We've seen Tahnee Seagrave racing (and winning) aboard Transition's new downhill bike out on the World Cup circuit this season, but until now, concrete details had been scarce. Well, the wait is over, and Transition are officially launching the new TR Eleven. With 27.5” wheels, a full carbon frame and 195mm of travel the new ride certainly looks ready to rip. We're working on snagging one in order to report back with some initial ride impressions, but until then, read on for more information from Transition. - Mike Kazimer
Press ReleaseThree years in the making. Born in carbon and based on our Giddy Up trail bike suspension platform. Bred in Cascadia and World Cup proven, the TR Eleven will elevate your riding whether you're racing downhill or doin' it in the park, bud. 195mm of rear wheel travel driven by our DH tuned Giddy Up linkage provides supreme grip, excellent mid stroke support and plenty of end stroke ramp to prevent harsh bottom out when hucked to flat.
What else is there to say? In the words of
Nigel Tufnel, "The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and..."
Features
Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large
Colors: Black Powder, TR Blue
Full Carbon Front Triangle, Chainstay and Seatstay
Aluminum Rocker
Molded Rubber Chainstay and Downtube Protection
External Cable Routing
Enduro MAX Bearings
Collet Style Main Pivot Hardware
Universal Transition Derailleur Hanger, compatible with Giddy Up trail models
Post Mount Rear Brake
ISCG05 Chainguide Mounting
12x157mm Dropout Spacing
83mm Threaded Bottom Bracket
Frame Weight: 9bs / 4100g (Including Shock, DT/CS Protection And Frame Hardware)
195mm Rear Travel
160mm Post Mount Rear Brake
XO1 DH Complete USA MSRP - $7299
GX DH Complete USA MSRP - $5299
Frameset USA MSRP - $3199
Available Fall 2017
| Since having the TR11 I have been able to push my limits while having a trustworthy bike beneath me. It tracks the ground insanely well without losing the signature Transition playfulness, and it has helped me take my riding to a whole new level... all the way to 11.— Tahnee Seagrave |
www.transitionbikes.com
Transition: "Hold my beer"
Side note, external routing ? Who care's I still want it.
Have no idea about other downhill frames, but with the Demo there is a plastic tube inside the frame that the cable runs through. So running internal cables is less effort than external because you don't faff about with more hooks that keep the cable in place, and it literally is just a matter of pushing the cable through and then seeing it pop out the other end in seconds.
If done neatly external cables look fine. Plus I have never snagged a cable so dont see the point in the extra hassle.
And taking the reverb off needs a rebleed every time as you have to remove the button.
Nice and clean looking though.
And fitting it reverse. Remove button, fit threaded adaptor, feed an old cable down the frame and screw on then withdraw.
The situation is only made worse by the fact that Transition uses less common bearings that neither QBP nor BTI keep in stock.
P.S. I know you're thinking "That shop is staffed by cheapskates, they didn't replace all of the bearings in 30 bikes!". We didn't need to replace half of them because they were still spinning very smoothly.
I guess there are some bad lots and I was lucky
In my opinion Seal is the number one defence against the Jäger and we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy. Seal is not to be f*cked with.
Too much Jäger?
So, with that steep effective seat tube, will it pedal well?
but I'm mildly curious. the seattube and headtube angles aren't too far off from the Sentinel. aside from the possible weight penalty, could it actually be a bike that pedals ok? obviously there's more to it than just hta and sta.
Short answer: Probably not.
Long answer: Really depends on the suspension design. Given that this is an 8" downhill bike made by a company that actually makes decent FR/Park/DH bikes, it's probably not going to pedal that well.
Assuming it's relative to DH bikes:
Probably okay, but that's more of the evolution of the modern DH bike and suspension design more than anything Transition really pioneered.
www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/music-interviews/kool-keith-interview
Lost me on this one Transition.
Will be a commencal Furious race for me..
Yea but what about the small bump sensitivity?
Makes me happy to see ... Coil > air
Read this:
linkagedesign.blogspot.com
Or watch these:
m.youtube.com/channel/UCAicBI2QJNNrE2j_RkbzjYQ
to learn more.
Hard to spend seven grand on something that might be obsolete by February. Yes, it is is still fun, ride your bike, blah, blah, blah. But this feels like the 26 inch Carbon Covert birthed in to face of the 27.5 wave because Transition already sunk a ton of money in to it.
