TESTED
Transition Covert 26
BY MIKE KAZIMER
Known for their irreverent sense of humor and home-brewed approach to the mountain bike world, Transition has bikes to fill nearly every niche of the sport, from coaster-brake equipped Klunkers to World Cup capable downhill race bikes. The Covert is the Ferndale, Washington, based company's all-mountain offering, dishing out 160mm of travel in either an aluminum or carbon framed version. We tested the aluminum version with Transition's middle level build kit and a RockShox Reverb dropper post, which retails for $4199 USD. The total weight without pedals for our size large test bike was 32.05 pounds.
Transition Covert Details
• Intended use: All-mountain
• Rear wheel travel: 160mm / 6.3"
• 6061 heat-treated aluminum frame
• Tapered headtube
• 12x142 thru-axle
• Colors: Pewter, Pearl Yellow, Amber Ale (tested)
• Sizes: S, M, L (tested)
• MSRP: $4199 w/ RockShox Reverb post
Frame Design and Suspension Aesthetically, the Covert's aluminum frame is simple and uncomplicated – there are no complex pivots, eccentrics, or suspension technology that needs a PhD in engineering to figure out. A slightly sloping top tube leads to an uninterrupted seat tube, with a curved brace positioned between the two tubes. A beefy gusset is in place where the tapered headtube meets the top and down tubes. Any tube shaping is very subtle – no wild curves or bends to be found. Cables are routed on the down tube, with cable guides in place on the top tube for a dropper post. The Covert has ISCG 05 tabs for chainguide mounting, a direct mount front derailleur, and a 142x12 thru-axle to hold the rear wheel in place.
The Covert uses a link-driven single pivot design for its 160mm of rear travel. As the rear wheel moves, the link in front of the seat tube is activated, and the movement is translated into the Fox CTD Adjust rear shock. The Adjust part of the shock's name means that users gain three additional compression settings when the fork is in Trail mode by turning a dial on top of the CTD lever. Front suspension is handled by Fox's 34 Float CTD Adjust, where once again, there are an additional three compression settings available when the fork is in Trail mode.
Specifications
|
Price
|
$4199 |
|
Travel |
160mm |
|
Rear Shock |
Fox Float CTD Adjust BV Kashima |
|
Fork |
Fox 34 Float 160 CTD Adjust FIT Kashima |
|
Headset |
FSA NO.57E Headset Black (ZS44/ZS56, Tapered Fork) |
|
Cassette |
SRAM PG 1050 Cassette (10sp, 11-36) |
|
Crankarms |
S1400 Crankset (175mm, 38/24t, 73mm GXP, BTBLK) |
|
Chainguide |
MRP 2X Chainguide |
|
Pedals |
None |
|
Rear Derailleur |
SRAM X9 Type 2 Medium Cage |
|
Chain |
FSA Team Issue 10spd |
|
Front Derailleur |
X7 High Direct Mount |
|
Shifter Pods |
SRAM X7 |
|
Handlebar |
Kore Durox Handlebar (740x35mm, 31.8mm, Black) |
|
Stem |
Truvativ AKA Stem (60mm) |
|
Grips |
Transition Lock-On |
|
Brakes |
Elixir 9 180mm |
|
Wheelset |
Revolution 28 - Black/Black (15mm Front, 142mm Rear) |
|
Tires |
Schwalbe Hans Dampf 26 x 2.35 (Snakeskin, Evo, TL Ready) |
|
Seat |
Transition Park n Ride AM |
|
Seatpost |
RockShox Reverb 125mm |
|
| |
Transition Covert 26
Riding Impressions
SetupOur first few rides on the Covert left us feeling like the front end was too high, which was most noticeable when descending. Removing a couple headset spacers from underneath the stem helped correct this, and made it easier to get our weight over the front of the bike. The stock 60mm stem felt well matched to the Covert's fit, and we kept it on for the duration of the testing. We found 25% sag in the front fork and rear shock to be a good middle ground for optimum pedaling and descending characteristics.
Climbing and HandlingThe climbing position for the Covert was comfortable and upright, while at the same time distributing enough weight over the front wheel to keep it glued to the ground. Especially on technical climbs, this UPS-brown bike delivered, grabbing on and maintaining traction through the tangled webs of slippery roots we regularly encountered. It was easy to stand up and muscle our way over ledges without worrying about the rear wheel losing traction.
