What’s everyone riding these days?

code3 said:
I picked up a new to me Transition Sentinel carbon X01 build last week, and I’ve been out for a few short rides on it and thought I’d leave a quick short term review since I’ve seen that there are a couple people who have the bike on their short list. For those who don’t want to get into reading beyond a couple sentences, the TLDR version is that it’s a fun bike & I’m really pleased with my purchase.

My original shortlist was between the Sentinel, and Transition Smuggler, and a Santa Cruz Nomad. I realize that they are 3 very different bikes, so I thought long and hard about the type of riding that I like to do, as well as what kind of riding that I am most likely to do. Ideally, I knew that I wanted a 29er, so in reality the real choice was between the Transition’s unless I could find a screaming deal on the Santa Cruz. Ultimately, I decided on the long travel bike since even though most of my riding is in Riverside’s Sycamore, I’m not too far from either Greer or Hulda, and I’m very likely to put a significant number of park days on the bike between Skypark, Summit & Mammoth.

Onto the bike. My first impressions of the bike were that it was big, and that if felt heavier than my alloy Scout. The heavy feeling came as a surprise as the Sentinel is at least 3lb less than the Scout. After the 3rd ride I’ve since become accustomed to the bike and no longer feel the weight, but I’ve also noticed that I’ve been sitting and spinning up hills, and not really up in a sprinting position as much as I was on the Scout. If you’ve read any reviews, the press is definitely not lying when they say this bike is made to cruise to the top, and the magic doesn’t happen until you turn around to bomb to the bottom.

Getting the bike down the hill has been a lot of fun. My previous bike was a Transition Scout and I rode it everywhere. While it was capable, It would tend to get overwhelmed in places and I was bottoming it out on a lot of the drops on my everyday loop. Even though I still don’t have the suspension fully dialed, I’ve noticed the ride is incredibly composed. Additionally, I’m no longer blowing through all of my travel despite the fact that I’m hucking off everything. In fact, at this point the only reason I’m not going faster, is because I keep scrubbing speed because I think that I’m going to blow through corners. I’m not really sure why I’m not blowing through corners, the bike feels so much longer than the Scout, but it just finds a line, and it’s on a rail. It’s mind boggling to me how it corners better than the smaller bike, but somehow the Sentinel lays over and just crushes the turns. So far, my only perceived negative is that the Sentinel brakes a little more progressively than the Scout, which is taking some getting used to. Once I’ve grown accustomed to that, I’ll be interested to see what I can do with it.

View attachment 48795
Click to expand...

@code3 what is your height/inseam and what size bike is that? I'm currently debating between the sentinal, kona process, nomad and bike that will be released soon. I'm going to pair either of these with a trance 29 carbon so I'm looking for a heavier hitting bike. My concern is that the transition is going to feel like a school bus and will be long and hard to keep playful. At 6'2" and 33/34 inseam I clearly need to be on an XL, but that ends up being a MASSIVE bike.

What are your thoughts? Did you demo the nomad against this? I ended up really liking the nomad. Super confidence inspiring and you really feel in the bike and not on it, sorta like a dirtbike. That being said, it's essentially too much bike, but that's one of the things I like about it.
 
Hey, if it's good for ya, do it up. More people should be riding ridiculous and boring exercise bikes!! And remember that a lot of people think what we love to do is dumb, too.


On that note...Happy Friday night and happy weekend, spokespeople :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 
Ebruner said:
@code3 what is your height/inseam and what size bike is that? I'm currently debating between the sentinal, kona process, nomad and bike that will be released soon. I'm going to pair either of these with a trance 29 carbon so I'm looking for a heavier hitting bike. My concern is that the transition is going to feel like a school bus and will be long and hard to keep playful. At 6'2" and 33/34 inseam I clearly need to be on an XL, but that ends up being a MASSIVE bike.

What are your thoughts? Did you demo the nomad against this? I ended up really liking the nomad. Super confidence inspiring and you really feel in the bike and not on it, sorta like a dirtbike. That being said, it's essentially too much bike, but that's one of the things I like about it.
Click to expand...

I'm 5'10 with a 31/32 inseam. I fall right into the middle of Transition's medium and large sizing, but have felt comfortable on medium Transition's in the past, so stuck with medium here. I'm glad I didn't size up because the bike is looong. Any larger and I feel like I'd have to start manhandling it out of corners.

I didn't get a chance to get on a Nomad, but from what I've heard, i'm guessing as an every day ride, it feels a bit more lively than the Sentinel. Though I definitely feel that this gives the same perception of being in the bike and inspiring confidence. However, if you're hoping for a bike to pop of everything, this probably isn't it.
 
Cyclotourist said:
Bits and pieces coming together...

View attachment 48832

and


View attachment 48833

It's practically ready to ride!
Click to expand...

Accumulation continues:

46264408414_ec71c03d1a_c.jpg

and

46988866731_9f6c790668_c.jpg

Need to pick up a GX Eagle drivetrain, and a dropper, then pretty much ready to roll. Not sure on the dropper, debating between Race Face Aeffect like I have on the Chameleon, and a 'Shox Reverb. Probably go with the Aeffect as I've had zero issues with it over the last year and 1,200+ miles.
 
Cyclotourist said:
Accumulation continues:

View attachment 48976

and

View attachment 48977

Need to pick up a GX Eagle drivetrain, and a dropper, then pretty much ready to roll. Not sure on the dropper, debating between Race Face Aeffect like I have on the Chameleon, and a 'Shox Reverb. Probably go with the Aeffect as I've had zero issues with it over the last year and 1,200+ miles.
Click to expand...
Check out the bikeyoke revive.
 
PNG image.png
Well since @Cyclotourist beat me to that Tallboy I had to explore other options...I really wanted a Trail Pistol but just couldn’t justify the price being over a grand more than this frame...
 
chimpanzee said:
Bought a used (stock) 2008 Trek 4300 for $60 off CL, then hit the Gabriellino Trail (starting from JPL east parking lot). Ran out of water after the climb past Paul Little, then headed back.

Ran into many riders, mostly rocking fancy/pricey FS bikes
Click to expand...
By pricey, we’re talking over a c-note, right?

Ball busting, pal. Glad you got a cheap way in. Ride it to the ground and prepare for a bout of upgrade-itis.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top