The new TR250 prototype is our new mini DH platform. We took everything we loved about the TR450 and put it into a tighter more responsive frame designed to rip bike parks, jump trails and DH courses where less travel can improve your time. What this amounts to is a more "playful" feeling DH bike.The TR250 has adjustable travel between 160 and 180mm and designed to match up to the single crown fork of your choice in those travel settings. We maintain the adjustable geometry found in the TR450 for head angle and BB height but also add chainstay length/wheelbase adjustment via the dropout. We wanted to have a shorter rear end option to make the bike perform better for jump trails while still giving a longer wheelbase option for high speed racing scenarios. The TR250 frame is .7 lbs lighter than the current TR450 and will come stock with a Fox DHX RC4. Full product launch will be at Eurobike with full geo and pricing to follow. Availability should be around late January/February 2011.
Hmmm obviously not ridden a BR .. And no clue what they were build for as you would realise they are very good at what there were designed for.
Get over a very good bike ?? Why ?? If its good then why get over it.
Does help that I have one and KNOW how good they are.
Minus 71 props ( when i posted this ) well played mate.
The BR is really nothing exciting, a simple single pivot that doesn't really seem to excel at much. People say it's a park bike... my friend had one and it pretty much sucked at Whistler. It did a horrible job of sucking up any bumps... not to mention how stiff we had to run the rear suspension to keep from bottoming on even the small jumps. It was complete crap on the technical trails... the BB hit a lot of things and the suspension was too stiff. Dont say its cause its a small travel frame... you can get other frames with that travel that ride much better.
/end rant
@ Demo-250, I'm sure Marins are good bikes, but there is no need to hate on other bikes to prove your point, the same goes for everyone else who is arguing over this......... geez guys it's just a bike
Soo yes, that is one reason why it was so harsh on the bumps, but it had to be that way. Even with the bottom out adjustment on the DHX 5 air there was simply no way to keep it plush and usable. It was either plush and somewhat un-usable, or stiff and usable. We obviously picked the latter.
Edit: BR is a great do it all bike, it can DJ surprisingly well, can XC with not much problem, great all mountain, acceptable to freeride, and somewhat acceptable to DH on. It's also a great slope bike. Don't think I hate the bike, I know it's a good versatile bike, I personally would buy something else though.
Some of the most quality made frames I have ever laid eyes on or ridden.
Does anyone else see this fast growing trend of sub 8" park bike/DH/Freeride bikes that are coming out, ala Trek Scratch, GT Ruckus, TR250? I love where this trend is going...looks like I'm gonna have a lot of bike choices when I invest in my next one in 2012.
all the bike parks i've been too, and i've been to lots,
need a dh bike because they're so shit hammered
this is a sweet bike for something
but if you're going bike parking
just get a real dh bike ok, you'll be way happier
if you only ride a-line and jump trails
then get this bike
If its the change in geometry then just look around at some of the 8" dh bikes available, if its the weight... well you save a half pound to a pound in most cases on the frame a totem basically weighs wut a boxxer does, if you want a lighter dh bike then build one that way. Then when the shitstorm of a long weekend with no rain happens you can just throw on a heavier set of wheels and tweak your spring settings.
This might be what Im looking for. Would love to get out and have a test ride.
GT Fury -> Gt Ruckus
Intense 951 -> Intense SSII
Trek Session 88 -> Trek Scratch 9
Commençal Supreme DH -> Commençal Supreme 8 -> Commencal Supreme 6 -> Commencal Supreme Racing
KTM Aphex -> KTM Tribute
Transition TR450 -> Transition TR250
Indeed, it seems to be the new trend ...
this looks good but not as efficient and light as the Voltage FR.
these bikes are tricky , seems to be that they often end up feeling ..."i wish i had a little more , ...i wish i had a little less and lighter..."
they absolutly are a blast to ride tho...
Awesome stuff transition, you guys fkn rock!(rock.. hill, mountain wich leads to.. DH!)
I'd go Faith for sure if it had adjustable travel. Can you stuick a shorter shock on to reduce travel a bit and slack them out do you reckon?
Anyway, it all depends on where people ride & how, of course. Very cool, Transition!
They rock!!! to date, I had to warranty only one frame (a Dirt Bag).
The TR450 is one bad a$$ bike.
*notice how I use your and you're properly, not really that difficult
Full product launch will be at Eurobike with full geo and pricing to follow. Availability should be around late January/February 2011.
Bottlerocket will stay as the short travel do it all bike (ever ride one? SEXY ride!)
