm threaded bottom bracket
- 142 x 12 rear hub spacing (gravel standard)
- Accessory mounts on the top tube and down tube
- Rear fender and rack mounts
- Room for two 750ml+ bottles
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Forbidden Bikes
The Puritan has room for up to 700c x 2.0″ (50 mm) tires and uses Forbiddens ‘ONERIDE’ proportional sizing to blend gravel efficiency with the comfort and stability of a hardtail MTB. It’s not a gravel bike, it’s not a mountain bike. It’s just a sick bike.
The proportionally sized titanium frame is built for whatever you like. Take it on gravel, go bikepacking, race an alleycats, do grocery runs, hit the dirt jumps, or whatever. Just don’t try to put it in a box, baby doesn’t like it.
The Puritan is designed with a flat bar and a 60mm stem in mind; that's not to say you can't build it with drop bars, but expect some much longer reach numbers and less-than-optimal handling. Flat bar gravel is back.
Pricing
- CAD MSRP – $4,599
- US MSRP – $4,199 (incl. tariffs)
- UK MSRP – £3,299 (incl. VAT)
- EUR MSRP – €3,999 (incl. VAT)
Geometry
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The Heathan
Details
- S1 & S2: MX | S3 & S4: Full 29
- Optimized for 130mm Fork
- Progressive geometry with slack head angle
- Clean, rattle-free external cable routing
- Unlimited seatpost insertion
- 73mm threaded bottom bracket
- 148 x 12 rear hub spacing
- Accessory mounts under the top tube
- Room for one 750ml+ bottle
The Heathan is a modern, aggressive hardtail MTB featuring the same ONERIDE's proportional sizing and is happiest with a 130mm fork, but a 140mm could really unlock the steeps. The Heathen wants to be ridden hard and put away, caked in trail debris. Thanks to the Ti tubing, the Heathen will last forever as a winter slayer, or it could be the garage princess, clad in the most expensive components you can find, only to be ridden on the nicest of days. But the former sounds way more appealing to me.
The smaller sizes (S1 & S2) run an MX wheel setup, while S3 & S4 are full wagon wheels with 29 front and rear. The reason for the size split is to allow forbidden to maintain a perfect front-to-rear centreline ratio and preserve the intended ride characteristics across sizes.
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Forbidden Bikes
The slack head angle could be a flash bang for some, but from my experience, a slack head tube with a short fork on a well-considered hardtail is the recipe for a great time. A shorter fork keeps the geometry consistent under load, which means the bike doesn’t feel terribly unruly when the going gets choppy.
Toss XC and trail into a blender, don’t add rear wheel travel, and what you get is a chalice brimming with the Heathen. Made for those rides where you didn’t do any route planning and can’t be bothered to look at a trail map. If you want to hit singletrack, load it up and bikepack, or go get ignorant on the local rut track, the Heathen is down for it all.
Pricing
- CAD MSRP – $3,599
- USD MSRP – $3,399 (incl. tariffs)
- UK MSRP – £2,599 (incl. VAT)
- EUR MSRP – €3,199 (incl. VAT)
Geometry
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