Riders who like to slash corners, and ride trails with their bike's rear end heading every direction except straight will appreciate how easy it is to maneuver the Covert's rear wheel. Minimal effort was required to get the bike a little sideways through berms, or to pop off trailside hips. Although it was easy to get the rear end to break free, cornering was not as intuitive as we'd hoped. The geometry numbers are similar to other bikes in its class – 430mm chainstays, 66.9 degree head angle, 611mm effective top tube - but the front end felt tall, which made it difficult to find the right body position when leaning hard into a turn. As mentioned, we removed headset spacers from underneath the stem to help with this, but never found the balanced feel we were seeking. The Kore Durox bars spec'd on the Covert are 740mm wide with 35mm of rise - it's possible that a wider bar with less rise would help create a more balanced, centered feel when cornering.
Much of our riding took place with both the front fork and rear CTD shock set in the Trail mode with the secondary selector also set in the second position. The Climb position was fine for extended fire road climbs, but when the trail turned technical there was noticeably more traction when the shock was in Trail or Descend mode. The Covert rewards a smooth pedaling style – riders who pedal squares will notice some pedaling-induced suspension bob when climbing with the rear shock fully open, but switching to Trail or Climb mode counteracts a good portion of this movement.
DescendingThe Covert had no trouble scurrying up hills, but was not as surefooted on the descents, especially on downhill sections with tight twists and turns, or when there were sudden dips followed by short, quick uphills. In terrain like this it felt like the Covert was getting lost in its travel - it wanted to remain in the middle of its stroke, making it more difficult to unweight the bike to jump over obstacles or respond to the varying trail conditions. We experimented with various rebound settings and amounts of sag, but weren't able to completely erase this trait. When rutted straightaways were encountered the Covert was a competent descender, but it didn't have that rock-solid feeling that inspires blasting into rough sections without a care - a little more finesses (
more like a ninja, less like a monster truck) was needed to keep the bike on the right line.
On smoother, jump and drop filled trails the Covert was much better behaved. The suspension felt more predictable, and sucked up hard landings without any trouble. In the air, the Covert was well-mannered and easy to get into position for landing. Steep, loamy chutes with a consistent pitch were also easily navigated, with the short rear end making it easy to carve our way to the bottom.
Component Check•The Fox 34 felt like it had more of a platform in the initial portion of its travel than other forks we've ridden – more effort was required to compress the fork through its beginning stroke, even with the low speed compression backed off and with the correct sag.
•Care needs to be taken to make sure that all of the cable guides are used in the area around where the derailleur housing enters the rear chainstay. Because the housing ends up running very close to the small front chainring, if a zip tie is not installed the housing could get sucked into the rings, potentially damaging the housing and kinking the rear derailleur cable.
•Schwalbe's Hans Dampfs have been gaining popularity in recent years for a reason – they're a predictable tire that works well in a variety of conditions. They lose a few points for their performance in extremely wet conditions, where they weren't as grippy on wet roots and rocks as we'd have liked, but on the whole they were solid performers.
•Avid's Elixir 9 brakes worked well - the revised pad contact adjustment had a more positive click than past versions, and seemed less likely to self-adjust.
Transition's response:
We feel confident in the cockpit position offered with our stock build, but acknowledge that this is very much an area of rider preference. The 35mm rise handlebar we spec puts the rider in an aggressive attack position that encourages you to drive the bike with your whole body. As a general trend we feel that riders are returning to a higher handlebar position, deviating from the "low front end" trend of the past few years. If a lower front end position is desired, there are many lower rise handlebar options available.
The Fox CTD rear shock we spec has been tuned specifically for the Covert, and in order to get the most out of the bike, you should set appropriate sag and utilize the adjustment features of the shock. We recommend approximately 30% sag with the shock in the descend (open) position on level ground. Rebound settings are also critical and often overlooked. If the suspension is set too slow it can "pack down" to a firmer part of the travel. Or if it's set too fast the bike will not remain stable during repeated impacts and grade variations. Choosing to ride the bike in the Trail setting is a good average setting, but it does not let the bike work efficiently in rougher terrain.
- Transition Bikes
Pinkbike's take: | The Covert has plenty of travel, but it doesn't seem to make the most efficient use of it. It was surprisingly nimble while climbing, but in other situations the bike felt rough around the edges, particularly on rugged downhills. A few years ago, the Covert would have been a strong contender for the top spot in the all-mountain category, but the competition has heated up, and there are a number of highly capable bikes vying for this position, which makes standing out from the rest a more difficult proposition. The Covert is capable, but for an all-mountain bike with 160mm of travel it didn't shine as brightly on the downhills as we would have liked. - Mike Kazimer |
www.transitionbikes.com
APPEARANCES are not the same as realities...