Blindside is the heavy duty, beat the holy living f*ck out of, freeride sled.
TR450 is a DH race bike
TR250 (an i'm just going on speculation here) is the "fun" DH bike (one you would want at whistler to have a shitton of fun on, not a complete FR pig, or a slacked out race rig, but a bike smack dab in the middle with more playful (just like they say) geo
Don't try to get me on this don't worry transition has magic pixy dust to make it pedal well...I owned a Bottlerocket-great jumping bike but that is it-not plush, likes to bottom out, suspension sucks under braking, and the only reason it pedals half decent (despite being a pig) is because it only has 5.5in of travel.
Its like the weird dude you see on the side of the road that every time he does a full rotation the bike moved like 1 foot to the side. Guuess it would be a good arm workout though...
Also you can make a light high pivot bike by using a light idler like I think appalache or canfield do (i know its not a single pivot but the same idler could be used on a high sp)
Also as ctd mentioned - its a park bike. Not really meant for pedaling and the brake separation thing is not as important as people are led to believe (thanks to spec). You can learn to pedal and brake, what is most important is leverage curve and axle path.
Transition...
I have 2, a blindside and a double, both fairly heavy (39lbs and 31lbs), why so heavy? Because I don't plan on riding them uphill. The only Transition Full sus i'd attempt to ride uphill is the covert, because it's built for it.
Transition are a predominantly freeride/downhill bike company, they don't give a flying f*ck about pedal bob and such, I've only ever seen 2 broken blindsides. And to me reliability beats pedal-ability. As i'm sure it does to all of you also. You guys can have fun riding your horst link demos and such, I'll stick to my trusty Transitions. Just don't expect any sympathy when you crash and have to replace half your frame because the company splashed out on suspension patents and saved on burliness.
/rant
every suspension design has its flaws. And as far a brake jack goes, the only difference between not having one and having one is that when you lock the rear brake it doesn't compress the suspension a tiny bit, crank bro's did an independent study on them to see if it actually made any differences, when racing and using the brakes enough to causes the brake jack, you'd be pulling them on full right? That means the rear wheel locks up, when that happens it becomes a static object with static force, if you the object hits another stable object it still slows it down, and the static force of the wheel makes the same effect as not having a floating brake, the suspension still doesn't work properly because instead of rolling over the object it's trying to push the object forwards.
tl;dr
floating brakes are a crock of shit made to cause hype and make Kona look like they know something when they don't, if they're so good how come like 2 companies use them now? Kona, and Chumba, and Kona aren't even using them on their new Operator.
And like I said earlier, every suspension design has their flaws, and every suspension design has their strengths. Single Pivots are weak when I comes to pedaling, but look how many single pivot XC bikes there are, hardly any, the SPs are left to FR and DH rigs where they're reliable and predictable. The only company to make a truly reliable well pedaling frame imo is Felt with their equilink.
finally an intelligent response. I have never had any great experiences with single pivot dh/fr bikes. 223, gemini, gemini DH, bullit, bottle rocket, c'dale judge,
I have owed an older Bighit, Demo 9, SXT, Spent time on a Sunday, Uzzi VPX and a V-10. I currently own a Demo 7, Glory, Reign X and personally prefer maestro, fsr and DW designs over the others.
I do own and like the double, sinister Gruitr and the Le Pink and yes they are sp bikes. The Le Pink is one of the worst placements for a pivot but because I run the air pressure so high, it works well for its use. So yes I guess sp can work well in certain applications.
I really love when someone who has less than no idea about suspension wants to talk about it. I can assure you I can find 3 virtual bikes that work like poo and if you had them and 3 good sp bikes your opinion would be exactly the opposite.
Also we are not talking about the blindside but about the 250 - its a different suspension design. Also you can be sure blindside, double and bottle are the same suspension design. Even small differances in damper placement and pivot point can mean a big differance how a bike behaves. Though from my experiance none of these bikes was designed to have no brake jack, double and bottle are made for jumps, blindside is a bigger park bike not a dh bike. More fun than serious racing so simplicity over pedaling/braking in their case makes sense. Especialy given the poppy feel of the blindside, thats a good thing for a park bike though the TR250 will be an improvement.
Transition has the TR450, TR250, Blindside, Bottlerocket, covert, double, to cover the same range. So for the same product group they both have 6 frames.. both also have a similarily aimed female bike.
I wouldnt target Norco as having "way more bikes" just by looking at their catalogue because norco has everything from your 5 year olds bike with no pedals to road racing to xc racing to DH racing and everything in the middle. Broader range, larger company, no comparison.