Smugglin' Transition's SBG Across the Rockies - Video

Sep 13, 2017
by Transition Bikes  
In an effort to get the new Speed Balanced Geometry spread across the United States, a couple Smugglers are hired for the trip across the Rockies.

Views: 16,746    Faves: 119    Comments: 10


With the blistering hot summer in full effect, this trip was one of the toughest we have fought through. Shooting from sunrise to sunset, midday temps in the 100s, earthquakes at night, and crashing drones. Despite all that, we still had a damn good time.

Scroll through the photos below to see some of the shenanigans and shredding from the trip.

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

Photos for the video Montana Smugglin

To check out the 2018 Smuggler, as well as the other bikes in the line, head to the Transition site


Video Production: Skye Schillhammer
Camera work: Brian Elliot
Riders: Blake Treadway (US sales) and Skye Schillhammer (media squid)
Photography: Ben Tobin



MENTIONS: @TransitionBikeCompany



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80 Comments
  • 31 0
 Can we get a bike review on this machine next?
Please???
  • 1 5
flag MikerJ (Sep 14, 2017 at 5:43) (Below Threshold)
 Agree.

Interesting advertisement.

I'd like to know how capable is this bike with only 120 out back. My last 29" with 120 out back was not competent at all when things got even a little rough.

Based on this ad, looks like a bike to get you from point A to B, on buff single track, fast.

Not knocking Transition or the bike as I'm very interested in this rig for trail riding, but not sure if it can handle our every day terrain. Tough for me to get a demo.
  • 4 0
 @MikerJ: my '15 smuggler with 115mm out back can handle anything I have ever thrown at it and that includes bike park blue trails nothing but permagrins Smile
  • 3 0
 @MikerJ: My Scout, though 650B has only 125 out back with 140 in front. Never have I felt outgunned by even some of the gnarliest rock sections I've encountered out here in Tahoe. With 29" wheels and only 5mm less out back, pick your line and fly!
  • 2 0
 I think I'll just take out a second in the home and get one of each of Transitions bikes... best of all the worlds! Haha -unrealistic as hell and would end in my wife divorcing me... wow, this really may be worth it!
  • 11 1
 Must be one of the coolest companies to work for. Work hard, play hard and experience the best product out there.
  • 7 0
 Good vibes... glad they kept the smuggler in their line up. Use all the goofy acronyms you want, just keep making kick butt bikes that appeal to riders. Threaded BB, aluminum, and sturdy. Nice work Transition!!!
  • 3 1
 Brand new to the bike community been kicking around the decision for what bike to get this winter... so far I like the Sentinel, Scout, Bronson, 5010, and RM pipeline and Instinct... still not sure on 29 or 27.5 as I travel yearly for work and will see all kinds of different terrain. The bike industry really knows how to make tough decisions for the FNG...damn!
  • 6 0
 scout or smuggie, cant go wrong really. i feel like the main difference is if you want to go fast everywhere or pop and play everwhere. both can goon out with ease, the smuggler is just so damn fast, the scout is like a slope bike that can rip a dh trail.
  • 7 0
 The Transitions really are damn good, believe the hype. Not that any of those would be bad choices
  • 4 0
 @POWsLAYER: maybe I don't need to be going uber fast in the early stages and maybe I do need pop&play for gaining bike control?
  • 3 0
 Definitely the Scout. I like the Patrol, Smuggler and Scout but absolutely LOVE my Scout. Transition folks from beyond Peace Arch....you guys are AWESOME!!!
  • 3 0
 Bought my wife a smuggler. I tried it out last week- I was BLOWN away at just how impressive that bike pedals and handles. I'm 5'6", and for a short guy on a 29er, i can easily manual it, and I FLEW uphill with no sweat (I usually break a good sweat on this climb) and the bike just FLEW downhill. I was so impressed, I'm selling my frame and getting a transition.
  • 1 0
 @diggerandrider: That a 2018 or older?
  • 2 1
 F*ckity, f*ck, f*uck Yeah! Tranny is looking good again for 2018, I was eyeing up the sentinel but the reviews are pretty similar. If you're sessioning Whistler and those kind of steeps it's like a min DH rig and great for that purpose. If not then stop looking past the constant travel arms race because bigger isn't better. It's about Geo, linkage and all the elements. Think like Tranny. They released a 115mm rear smuggler when everyone was going from 120 to 140 and 150 it nailed everything and was in everyones top 10 for the year. That was not because it was a 115 bike but because it was very well thought out and created. The best thing I did was against all the hype and pick a shorter travel, alu, 29'r because it's hella fun, fast as crazy and likes to be pushed super hard, even as hard (or harder) as my 160 / 150 27.5 commencal Meta AM. My go to enduro rig above the AM. Can't wait to see what then new patrol is like with the new geo!
  • 3 0
 I also have a Smuggler and a V4 meta. I think the Smuggler is faster and it copes well with anything that I would ride on the Commy, I would say the V4 is plusher through gnar and on bigger drops though. But so it should be given how much more rear travel it has. The Smuggler is very impressive considering it only has 115mm out back.
  • 1 0
 @metaam: 100%. My commy should be a lot better but it's not 90% of the time. For sure on the big hits, the nasty rock gardens and the jumps it's there but it's not out of sight. I'm now stuck as I've kinda go 2 bikes that do the same kind of this just in a different way. Not a bad problem. Smile
  • 3 2
 Smuggler or Fuel EX 29 as a next (most capable) trail bike? They seem to be a whole lot alike. Anyone have real world input on both? seems that opting for SBG bikes limit people from buying anything else than their proprietary forks. While Trek has the flip switch on their Geo. People rave about them in the same context of fast and shreddy
  • 3 1
 According to transition, putting a standard offset pork on there will just make it feel like a bike that doesn't have SBG. It's not like you're locked into a proprietary standard.
  • 2 0
 @Triber66: That's relieving! Now time to take a 3 day shower to outweigh the pros and cons of hypothetical scenarios of the features of this bike.
  • 1 0
 I've demo'd a Fuel EX 29er and loved it. Was thinking about looking for a Smuggler or Rocky Mountain Instinct to demo in town just to see if I like one of those better, but I'm also tempted to just buy the Fuel...