A single-pivot suspension, in the world of suspension design, whether there's another linkage between the swingarm and the shock, is any that there is a single pivot point (which on this frame is the one just behind and above the bottom bracket - a common placement that's been around longer than Specialized has been making suspension bikes) between the main frame and the rear wheel. It doesn't matter if the bike has a triangulated truss assembly swingarm (like a Santa Cruz Heckler) or a single monocoque beam (like a Mountain Cycles San Andreas), or a chainstay and then a pivot off the dropout to the seatstay and another swing-link (like this Transition) it is still considered a single-pivot design.
That being explained, and its not even clear you understand that point yet, while chainstay dropout pivoted 4-bars do have the advantages of both a virtual pivot point (also referred to as an Instant Center point, as used in the patent description by Ellsworth) that can float in space as the suspension moves and thus with clever linkages result in axle movement that follows weird curves, and de-coupling of the brake torque forces from the suspension, they do not respond as well as single-pivots do to square edged hits. Also a problem especially present on long chainstay 4-bars like the FSR is that as the chainstay swings upwards, the increasing tension on the chain from the growth of the effective chainstay distance (between axle and BB center) can often bring the front derailleur body into contact with the chainstay. That's the main reason for the shadow profile rear derailleurs being developed by shimano in fact.
But the reason MANY brands don't use long chainstay / dropout pivot designs (like the Specialized FSR bikes or Ellsworth ICT or Rocky Mountain Smoothlink) or short link arrangements (like DW link / Santa Cruz VPP) in a true 4-bar design isn't because single-pivot linkages are vastly better but because they are much simpler and more importantly, legally available to being used for world wide sales. In most countries, patent offices don't give patents to already well understood concepts that are publically known and found in many textbooks at engineering schools, but in the USA, that is not the case. So with patent law protecting the basic pivot geometry behind things like the horst-link/fsr-link, VPP, Ellsworth's ICT, DW-link, etc... companies who do not wish to pay royalities, or are unable to even acquire a license, and wish to have a suspension model, have to seek out alternatives. So its either go to a single-pivot or not be able to sell your models in the USA until the patents expire (which in the case of the original horst-link patent, happens on April 23rd of this month).
Now you can keep on spouting off like a typical specialized fanboy who recites documents and magazine articles and patent descriptions from 16 years ago... to people who know gobs more on the subject than you do, or you can keep your mouth shut already and let the subject drop.
Joder, que caña
Look up how much embarassing crap they churned out over the years:
www.google.com.bz/search?q=specialized+fsr&hl=de&client=firefox-a&hs=Qg2&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=RVljUeTREIyy8AT_uIDQBg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=987
I wouldn`t want to be seen on one alive.
On a pull type driven rear axle a Chapman strut works extremely well. This is a single pivot type with three variables: Leverlength and spring and damping. 3 variables are manageable. Single pivots work really well. If you try an FSR style rear end you open a can of worms - you need strange parameter dampers unique to the suspension design. Do they work better? Hardly. Do we even have to discuss airdampers? No, they suck and only work on slow bikes like XC and Enduro and are mainly placebo...
Try a Voltage, 951, Hydro, Knolly, M9, Supreme Racing etc. The best suspension rearends are all single pivot without a wiggly leverratio that needs overengineered dampers that try to fix faulty designed rearends. Trek, Spec comes to mind.
Without locking shocks, when you ride on DW or Maestro you can see the difference. And the frame is really nice but, for that price, better options exist on the market.
Foes Hydro, single pivot,reartriangle has no pivots, lots of shock options. I ride a long Fox DHR. Swaping in Curnuttshock is piecemeal. Both work verywell. Very fast bike.
Supreme Racing and Voltage, you got that right - single pivot too. Both very capable bikes.
You are right Knolly is a four link.
Rigid triangle, leverassembly outside of rigid triangle = single pivot.
honestly, go back to whatever game show wiki you're getting your facts from and stay there. You're completely out of touch with reality when it comes to bicycle suspension theory.
DARKSTAR63 is correct, the trademarked term VPP that Santa Cruz uses to name their (and Intense who licenses the patent from SantaCruz) bikes are short-link 4-bars. The Specialized FSR bikes are long-link 4-bars. The Knolly's employ a mix of long links and short links in their 6-bar design.
