TransitionSentinel

 2018 Transition Sentinel Alloy XO build bike review

Disclaimer:
Being a Pacific Northwest native and watching the guys at Transition grow the brand to what it is today has been awesome. They’re awesome people who care about the MTB community. it’s fair to say I’m a Transition fan boy. Before moving to the Sentinel I was on a 2016 alloy Patrol which I absolutely loved. I ride all of the local stuff around the Seattle area. Tiger, Raging, Duthie, Tokul, and I live next door to St. Eds so I hit that daily. I get maybe 10 days a year in Whistler and mostly ride my Transition but on big Whistler days I’ll rent a DH bike. I also hit Stevens pass a few times a year always on the Sentinel.

Thoughts
Jumping on the Patrol for the first time was similar to every other modern trail / enduro bike I’ve ridden with the exception of a more low and slack feeling. The Patrol had a Rockshox Monarch+ rear shock and a 160mm Pike front fork. I loved them both. Very much a set it and forget it setup. Like all Transitions the Patrol felt better at speed than in the slow tech. It was a bike that you could jump on and feel comfortable right away. I know this isn’t a Patrol review just trying to give you a feeling of where my heads at.
**Please read all the way to the end***The Sentinel on the other hand was not that. It immediately felt weird. I was second guessing everything. Is the seat to high? Is the sag not right? I’m not sure exactly how to describe it but it didn’t feel like other bikes. I tuned suspension settings a lot. I have a really bad shoulder and I like my suspension a little on the soft side with pretty fast rebound to compensate for the lack of power in my shoulder. On my first ride the suspension felt like it would ramp up way to quick in the middle of the stroke. Small rock gardens, rooty sections all gave a harsh hard hitting feeling. On medium to big hits the DPX2 would blow through the travel and bottom to easy. I couldn’t seem to complete a corner the way I normally do. Dumping speed, having weird unconfident entry and exits, etc. I wasn’t telling anyone this because everyone else seemed to be just raving about the bike. The one thing I did like right out of the gate was the pedaling position. The steep seat angle is really nice. Great pedal position.
Fast forward a couple of months and I’ve got about 290mi or around 30hrs on the bike. Including 5 Whistler days, a bunch of local rides, etc. This bike has truly made me a better rider. Why? What changed? I have to say it’s the Speed Balanced Geometry or SPG. It slowly changes your riding position to really weight the front tire in corners. That was the first major change. Second I had to do a lot of tuning on the rear suspension. I bumped down to the smallest volume spacer increased air pressure, and clicked on a 2 detents of high speed compression. I’m still playing with volume spacers but the two smallest seem to really make the bike supple. I now have the best bike I’ve ever owned. I’m knifing through tight twisty flow, berm slapping when and where I want to. Even with just 140mm in the rear I can send her straight of the A-line rock drop with no doubt. I ride pumptracks pretty frequently and my cornering is pretty good, but I’ve never been able to rail like I can on this bike. Controlled two wheel drifts, freaking awesome!