So this noob decided to get something different, and after agonising over three possibilities, I settled on the new 2015 Transition Patrol. I was planning on reviewing this little beast, but work's getting in the way of any meaningful riding time, and honestly, the time I do have riding, I'd rather spend enjoying playing chicken with myself in an attempt to match the life-threatening capabilities of this machine. But here are some grainy snaps of the build at this stage. A few things I might change, like trimming the steerer length, getting different pedals, and deciding on whether to color-code the saddle to the rest of the decor From the riding I've done thus far, there's one stand-out impression that's been present from the very first ride: the bike feels like you want to throw down flat into a corner, flat as in horizontal! You want to lean that sucker over as if the side knobs stretched around the sidewalls all the way up to the rims. All just in the head of course, but its hugely confidence inspiring. I'm of course butchering the moment, but the bike feels so nimble, so maneuverable, that you want to drift into every single corner, bermed or not. Coming from a 26" trail bike with a 69 degree HA, I had expected the Patrol with 650b wheels,65 degree HA and 98mm longer wheelbase, to be somewhat vague and a bit lethargic when it comes to steering. I was very pleasantly surprised: it's so easily maneuverable even in a sequence of fast, tight turns. Drifting comes pretty easily, but it doesn't feel uncontrolled and a lot of confidence is gained from that feeling of being nicely centered within the bike. The bike is fitted with Mavic Crossmax XL WTS 650b wheelsets. I ditched the Mavic rubber and shod the hoops with a personally more familiar combination of Schwalbe rubber instead: Magic Mary up front and Rock Razor at the back. As is typical with the bigger wheels, trail chatter is smoothed out, and acceleration is pretty snappy. The suspension is a modified form of the Horst-link which Transition calls Giddy-Up. One of the motivations for getting a new frame was to get away from a particular problem I've been experiencing with the Giant. The best way to describe is a suspension lock-up: with the gearing in either of the last two sprockets, and over rough terrain, the suspension would feel jammed up: completely solid. Braking is harsh and pedalling feels incredibly hard. It's not something I had expected from the Maestro suspension, but it was getting annoying. So the solution would be a suspension system that remains fully active under braking and pedalling. The Patrol's Giddy-up setup does this just perfectly. I don't have a suspension curve for the Patrol, but it feels pretty linear, and coupled with the RS Monarch Debonair, its pure groundhugging bottomlessness. There is a tradeoff however, and that's when it comes to climbing. The Maestro suspension is really good in this regard, with no discernible difference between leaving the shock locked out or fully open, except under hard cranking. The Giddy-up suspension allows for a very supple ride, but there is discernible pedal-bob even with the Monarch set to firm. I often berate Rockshox for rather light compression damping, and maybe the Monarch could do with more compression damping. But I think the Patrol requires more of a platform via the shock to firm up the climbing capability. It's not horrible, just not as firm as the climbing offered by the Maestro suspension. The bigger wheels helps offset the slightly increased climbing effort, and this benefit is nicely evident during more technical climbing. Still loads to learn about the bike, but so far, its been a pretty natural transition, couldnt' resist! Huge thanks to Phia vd Meulen of A-line MTB & Outdoor for the thoroughly professional service provided while sourcing the frameset for me, and to Devon Katzen at Action Cycling for putting a rushjob on building the bike.