In a TRUE 4-bar, there is the upper link and a lower link separating the swingarm link (which the wheel is attached to) from the main frame which is the 4th link. The shock and the wheel are not part of the calculations as to how many links a bike has. Having a long straight piece and calling it a seatstay (as on an FSR) doesn't change the fact that it is considered the swingarm link. On single-pivot designs, whether they employ extra linkages to drive the shock or not, the chainstay assembly IS the swingarm. There is no separation of forces from the drivetrain or braking from the main pivot point which is a fixed physical point on the frame. On 4-bars, there is no actual physical main pivot, but always a virtual pivot location. The easy way to find where it is at any given point in the wheel travel is to draw a line between the pivots of the upper and lower links, where those lines intersect is where the wheel is currently pivoting around.
www.autozine.org/technical_school/handling/double_wishbones3.jpg
Intense and Foes are variations of this:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapman_strut
both work to reduce stiction of damper and pivots. That is part of the magic why they work so well.
And thats why airdamped rears and front airdamped mcphersons are unsucessful - no matter what you do...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacPherson_strut
Stiction dictates if suspension is good or not. Get your facts straight.
But since you like to provide wiki links instead of shutting your pie hole and accepting you were wrong....
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-bar_linkage
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_suspension
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_centre_of_rotation
There are a lot of bungling halfassed marketing idiots employing engineers that halfheartedly try to circumvent patenting issues and try to create a new and different look. Fox and CC, more so than RS, cater to bungled up suspension designs. It shouldn`t come as a big surprise that most bikes cant be dialed in properly. But they sure look good...
That you fall for that crap - your loss, if are you one of them - big loss to all of us.
The math and geometric examples you cite: Arc movement through (1) centrode. Centrode - yes, fancy mathologicous speak for - you guessed - (1) pivot. And it does not matter if the arc is s or c shaped because it has no inherent quality.
If we talk quality - s-arc as in a vpp you will end up with a complicated damper curve and a damper that cannot do its job. The Intense rear has 5mm of S-curve - negligible. Its a single pivot. The rest is marketing VPP bull.
Foes Hydro is C-curve. A simple curve - simple damper, single pivot and most importantly low stiction. Both got it right and thats why they ride supersmooth. And yes a single pivot Supreme racing rides a tad smoother because it has 4 very large bearings instead of only 2 halfsized like in a Hydro and 951/M9. Stiction...
So, three of the best designs are essentially the same, Intense decided to add value to their bikes and added VPP and at the same time limited VPP functionality to a minimum. They know what they are doing.
I do offroad suspensions for the past twenty years. I know what works and I have the math on my side for a long time.
Stuff it.
You do not need 4 large bearings to pivot a rear suspension design, hell, you don't even need to use bearing assemblies at all. Straight up bushings are the better choice for the limited range of movements involved, and not all bushings are created equal. Rocky Mountain and others have gone to bushings of such a quality that they offer less stiction than the cartridge bearings most of the industry uses, are lighter, and last longer. Do you even know what the word Stiction refers to ? Its not a continuous force. Its a threshold point of static friction that has to be overcome for movement between two surfaces to begin.
You can CLAIM you've done offroad suspensions for however long you want. This is the internet. Its full of trolls who make claims. The rest of us can choose to ignore such claims when the trolls clearly don't actually understand what they're trying to explain, and when so many others who DO know the subject, call you out on it as being completely f*cking wrong.
I wish pinkbike had mute button so I could click it and not have to ever see any of your drivel ever again.
store.ricorshocks.com/default.asp
www.vibranator.com (yes that really is the name of the company for the handlebar dampeners, yes the link is safe)
No change to the fact that instant center point is - yes - single pivot. Get over with your tantrum. And bike suspension is a subset of general suspension design.
The internet is full of clueless idiots - stiction is a force/curve and by no means a singular point and event in time. Looks like you only got to 101. You need large bearings to minimise angular momentum on maximum length of leverage going through centre of pivot axis. There are other benefits using large and many bearings but stiction is the one parameter that you try to minimise in suspension through big bearings and as little preload as possible.
Bushings have benefits in certain applications and if they run under warm oilpressure. In the bike industry they are just a cost cutting excercise. Cheaper to drill a metric hole than machining a ballbearing race seat. And they will try to sell you bags of shiny replacement tube snippets made from unobtainium.