Also really liked the SC Hightower. But I just can't afford it. Frown
  • 1 0
 @JaredHarzan: I'm in the same boat. I dig all of those bikes. So is the fuel really a ripper now, and still has that XC pedigree?
  • 1 0
 @Rzamvilla: I took the Fuel to Mt Bachelor bike park for the day since I wanted to get as much mileage as possible, so can't comment on it's climbing ability. Current plan is to rent it again for a big trail day with a lot of climbing to make sure it's not a pig. It definitely kept up on the rougher and faster trails. I was keeping up with people I usually just wave goodbye to once it gets fast.

The Hightower felt absolutely great going up and down, rented it for one of the longest trail days I've done and loved it, but my tax bracket means that the $5000 S build that I want is a little out of my reach.
  • 2 0
 Fuel EX is a very linear bike, to me it felt like a more capable burlier Ripley LS on the downs but a lighter Enduro 29 on the climbs. It really wallows on steep punchy climbs. Small bump compliance you won't find a better bike in that travel range. I haven't had any time on the transition but own a django 29 which has similar kinematics. The Django is alot snappier and supportive where the Fuel EX is plush and predictable. Hope this helps
  • 1 0
 @cookerq: Yeah that's really helpful in fact. I don't like that wallow feel of the reactiv. Its an odd feel of really stomping on the pedals, when you climb, the times I rode those reactiv shocks they felt like you needed to really know when that dip in the regressive curves happens to not feel that. I get the idea of it gluing to ground better, but input on it felt odd. The Django does seem sweet, but there's no dealer nearby to test one out :/
  • 1 0
 F.ishing R.od I.n D.owntube Technology?


There are quite a few options available to choose from - That song belongs to much more than a advertisement.

