Cool short travel freeride bike!

[floody]

Came across these guys via nsmb.com . Their name is Transition Bikes.
They make a nice 6-7" freeride frame, but I don't really care about that one..
They also do an extremely sweet 4/5" travel freeride frame, designed for up to 6" forks, and that I like! Its called the Preston FR.
It looks really nicely made, and got an absolutely glowing review on NSMB, saying they never felt restricted by the 4" of travel, and even the prices seem reasonable - $849USD with a Romic shock, or frame w/Romic Rear Shock & 04 Marzocchi Z150 FR $1,349USD !!

http://www.transitionbikes.com/images/PrestonFRFinalStudio.gif

http://www.nsmb.com/images/gear/preston/preston_frame.jpg

Website here: http://www.transitionbikes.com

NSMB review: http://www.nsmb.com/gear/transition_review_04_04.php

[No Skid Marks]

No No No. It has no Horst link, so you might aswell get an AC or to get it built the right way with the Horst link get an Exxtension/Azonic. They wont lock out under brakes like the Giant AC or that thing you showed.

[MrPlow]

Love the "Preston" name!
That was the best track in Toowoomba
Before it got bulldoxed a few weeks ago :x

[miko]

I saw in a bike mag they are starting to sell the Exxtension down here. Anyone know where/how much? I've been tempted to import one for a while, yum ;)

[Daver]

No No No. It has no Horst link, so you might aswell get an AC or to get it built the right way with the Horst link get an Exxtension/Azonic. They wont lock out under brakes like the Giant AC or that thing you showed.

Umm... i'm about 100% sure that the Preston has a Horst LInk- look at the dropouts...? :!:

[bikeman_baldrik]

no, this frame does not have horst link.
In a horst link frame the pivot is forward and below the drop-out.
If u look at this frame, the pivot is above the drop out.

This changes the way the bike will ride dramatically.

[Daver]

sorry my bad- it looked like it did beacause it had the bend in the chainstay, which is exactly where the pivot point for a horstlink world be... [slaps myself]

[floody]

Is it really that big an issue? I can't see brake jacking being a very big issue, not like it is on single pivot frames or old GT's, for example.. Not to mention the frame itself looks like very nice quality, and has a good shock.
I would love one of those, seems like a great frame to fill a gap in the market. and look at that, about $1850 with a romic AND a Z150FR!!

I think I've found a realistic dream bike, assuming they stay in business.

[CHEWY]

Is it really that big an issue? I can't see brake jacking being a very big issue, not like it is on single pivot frames or old GT's


It is a single pivot.. The dirtbag look like a nice frame too, not sure if the vids still on the site but awhile ago there was a vid of their sponsered riding cutting loose on it..

[floody]

It is a single pivot..

How so? I think I get what you mean, but I am talking single pivot as in high forward pivot, cantilever beam, non-linkage frames.

[DEVLIN]

It is a single pivot because only one member in the system defines the travel of the rear wheel. It just happens to have linkages to connect the swingarm with the shock. Nice looking bike though. Has it's own distinctive look. If they sell enough they may make enough money to buy a Horst link licence off Specialised. Would be a super bike then.

[manny24]

ive never understood the logic in more travel upfront :? :(
doenst make sense to me, like evryone putting boxers etc on stinkys...

[LordNikon]

By that logic manny, everyone riding a hard tail XC rig should run a rigid fork.

Makes sense to me to have more up front, it's much easier to control the rear of the bike when you're running out of travel than it is to control the front.

[manny24]

thats NOT the logic i was getting at :wink:
eg: xc f\r- 3\4 3\3 4\4
fr f\r- 4\5 5\5 5\6 6\6 etc
dh f\r- 7\8 8\8 8\9 etc.

its always better technique to land rear first where possible, therefore travel. also, a frames travel (r shock) can take more of a beating then fork can (generalising). also, odd and\or out of proportion travel setups gives a bike an unbalenced feel and ride.

i think most ppl get big ass forks, or put tc on hardtail for the wank factor :wink:

[S.]

It is a single pivot because only one member in the system defines the travel of the rear wheel. It just happens to have linkages to connect the swingarm with the shock. Nice looking bike though. Has it's own distinctive look. If they sell enough they may make enough money to buy a Horst link licence off Specialised. Would be a super bike then.