You are a drone. My math is right. Welcome to reality.
-John Fowles
- Wakaba
Facts, dee..., facts. So far you are just blurting and bubbling pondlife.
@darks..:
insecure twit.
One more time, read up what a centrode is, then comment on what a pivot is:
The math and geometric examples you cite: Arc movement through (1) centrode. Centrode - yes, fancy mathologicous speak for - you guessed - (1) pivot. And it does not matter if the arc is s or c shaped because it has no inherent quality.
If we talk quality - s-arc as in a vpp you will end up with a complicated damper curve and a damper that cannot do its job. The Intense rear has 5mm of S-curve - negligible. Its a single pivot. The rest is marketing VPP bull.
Foes Hydro is C-curve. A simple curve - simple damper, single pivot and most importantly low stiction. Both got it right and thats why they ride supersmooth. And yes a single pivot Supreme racing rides a tad smoother because it has 4 very large bearings instead of only 2 halfsized like in a Hydro and 951/M9. Stiction...
(sic) I own the three because I analyze the design first before I buy and I ignore everything a marketingperson says. I decide who gets my bucks based on facts.
So, three of the best designs are essentially the same, Intense decided to add value to their bikes and added VPP and at the same time limited VPP functionality to a minimum. They know what they are doing.
...Stiction is really a big issue in suspension design, especially if your suspension arcs or sits through 0 degree where all the forces equalize each other. Intense, Foes, older Commencal Supreme got it very very right, Transition. Look at their problemsolving.
Even Spec`ed got it right with their Demo - even though the stupidest and superfluous marketdriven design on earth...
When i place my 2013 covert next to my 2 FSR's and Norco Team DH (FSR) I only notice two differences. The covert has the pivot closest the rear axle placed on the seatstay instead of chainstay. It's still basically in the same place from a mechanical perspective. AND the brake on the covert is bolted to an extension of the chainstay while FSR has it on the seatstay. I can't tell any difference in performance such as brake jack but i do find that at propedal setting (or comparable trail setting) the transition design has less pedal feedback and less pedal bob however it cannot be ruled out that these impressions are related to the different shocks and geometry. All I know is the Covert has the most playful suspension I've ridden which is what I want in an AM rig. It pedals just as good as any design out there and descends exactly the way I want it to. As far as the "high" front end, well its just not true. Compare the numbers and you'll find the convert is in the middle of the road for a 160 AM bike. When I place it next to my other bikes its lower than 29er, lower then DH bike and 20 mm higher then my TransAM which is 140mm front shock so the increased height is from the suspension not the headtube. Anybody else wanna talk about tangible facts?
I understand because I was there running a bike shop in 1989! Your statements are correct. However, the Covert has the brake mounted to the chainstay with a seatstay pivot. I believe the lesson from 20 years ago was that seatstay pivot with seatstay mounted brake is bad because of brake jack. The Covert has excellent suspension under braking because the brake force is communicated directly to the bottom bracket without upward or downward stresses. Also- those old designs would lock suspension when you put the brake on and sat on the bike. The Covert suspension is not impacted by the brake being locked. Based on this do you still think this is an imperfection?
Yes I do get full rear travel with the brakes on and grabbing a handful doesn't stiffen rear end but it does feel like it softens it up a little which counteracts the tendency to pitch forward from braking. Honestly, the suspension feels so good that the only time I've been braking much is to test brake jack. It feels like I tossed an anchor when I brake with rear wheel over shatter (Hans Damf). I've rented the maestro a few times at Cabo Pulmo and ridden it hard. I agree that braking performance is excellent (same or better) but find maestro less playful and not as bomber of a pedaling platform, pedal feedback feels weird like VPP but that could be the shock.
As far a a long term relationship though I dunno, Giant is like a hottie thats fun to boink but for the long term Transition will treat you right and will keep the boinking interesting into the future while Giant will give you the silent treatment and stop boinking you after a couple years.