Looking forward to the ride reviews on this one, Less is more sometimes.
  • 3 0
 Yep, no sign of that rod, top notch smuggling.
  • 1 0
 Whatever happened to the Trans AM?!?!? They had a whole video about loving the simplicity of it....God they are so good at being the cool kids. That aside, they make great bikes. But man, they are winning the popularity contest in the mountain bike world (that feels surprisingly like junior high).
  • 5 0
 Intoxicating. Two beers up.
  • 5 1
 I want to know the route that crosses the Rockies with NO climbing?
  • 13 1
 Who wants to watch people pedal uphill?
  • 3 0
 It seems there's a Stumpy that got smuggled into Transition territory ;-)
  • 4 0
 Broverload
  • 1 0
 Love these bikes (down to the paint jobs), but I gotta say--isn't like, the first lesson of smuggler school "don't paint SMUGGLER on your vehicle"?
  • 3 2
 I love Transition, especially their latest bikes. But we are going to look back on this era of the flat brim cap and wonder just what we were thinking.
  • 2 0
 is that muskrat creek trail from 3:30 to 5:00? @TransitionBikeCompany
  • 1 0
 Yeah.
  • 2 1
 this whole time i thought it was named that because of the shit eating grin you always have when youre on it
  • 5 2
 I spy a Specialized
  • 1 0
 Yeah TR, you guys are cool and could've hooked this person up with a bike to "keep it in the family".
  • 1 0
 Not the song I was expecting but it fit perfectly. Great job guys! Keen to give one of these monsters a test
  • 1 0
 Great time to be in the market for a short travel 29er !!
  • 2 0
 Fanny pack, cool
  • 1 0
 But... what was in the envelope?!
  • 4 3
 depending where in the rockies, probably pot.
  • 1 0
 Ever see Pulp Fiction?
  • 3 0
 Marcellus Wallace's soul...
  • 2 0
 Hell Yeah Skye!!!!!!!!
  • 4 2
 Bold song choice.
  • 1 6
flag birdman828 FL (Sep 13, 2017 at 14:43) (Below Threshold)
 Yeah wtf?! Lame
  • 1 0
 One of the things my bike industry coworkers and I do is play soundtracks to bike movies. We take turns picking songs and everyone else has to name the artist, song, segment and film that it was featured in. So when I heard the song the used I was like "wtf?! Blasphemy!". Maybe they were paying homage to Where the Trail Ends...?
  • 1 0
 @Sugarbrad: not the song I would of picked but I like it because it's different.
  • 2 1
 damn! I didn't know that song was used already. Bummer! Definitely wouldn't have used it if I knew that.
  • 4 9
flag thenotoriousmic (Sep 13, 2017 at 16:02) (Below Threshold)
 absolutely unacceptable to rip off the song from one of the most iconic sections in mountain bike history. Honestly this needs talking down and reposting with a different track it's that disrespectful. Sort it out transition bikes. @transitionbikes
  • 2 0
 @Banksyb31:

That's why it was so obscure. It worked in Where the Trail Ends because it was used during one of the China segments.
  • 1 0
 @Sugarbrad: I'll have to watch, I'm new here... please excuse my ignorance ????
  • 10 0
 @thenotoriousmic: The "Sunny" by Level 1 ski move came out before "Where the Trail Ends" with this song featured. Just saying.
  • 3 7
flag thenotoriousmic (Sep 14, 2017 at 6:30) (Below Threshold)
 thats beside the point. I'm sure there's 12 year old kids out there using this song for go pro edits and that's totally fine too but when someone used it to showcase our sport at the very highest level it's not cool to rip it off for a bike commercial. Someone needs to google song jacking. Haha
  • 1 0
 anyone know the song name?
  • 1 0
 Dougou Badia. The whole Where The Trail Ends soundtrack is on Spotify.
  • 1 0
 When will these new transitions be avaliable?
  • 1 0
 We are expecting late October / November for us in Australia
  • 1 0
 I wanna see Aussie pricing dammit
  • 1 0
 @mrtoodles: message us... Pricing is "out there" we are in the process of a complete new website overhaul.
  • 1 0
 Yes!!!! awesome video!!! lets Giddy up
  • 1 0
 Where the trail ends got robbed.
  • 1 0
 Pounding Banquets in the rockies, thats some American shit right there!
  • 1 0
 Badass. I want to work with these guys.
  • 1 0
 Does anyone know who makes that hip pack?
  • 1 0
 It's a 5 year old Fishpond pack. Phresh!!
  • 1 0
 @BTREAD: thanks man! I mean, that thing is pretty epic. I kinda figured that it was fishpond. Just never seen it in blue. Hawt.
  • 1 0
 Sweet video and photos boys!
  • 1 0
 mmm.... Big Pie Country
  • 1 0
 It's a cool trail, something we should look into possibly.
  • 1 0
 Where's bearclaw?
  • 1 0
 Orange stage 6 baby!
  • 1 0
 Do they like beer tho ?
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