It'd be bugger all different with a Horst link, really. You'd get marginally better braking (virtually no singlepivots will brake squat LESS than this one), and pedalling would be worse to boot.

[CHEWY]

its always better technique to land rear first where possible, therefore travel. also, a frames travel (r shock) can take more of a beating then fork can (generalising). also, odd and\or out of proportion travel setups gives a bike an unbalenced feel and ride.
:

umm, not really man. There are very few situations where its better to land rear wheel first, especially racing DH. You're not going to have any control over the direction of the bike landing rear first, which is a damn important thing when you're going 60ks and heading for a tree..
Trials is about the only style of riding where you would want to land rear first, any bike with front suspension you might aswell use it.
You try landing something on the rear wheel and then try front first or both wheels at the same time and see what feels better...

[manny24]

i see ur point, as its the same riding style as i use. tho im sure u agree that landing heaverily on the front from a 5"+ drop isnt good technique. that was point all along i guess.
having a 888 on an 5" travel dually isnt really a good option. do any 'pros' do this?? :) :wink: (to use the example of many younger riders :wink: ) its alway the case that theres at least a coupla inches more on the rear of the 'pro' bikes

[floody]

Well I'd personally like one of those in 4" mode with a Z150FR on it, I think that would suit my riding to a tee.
It will be interesting to see whether they take off.

As an interesting side note, its only comparatively recently in MX that travel has levelled off, if you look at the pre, say, 1977 MX bikes they ran in the region of 4" rear/7" front travel, balooning out to 10/12 by the 80's and by the early 90's rear suspension had overtaken the front. The main reason in design terms for that ws more power causing more squat, hence more travel needed to maintain rideheight and front end geometry. It works the other way too, if you have a 6" fork, sure the change in geometry from 0-6" of compression is larger than with a 4" one, but also when you hit a bump and use say 2-3" of travel, you still have 3" in reserve not 1" and your head angle has gone from 67-70, not 69-72....better stability assuming same frame geometry...

[and1]

You try landing something on the rear wheel and then try front first or both wheels at the same time and see what feels better...

Wouldn't it also depend on your landing, wether your landing to flat, or on a tranny. If you are hitting a tranny you (in my opinion - if you have something different please share) would want to be landing front wheel first, not by a great deal, but just a little. Whereas to flat you really need to hit the landing both wheels at the same time to prevent you from falling off balance, as well as crunching something on you our your bike. As for landing rear wheel, I can't really see any need for that...

[Tomas]

2 Things:

1) Ive always been taught as a hardtail rider to land with the back wheel slightly before the front...

2) What do people think of the romics? Are they a cheap alternitive or a supreme being of a shock?

[DEVLIN]

It is a single pivot because only one member in the system defines the travel of the rear wheel. It just happens to have linkages to connect the swingarm with the shock. Nice looking bike though. Has it's own distinctive look. If they sell enough they may make enough money to buy a Horst link licence off Specialised. Would be a super bike then.

It'd be bugger all different with a Horst link, really. You'd get marginally better braking (virtually no singlepivots will brake squat LESS than this one), and pedalling would be worse to boot.

I agree with the comment on the braking. As to the pedaling it really depends on the configuration of the upper links. The NRS has shown that a Horst link bike can be an excellent pedaler. This is because the chain tension forces the suspension towards the topped out state. Most of the Horst link designs seem to run this force along the linkage plate to the shock which would tend to have a neutral effect on the system, roughly. This means the weight of the rider would affect the suspension more easily. Giving it a more softer feel. Properly designed it works a treat. Most still aren't.

[S.]

I agree with the comment on the braking. As to the pedaling it really depends on the configuration of the upper links. The NRS has shown that a Horst link bike can be an excellent pedaler. This is because the chain tension forces the suspension towards the topped out state. Most of the Horst link designs seem to run this force along the linkage plate to the shock which would tend to have a neutral effect on the system, roughly. This means the weight of the rider would affect the suspension more easily. Giving it a more softer feel. Properly designed it works a treat. Most still aren't.

I'm yet to see/ride any FSR bike that blew me away with its pedalling... NRSs just lock out, what's the good of that? Might as well have an actual lockout system.

