Going down: Everyone likes to go down! It is why we go up. The Transition goes ‘downhilling’ at a rapid pace, and when I say ‘downhilling’ I don’t mean singletrack type descending, I mean proper UK type DH type stuff; steep, fast and rooty. It’s good with the standard 140mm Fox fork up front, but if you bang a longer fork up there like a Marzocchi 55 RC3 Ti and a set of fat sneakers, the ride is life changing. The Transition rips. Simple as that really.

Going up: To go down, you gotta go up. It’s the part none of us like (unless you are a bit weird I suppose), so a bike that helps us along the way is always welcome. ‘Little Green’ climbs with ease. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t like my Cannondale Flash, but let’s face it, you would never attempt a fire road gap on the svelte specialist XC carbon race machine and where’s the fun in that?

Jumps: Most ‘all mountain’ type hardtails usually jump with the grace of a sumo wrestler diving from the top board of your local swimming pool. A bike of this nature isn’t ever going to jump like a 4X race bike, but if the take–off is right and the speed is there, little green lofts nicely, with no weirdness and is very well balanced. Put it this way, Scott Roberts cleared everything, first time down the Dirt 4X test track aboard the TransAM.

Manualling: You probably aren’t really ever going to have to manual this bike. However in my opinion all bikes should manual at least a bit if you are going to have fun on them. The Transition does manual. Not brilliantly, but for a bike of this nature, not badly either. If there is something on a trail that can be manualled and your saddle is low enough, Little Green is more than willing.

Changing direction: So, is the Transition like a gazelle? Put it this way, if you were cruising past Twycross Zoo and Leo the local lion had escaped and was looking for his lunch, you would probably make it away, alive, on Little Green. Gazelle–like, no, but as good as, and better than every other all–mountain hardtail out there? Yes.

Turns: Flat – like pretty much any bike (unless you are talking really low bottom bracket heights) going fast around flat turns is generally down to the geezer (or gal) on it and the Transition is no different. If you have the skills, the bike will do it, with little to no front wheel push.

Bermed – Little Green rips around trail centre type berms. This is a good thing as it is more than likely where it will spend most of its life. However if the berms are a bit more singletrack and ‘hand–made’ so to speak, you do have to use a little bit of steering type input. Big and banked = effortless. Little and small = rider input required.

What did we like? Everyone liked the sizing on the Transition. It has a nice long top tube so you can run a sensible length stem instead of something that resembles a fishing pole. The bottom bracket height is very good and the frame lines flow nicely into the rear triangle design.

It does everything well, that an all–mountain hardtail should do, and looks good to ‘boot’, with a variety of tasteful colour schemes to choose from.

What didn’t we like? On a couple of occasions the rear wheel worked loose. Not dangerously loose, but loose never the less. Seatpost size. A bike like this has got to run a dropper post. It’s not a question of “should I run a dropper post”, it’s an answer of “this bike should come with a dropper post”. However with the seat post size being a little on the weird side (30.0mm) the only real option you have at the moment is a Gravity Dropper with a shim. Ludicrous.

If you do decide to run a bigger hitting type fork, Old Green is begging for a bigger head tube. Tapered? Perhaps, but anything bigger will do…

The bottom line: Don’t fall into the (like I have I’m ashamed to say) ‘I must have a five inch travel trail bike’ syndrome, as most of the time you’re lugging all that squish and squash around without any need. There is nothing better than beating yourself up and testing your skills on a well balanced hardtail, and as your wife, girlfriend (or even boy friend for that matter) will tell you, a tail that’s hard, with good sizing, that will bend a bit this way, then that way, is as good as it gets really.

Go ahead, don’t be afraid, make the TRANSITION (no pun intended)…

www.transitionbikes.com

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