It will be great to see more and more testing of enduro 160mm bikes. Go on Pinkbike!
i dare any one to find an am bike that feels good in this mode, specially in the rough.from my experience, this bikes handles the rough amazingly well and its really hard for me to accept the tester's conclusion here (and i did rode many other 160 bikes).
i would like to understand how did you get to this setup and why didnt you ride in Descent or trail "1" mode.
in the question of the bars i didn't like the kore so much, but i switched to a renthal fatbar lite with 740 mm wide and 30 mm elevation and it fells so much better.
down here i will let do helmet cam's on the same bike park riding my covert and my tr450 and see how fast the covert is.
covert: www.pinkbike.com/video/304786
tr450: www.pinkbike.com/video/304785
www.vitalmtb.com/community/turpy,7327/setup,21111?page=2
On another note, I also ride my bandit in trail 2(fork and shock) for all descending as I find the decend setting lacks compression and support and also blows through travel to easily.
As a consumer of bikes and related paraphernalia, I appreciate Mike Kazimer's honest review; however, in my case, my bike is factory standard set up and from the first time I rode it, I feel like I have owned it for years. It is very comfortable and am totally at one with it on the trails. I can honestly say, I've never experienced that feeling from any other bike I have owned.
I think the ultimate AM Bike is the Knolly Chilcotin, i Think it out performs all other AM bikes, Including the SB66, Nomad, Covert.
When was the last time they reviewed a bike that was near the $2500 price range?
Congrats on being able to afford new bikes, you should be proud of yourself, at 41, to be able to splurge on bicycles. For the rest of us, who may not live in our parents basements, an "affordable" review now and again might be nice. If you don't like that idea, save it.
www.pinkbike.com/news/transition-covert-review-2009.html
- Switched from a 10x135mm regular QR dropout spacing to a 12 x 142mm thru-axle QR dropout spacing
- 10mm more rear travel
- new shock
- there's cable routing for a remote for running the dropper seatpost (which comes standard now also)
Also since they now use a replaceable dropout system instead of simply a replaceable hanger, its entirely possible (if not highly probable) that they will be offering a set of dropouts to convert the bike for 650B running (just as Banshee does with the Rune, and Intense with the Carbide)
I suppose the best thing to do these days is to pick up a year-end season blowout on the cheap... or a get a really nice "gently" used 2 year old bike with its usual 50% depreciated value.
Ahh well- just complaining since it's tax week :-)
It took me a while before I figured this part out. You have to assume the position: ass way back, elbows out, eyeballs wide, ready to get crazy even on 'normal' downhills for it to behave properly. I sense the tall front end too - in cornering there is a small line between railing it and washing out.
All in all I would say its a "quiver killer" because I've used it effectively for small local xc trails, to Freight Train and Dirt Merchant, and everything between.
Mike, I wonder if you've ridden the older models without CTD suspension and how you think they compare. Is it just as you suggest, the design needs to be updated and doesn't quite measure up to newer bikes or is it more a function of the newer Fox stuff as other folks have suggested?
With a fair bit of trial and error, you do find that sweet spot eventually. One thing that I will say, My Covert just makes me smile and then smile some more!
Roll on the Weekend! :-)
Then i tried a Giant regin X which was also a very nice bike brilliant at descending but also rubbish at climbing.
Im extremely happy with my Transition covert but had to build from frame up.. to get the most out of it.
you want it in that colour, its simply stunning in the flesh.. made me want to sell my dh bike for it haha
......IMO the shock setting issue justifies a redo of this review
I have. My Float CTD fork will blow/ brake dive through its travel if I put it in descend mode.
I ride it in trail soft mode all the time.
And the whole point of the CTD system is NOT to change the settings all the time. The point is to offer the options to change the settings all the time if you want to.
If you don't like fussing with your bike all the time , then you put it I trail and forget it.
This bike rails on downhills if you have the rear shock set correctly & in descend mode.
transitionbikes.com/2013/Dealers.cfm?Token={ts_2013-04-08_02:28:26}-1d189eeb98d15b33-2CED0BC5-A5CA-1688-C4DF85F67A8A733D
I'm quite surprised about the front end height problem as my TR450 has the lowest front end i've felt apart from a specialized which just feels stupid.( that's probably more to do with the ridiculously long top tube though). I suppose they have a different take on thier all mountain bikes.
That's the difference between 25% sag and 30% sag.
I guess they do so because of the shorter lenght of the fork for the same travel. I guess the 15mm will become the standard for this bikes with fork like the new Pike, the 34 and Marzocchi 44. I will keep my 55R on my Mega
shocks/forks/suspension are the same way and how mfg's talk about things with them....
steerer tubes may be the worst, dia is in inches, yet you'll get people listing both inch and metric measurements for steerer lenght, then you go buy a headset, and i know at least cranecreek does this, but cup sizes are listed in mm as well...