[Squidly Didly]

NRSs just lock out, what's the good of that? Might as well have an actual lockout system.
All the traction loss of a hardtail, at the weight of a duallie... perfect :P

[Rik]

All the traction loss of a hardtail, at the weight of a duallie... perfect :P
They're not called No Rear Suspension for nothing! :?

[DEVLIN]

I'm yet to see/ride any FSR bike that blew me away with its pedalling... NRSs just lock out, what's the good of that? Might as well have an actual lockout system.

Depends on how the shock is set up. I have a pretty low pressure in my AVA shock that keeps the bike pretty level in the rear through the bumps and reasonbly supple as well. It never really locks out like a manual lock would. I slow the compression down a bit so it doesn't blow through the travel to quickly. This is more of a XC race setup though. If I am out tooling around off jumps and stuff I pump it up a bit. It is not perfect, but it accelerates well and doesn't have the pedal feedback of single pivots. I have not ridden any of the vpp designs so I can't comment there.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread either, sorry.

[dumb 01]

looks a nice frame to me but i dont have a clue about good design and geometry.

im intrested in this whole why is rear travel greater than front travel.

does it have less to do with landing those few big jumps, the travel (front and rear) of bikes will change depending on bikes use but u will still have the whole more travel at rear relationship no matter what the bike.

is it more because u want more travel/sag at back to maintain traction as the back wheel is supplying the power to the ground. the rider using the bars, leaning back on the rear travel etc etc can control the front wheel better(eg lift the front over a rut) but the back does more work in general as it more often just traverses the ground.

a hartail is different,
qualify my words- ive never ridden a dually

[BagofSkill]

A couple of points:

Brake jacking will be very herd to notice on such a short travel bike, although it will be there to an extent. Exactly how much will depend on the lengths and angles of the linkages.

Suspension, well, it's not solely about landing jumps, is it? It's also (and probably primarily) about absorbing bumps in the trails. With that in mind, having front suspension allows the front wheel to keep more contact with the road, equals more steering more of the time (plus comfort on the hands and arms). Landing rear first still uses the front to absorb the bump when the front swings down, think about the mechanics of it. Now, if you are hitting big hits fast, you'll want alot of front suspension. You'll also want alot of rear suspension. how much of each you want depends on the wieght distribution of the bike, your riding technique and the terrain. A hard tail with 888's can work, you just ride with a different style to a 8x8 DH rig or a 4&3 XC bike.

I have a 7 front 6 rear FR bike. I try to land slightly front first on sloped landing ramps, rear first when dropping to flat.

Also, I have a Craftworks FRM125, 5 or 6 inches in the rear, Horst link, and it farkin rules. Peddling effiency is mega. No joke, aside from the extra wieght, it pedals with as little bobing as my old 3 inch FSR/Horst link XC frames. Plus, super value for money. Not as cheap as this joker, but I'm smiling.

[whywalkwhenucanroll]

Banshee Morhpine with Sherman sliders, makes a bloody nice hardcore rig for 1 of the banshee team boys. an he was still doin trials style moves on it.

Dumb 01 u got a good point, more travell at da bak lets it plow thru rough patches while u can lift the front over. also to take into account is the new materials (if any), internals technology and latest build quality that alow companies to make a decently strong fork with 8" travell. Theres a lot of oil movement.

personally i think that these days the balance of travell depends on personal choice. ie how u ride, how dificult u want 2 make life, and how much skill u wanna end up wiv.

Bak 2 the topic, i love that bike, looks awsome ang has mad ass spec. interesting price tag. personally id take the longer travell version.

[bazza]

i can still remeber the day the shop assistant told me that the ROMIC rear shock which was on a KHS i was looking at was an inhouse KHS shock. so i went with the stinky instead mainly because of that. silly me.
the romic shocks are just basically like a black with red writting fox rc shock with the dual knobs except the resivour is internal. (sorry about generalising there) but it has the rebound and compression knobs at both ends and seems to work rather nicely.
has anyone here swapped an RC for one of a manitou for one? they just seem really underated thats all. and anyone know a price?

EDIT : back on topic, SEXUAL FRAME! i love it. i would take one of them over most other short travel freeride frames anyday.

[S.]

A couple of points:

Brake jacking will be very herd to notice on such a short travel bike, although it will be there to an extent. Exactly how much will depend on the lengths and angles of the linkages.


On this bike the linkages will be irrelevant, only the chainstay length/angle will matter.