any Transition riders on here?

Tagged: , ,

Viewing 11 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • #72544

      does anyone on here ride a Transition bike? I’ve been drooling over their BottleRocket frame. tho a bit pricy (around $1200 for the frame, same price for the build kit that transition offers) it’s a truely awesome looking frame and looks like it can take some serious punishment. the Vagrant is a particularly burly hardtail bike that can do mild DH, commuting, technical trail, climbs, the Trail-Or-Park is a straight-up hardtail dirtjump bike, the Double is basically a FS dirtjump bike, the Convert is more all mountain/XC oriented, the Preson FR is designed for more freeriding, the DirtBag is a freeride bike, and the Blindside is a full-on DH ride. here’s Transition’s website: http://www.transitionbikes.com/2007/index.cfm

    • #72545

      Hey there Slyp D, I checked out the Bottle Rocket and the only thing that concerned me was that it did not have a "horst link" in the rear. I would bet you that if Specialized did not have a patent on it, it would be used in more bike designs. Some companies can get away with not having this link (Turner, Santa Cruz, come to mind), but if you have noticed, Trek has redesigned that area of it`s Fuel this year to better "mimic" a "horst link" (and have succeeded according to some), just something to think about. It would be nice to ride that bike before buying it. One more thing, I have never ridden a Turner or Santa Cruz for that matter, but I have owned and test ridden other riders bikes that did not have a "horst link" design, and I could definitely tell the difference myself. Take care 😃

    • #72546

      ah. it still looks like it could take some abuse, tho. would the link on the Preson FR be called a horst link, or is it just a regular rocker arm? (to use the 1:1 suspension terminology for lack of a better term
      EDIT: and what exactly is the benefit of a horst link? all I can see is it lowers the shock in the frame to lower the center of gravity. only problem with this is it makes flipping the lockout switch on the fly that much harder compared to a higher mounted shock, at least one would think anyway.

    • #72547

      The Preson FR does not have a horst link either, but I agree with you that these bikes look like they could take a whuppen. It would take a full page to explain the what, where, when, who`s and why`s of the horst link design (I was hoping that Bomdardier would chime in here and give you a different perspective) but if you would look at a Specialized or Titus (they licensed the patent from Specialized) rear dropout, you`ll notice that the pivot point is on the chainstay, as opposed to the seatstay (I`m using hardtail lingo hear, but you know what I mean). It could be that these fellows have figured out how to cure "brakejack" like the guys at Turner have (at least thats what I`ve read). Maybe somebody that owns one of these bikes will give his testimonial on it.

    • #72548

      there are a few people on pirate4X4 who seem to love their Transition Converts (everyone on there who owns one suggests them to people looking for a new bike) but no-one on there has anything else from Transition.

    • #72549

      $1200 for a FS frame is actually pretty decent…. My Nomad frame was double that!
      The Transition Preston is a short-travel freeride frame, easily suitable for jumping and aggressive trail riding. If you’re looking for a do-everything ride, the Preston, Covert or Bottle-Rocket is definitely not a bad choice!

      And believe it or not, the "Horst" linkage is not the end-all be-all for suspension designs…. A huge majority of the claims made by the different suspension companies are just marketing hype. In fact, the performance of many modern FS bikes is so close as to be imperceptable except through actual laboratory testing. I’ve been nearly flayed alive by Horst-link fans when I’ve tried explaining this! The problem is, we humans aren’t very good lab tools, and each person will experience a bike in a different way, along with our being susceptible to bias given by other riders and media.

      A good place that explains things is: [u:apx0n4c7]Suspension Path Analysis[/u:apx0n4c7]…. Hope your math-skills are up to speed….. Whoa mama!
      I highly recommend this program, it’s quite enlightening!
      [u:apx0n4c7]Linkage Program[/u:apx0n4c7]

      I used to ascribe to all of the hype surrounding "Horst" links, VPP, Singlepivot, faux-bar, URT, DW, etc….. And after riding for a while on the Horst & VPP linkages, while testing the others from time to time, I realized that a grand majority of the quirks ascribed to each design is not the fault of the engineer’s, it’s the rider’s fault!!!… Especially after really reading the I-path Analysis page given above, and using the "Linkage" software.
      Brake-jack, pedal-bob, "stink-bugging", all can be ascribed to poor rider positioning, poor pedalling habits, poor suspension setup, and poor braking habits. I’ve been able to replicate or eliminate each of the evils that suspension’s are supposed to take care of just by changing my riding & tuning habits.

    • #72550

      See Slyp Dawg, I figured Bombardier would have a different take on the horst link design, which is good, you get 2 sides to the story. That being said, I would beg or borrow a ride on a couple of different designs and choose what moved me. Even after reading Bombardier`s opinion, I`m still a horst link "zealot" (yes, I happily drink the horst link "kool aid", long live Mr. Horst Leitner!!! ).

    • #72551

      Hey Slyp Dawg, have you ever considered a Santa Cruz Nomad? Found this one on Ebay, it`s an 07 med. frame that starts bidding at $1100. These are good looking bikes that are at the top of the food chain. I have never heard anything but praise for this bike and I think Bombardier has one too. I know I`m constantly beating the big red S`s drum, but if I wanted a top quality bike that could take a bigger hit than my Stumpy (which believe me, at my age, I don`t), this bike would be at the top of my list. Of course I don`t know how big you are, so this frame might be too big, or too small for you. I don`t know what the winning bid would be, but you never know, a person could get lucky. Something to think about. http://tinyurl.com/yrzqst

    • #72552

      I do indeed have a Nomad…. worth every penny. I paid top dollar for mine right after they hit the market, and spared no expense turning it into a monster. Earlier frames with the 1-1/8" headtube can be found for sale cheap, or at least cheaper than mine! Newer ones are set up with a 1-1/2" headtube. It’s definitely a trailbike with downhill DNA, and will not disappoint however you decide to build it….. Hey, at least it’s not a Specy or singlespeed! 😼

    • #72553

      as nice as the Nomads are I just prefer the beefy design of the Transition bikes, and the fact that I can get one new for little more than the lowest used price on a Nomad frame. plus the generally low top tube is a major plus on the BottleRocket (found out the benefits of a low top tube on my I-Drive on more than one occasion. oow…).

    • #72554

      cjm

      I ride a transition vagrant. The guys at my old shop in NoVa were transition junkies. So I played with the Gran Mal and the Dirt Bag. There are other equally stout bikes out there, but I haven’t seen anything burlier. I also found the geometry really dialed for gravity riding. I rode my Vagrant on all of my favorite DH trails back in Va. It took me a bit longer to get the bottom but it survived. I can’t say the same for the rear wheel. It also doubles as my hardtail All mountain bike.

    • #72555

      ah, good to know that someone has a transition and likes it. I’m 95% sure that my next full squish bike is going to be based around a transition frame, probably a bottlerocket, possibly a Preston FR depending on how much money I have to spend.

Viewing 11 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.