The majority of DH riders won't be riding 29ers, ever. Like it's been said, it's most likely an upcoming niche market for taller riders. So please, kindly stfu.
Time will tell regarding 29ers. I think you're wrong, but that is just my opinion.
And the upper link that drives the shock rotates in the other direction to the lower one. As far as I understand it, this does fall within the scope of VPP, because it causes the virtual pivot point to migrate slightly.
Repeatedly saying 'Horst link combined with a rocker link' is meaningless. All Horst link bikes use a rocker link.
forums.mtbr.com/attachments/turner/27295d1092847408-horst-link-explained-some-more-specsspotme.jpg
vs
www.santacruzbicycles.com/files/vpp-anime.png?1499883702
VPP is just the marketing name Santa Cruz uses for their linkage. They have a now expired patent on it (US6488301).
@ninjatarian: as many suspension designs utilize a pivot point that is "virtual" or having an "instant center", that is not purely the point of VPP (which agreed is a marketing name). Given the axle path differences, the affects on pedaling, braking, etc. are the main reasons why this is not within the scope of VPP.
http://rs3.pbsrc.com/albums/y53/motolite/66.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip
1. Single pivot
2. Linkage driven single pivot
3a. Common-rotating four bar (aka Horst Link)
3b. Counter-rotating four bar
4a. Common-rotating short-link four bar (aka DW Link, KS Link, Maestro, Mondraker Zero)
4b Counter-rotating short-link four bar (aka VPP)
What matters most is the actual or projected pivot location and how it moves through the travel. That design choice is more important to the pedalling and braking behaviour than the topology.
However, there is a commonality about how the suspension's behaviour changes so:
1. Single pivot - anti-squat and anti-rise are fixed and if anti-squat is high then pedal kickback is high. Leverage curve usually flat.
2. Linkage driven single pivot - same as single pivot but leverage curve can be optimised (progressive is usually best).
3a. Common-rotating four bar - anti-squat can change a small amount through the travel, kickback is often on the higher side for that anti-squat level, anti-rise is usually low (active during braking but geometry can get out of shape). Leverage curve can be optimised.
3b. Counter-rotating four bar - anti-squat and anti-rise change little through the travel, in many ways it behaves more like a linkage-driven single pivot.
4a. Common-rotating short-link four bar - anti-squat and anti-rise can change a lot through the travel to minimise pedal kickback, anti-rise usually greater than with 3a so less active but better geometry preservation, leverage can be optimised.
4b. Counter-rotating short-link four bar - anti-squat and anti-rise can change a lot, leverage curve is hard to optimise unless driven from the lower link (like the new Nomad).
NB: The new Polygon/Marin designs and Yeti are variations on the short-link four bar.
I've yet to see any designs better those based around 3a and 4a, particularly fine examples being Nicolai and YT's "Horst Links" and Banshee and Mondraker's KS and Zero designs. But I'd rather have a great single pivot than a poorly optimised Horst Link.
With a top swing link design you can position the "buckle" in the curve more torwards the beginning of the stroke and then they are kind of acceptable. That is what Cesar Rojo did to the newest Intense bikes and the TR500 employs that in a similar manner.
But concerning the coil shock I beg to differ: It is actually the best shock you can fit to such a design, given that there is enough progression. Which there will be on the TR11, pretty sure. I could check in linkage later... Air shocks are a bad idea in such designs, mainly because of the added lack of midstroke support and to some degree the compromised small bump comliance. I've been through all these phases on my top swing link bike, so I have some practical experinece on this. Still subjective, of course...
i totally agree with you concerning the marketing multilink argument. i (co-) designed my current bike (and I do not mean in a comunity) which is a singlepivot without linkage. it has about 10% of constant progression and rides perfectly with a coilshock. (I would have gone 15%-20% but to do this the whole basicdesign would have to change).
again, in my opinion you do not even need a four bar -rotate the frontshockmount of a singlepivot far downward, choose antisquat carefully -done. (best be used with one chainring and a new generation airshock (x2, cc inline lineair)or coilshock). guerilla gravity has shown how its done with their GG DH and prpain uses the same system in their kidsbikes.
GX DH Complete USA MSRP - $5299
When MTBs become as expensive as a motorcycle