The Abuse Continues-Transition Gran Mal Review and Video
by Tyler Maine
Oct 16, 2006
For 2006 Transition Bikes introduced a few new models to their line up of bikes. The Gran Mal, with up to 8.7 inches of rear travel, is a great addition to their already stellar line up. You can tell these guys ride hard because this bike is made to take any punishment you can dish out. I did a lot of free riding and racing on the Gran Mal the season and it loved to get beat up and keep coming back for more. Here's the run down of my Gran Mal and a video from the folks at Transition:
The frame is a basic but attractive design. The front triangle has nice beefy 6000 series heat treated aluminum tubing with single pivot suspension activated by linkage. A full length seat post enables you to pedal up to the highest of trails with ease. The sturdy chain stays and seat stays keep the rear end nice and stiff, plus having the 150 mm rear hub gives you a nice stable rear end.
The amount of travel can be adjusted from 4.6" to 8.75" with the use of different stroke and eye to eye length shocks. Which I find a touch excessive since I found this bike at its best going downhill! There are six different settings per shock, but you'll need to have different sized rear shocks to get down to the smaller travel settings, if you plan to ride all mountain styles. One of the best features is the ability to adjust the head tube angle and bottom bracket height to suit your needs.
The Gran Mal I was riding came with top notch suspension. A Fox DHX 5.0 coil was a great match for the frame and it so easy to ajust to terrain and riders. It also came equipped with the Marzocchi 888 RC2X, not my first choice in fron t suspension, but a nice fork all the same. The fork has like 5 knobs you can turn and really that seems excessive. Both held up well to a season of racer and rider though. What it boils down to is that the Gran Mal provides many different suspension packages for you to choose from.
The Gran Mal has been equipped with a great parts package that isn't to flashy, mainly to keep the cost down. Everyting they've picked out is solid and dependable, X-7 groupset, Blackspire chain guide, FSA cranks and Hayes HFX Nine brakes. I especially took a liking to the TBC T Bar handlebar and their bar caps and seat are a nice touch. Sun Ringle S-Type MTX wheels and Maxxis 2.5 High Rollers are a perfect fit for this build up too.
I spent my whole early season onboard the Gran Mal and racing the Island Cup DH series. Here are some great shots that John Bazette took of the the Gran Mal and I in action:
Check out the rest of John Bazette's album HERE.
I found the Gran Mal to be a great freeride bike, it's light and very agile but at the same time strong enough for all the big hits.
*pics from a few good epics on board the Gran Mal this season*
My advice is to take this frame and put on the best parts you can afford with a nice wheel set and pedal it up to the hardest trail you know and drop in with confidence.
Please visit www.transitionbikes.com for more information on all Transition Products.
 |  |  |  |
The amount of travel can be adjusted from 4.6" to 8.75" with the use of different stroke and eye to eye length shocks. Which I find a touch excessive since I found this bike at its best going downhill! There are six different settings per shock, but you'll need to have different sized rear shocks to get down to the smaller travel settings, if you plan to ride all mountain styles. One of the best features is the ability to adjust the head tube angle and bottom bracket height to suit your needs.
The Gran Mal I was riding came with top notch suspension. A Fox DHX 5.0 coil was a great match for the frame and it so easy to ajust to terrain and riders. It also came equipped with the Marzocchi 888 RC2X, not my first choice in fron t suspension, but a nice fork all the same. The fork has like 5 knobs you can turn and really that seems excessive. Both held up well to a season of racer and rider though. What it boils down to is that the Gran Mal provides many different suspension packages for you to choose from.
The Gran Mal has been equipped with a great parts package that isn't to flashy, mainly to keep the cost down. Everyting they've picked out is solid and dependable, X-7 groupset, Blackspire chain guide, FSA cranks and Hayes HFX Nine brakes. I especially took a liking to the TBC T Bar handlebar and their bar caps and seat are a nice touch. Sun Ringle S-Type MTX wheels and Maxxis 2.5 High Rollers are a perfect fit for this build up too.
| Frame size | Regular 22.5" Top Tube and 16.1" Seat Tube |
| Rear Shock | Fox DHX 5.0 Coil • 9.5”x3” stroke • 300lbs steel spring |
| Fork | 2006 8" Marzocchi 888 RC2X |
| Headset | FSA Orbit Z1.5R - 1.5" |
| Crankarms | 170mm FSA Gravity ISIS |
| Chain Guide | Black Spire NS-1 |
| Chainring | Black Spire 38T Ring |
| Bottom Bracket | FSA Platinum DH ISIS |
| Pedals | TBC Stepdown Flats |
| Chain | SRAM |
| Cassette | SRAM PG-950 11-34T |
| Rear Derailleur | SRAM 7.0 mid-cage |
| Shifter Cable/Housing | Stock |
| Shifter Pod | SRAM X.7 |
| Handlebar | TBC T-BAR |
| Stem | TBC Temple 50mm |
| Grips | ODI Lock On-Rogue |
| Brakes | Hayes HFX Nines with 8" front and 6" rear rotors |
| Front hub | Ringle 20mm TA |
| Rear hub | Ringle 150mm X 12mm TA |
| Spokes | DT |
| Tires | Maxxis High Roller 60A |
| Front Rim | Sun Rims S-Type MTX 26" |
| Tubes | Standard DH tubes / Shrader valves |
| Rear Rim | Sun Rims S-Type MTX 26" |
| Saddle | TBC |
| Seatpost | Black Amoeba (30.0) |
| Extra | TBC Bar Caps |
I spent my whole early season onboard the Gran Mal and racing the Island Cup DH series. Here are some great shots that John Bazette took of the the Gran Mal and I in action:
 |  |  |  |
Check out the rest of John Bazette's album HERE.
I found the Gran Mal to be a great freeride bike, it's light and very agile but at the same time strong enough for all the big hits.
 |  |  |  |
My advice is to take this frame and put on the best parts you can afford with a nice wheel set and pedal it up to the hardest trail you know and drop in with confidence.
Please visit www.transitionbikes.com for more information on all Transition Products.
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33 Comments
- + 1
rigger
(Oct 17, 2006 at 0:32)
whats the weight of the bike ?
[Reply]
Simon ran the Gran Mal in full travel(8.75") for the whole season. To change the travel you need to be running different length shicks and that's not always affordable for the average racers.
Transition bikes are weak, regressive(not progressive), and theyre what we call catalog bikes... for those of you who dont know what a catalog bike is read up and then decide if you still want to ride one of these POS.
you're just jealous cause you don't have one.
so you're saying that all santa cruz bikes are pos's too? cause you can order whatever parts setup you want on them too?
sweet review man, i love the look of the gran mal.
so you're saying that all santa cruz bikes are pos's too? cause you can order whatever parts setup you want on them too?
sweet review man, i love the look of the gran mal.
bty i ride a demo 9... well designed and progressive... Im not trying to start shit, im just warning you guys not to buy transition bikes, I have seen 3 different people snap them.
that is one of my favorite bikes. I went to Whistler and rode one for fun. I emediatly fell in love with it. I also want to get the new bike called the double for dirtjumping and riding around town.
That video that is in the article is all from Vedder Mountain in Chilliwack. Nicely done. Pretty much all the trails and major stunts are shown off.
Looks like a pretty sweet bike and the video showcases Vedder Mountain really well, except it makes the big gap on dillema seem kind of small.
haha, that's what I thought too but was ashamed to say it. Ashamed because the stuff we ride on Vedder seems pretty big to me, but when you look at it in this video it's so small. Imaging how big the stuff has to be for it to look big on video! I bet the shot angles have to do a lot with it too. I saw that dillema gap on dropin and it looked damn big there, but in this video it looks like a bump on the trail. In any case, big props to the transition guys for hitting all that stuff.
Yeah! That was my buddy Brad! A new addition to the Transition group. He also started a new clothing company: www.spectrumtechwear.com Check it out!!!
This looks like a turner high line to me. If it is anywere close to the design it should ride like gold
[Reply]
nice drop i have a question what is POD i have heard of it on this site but i have no idea what it it ?
[Reply]
Iam the only one ovner of Transition Gran Mal in Poland and the frame kick ass. I When i ride it i fell in love with this bike and there is no diffrent frame i liked so much.
hey robinator900, i'm afraid im going to have to call you out on your bullshit. As of now I, not you or anyone else, has the only broken gran mal to transitions name and warranty department, and even then its not even all the way broken yet, just a cracked head tube weld that could have been the factory's fault. By the way who exactly did you see snap them? Which bikes were they? You say yer not trying to stir up shit but by your ambiguous claims, I can't come to any other conclusion other than that you were. My Gran Mal was the best bike I ever owned, and the cracked frame might even say more about how many times that thing saved my ass rather than the weakness of the bike itself. By the way here's another clue train for you, your so-called "progressive" demo nine has had numerous problems with the rear triangle cracking after only one years worth of normal use. "Well designed" my ass. Even so, would Specialized set you up with a brand new 08 frame if you broke your demo? Probably not, why? They are in business to only maximize profits rather than be a bike company you can rely on. Transition just set me up with a new BLINDSIDE, yeah that's right, because it was the only frame they had in my size. Can you say that about another company? Probably not. So enjoy your "amazing" demo 9 robinator900, because I know Transition will continue to blow companies like Specialized right out of the water.
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