Transition Bikes - Trans Am - Review

AM Goodness



Transition Link

Ok so I wanted to write up a real honest review of my new Transition Trans AM biked I picked up a few months back. I have been working with transition on builds for quite some time and don’t have enough good things to say about the company.

Let me start this off with a bit of a discussion about wheels size. I built up a single speed 29’er this past winter as a simple bike I could just grab and ride. I was new to single speed, 29” wheels and a rigid fork. In the end I loved the bike it was simple and maintenance free but it just didn’t do it for me. My riding style does not fit that of a 29’er they just aren’t flick’able to me. I am 5’10 tops, ride standing up so I can hop over, on or around anything that comes my way.

I landed on the Trans AM because the general spirit of this bike was exactly what I was looking for, simple, clean, and reliable. Transition’s website puts it out there on the description of the bike ‘The TransAM hard tail brings back the basics of what true all mountain trail riding is all about.’ – where do I sign? When I pulled it out of the box it was so clean, the internal headset is a great hint taken from bmx that adds a level of smooth to the frame that is best appreciated in person.

I chose a pretty solid build for this bike with a fox 36 talas fork, all Thompson, XTR Cranks, large but light casing tires, and some trick Brown i9 Wheels Converted to singlespeed (brown is an ew colorway for them)The whole thing took me about 2 hours to build if you don’t count the chain setup issues I had. The bmx half link chain at 88 half links was to short for my build so I had to work up a solution, but I ordered a second chain and it is all good now.

On the trail the bike is ridiculous, it is COMPLETELY silent. I hate any noise, clunk, chatter, thump whatever it just makes me feel like I am going slower and drives me mentally insane. So to have such a silent machine is a god send, the steel really deadens trail noise and makes for a solid platform in any situation. With a 70mm Thompson stem and the overbuilt fork, the bike descends amazingly, the minute I jumped on it there was the feeling of ‘my bike’, it was just that comfortable. On the climbs it does damn well, I am running a 32t/18t combo, which is a good setup for the quick ups and downs of our east coast terrain.

Ahhhh...my fox 36 talas, I bought this fork about 3 years ago for a build I was doing on a Transition BottleRocket and in that time it has been on numerous bikes. An EVIL Soveirgn, Transition Bottlerocket, Transition Blindside, Tonic Fabrications Howie, and a Santa Cruz Heckler. With only 1 rebuild in that time frame it is an incredible testimate to fox and why they are the best. It hasn’t let me down from east coast xc races, to trail rides in Moab and even on the greasy steeps of Vancouver’s North Shore. It is right at home on this bike sitting nice and low at 110 mm.

In technical situations I couldn’t ask for more I can jump in and out of turns with ease making quick work of my old 29’er. I am running a set of Titec Flat tracker bars which are aimed at the single speed crowd, but turn them upwards for a trials like feel and a slight rise which makes the bike that much more stable in the techy stuff.

In conclusion, I am going to make the statement that this is the most fun mountain bike I have owned (and that is a long list). Every time I ride this bike it reminds me of exactly why I love riding mountain bikes. The bike disappears under me and lets me do what I like doing and that is ripping trails. Thanks to the guys at Scholl’s Bicycle Centers, Cam @ Transition Bikes, and Brandi @ i9 for the strange wheel configuration.

Complete Spec:
Frame: Transition Trans-AM (white) 16.5
Fork: 2004 Fox 36 Talas 110mm Travel
Headset: Eastern Internal
Hubs: Industry Nine
Rims: Industry Nine
Chain: KHE Hollow Pin Half Link 3/32"
Tires: F/Maxxis Advantage 2.4 Kevlar R/Kenda Small Block 8 2.3
Cranks: Shimano XTR 175mm 32t ti-carbon ring
Pedals: Crank Brother Candy SL
Seat post: Thompson elite
Seat: WTB Silverado
Brakes: Avid BB7 160mm rotors
Levers: XTR
Stem: Thompson 70mm
Bars: Titec Flat Tracker-sweep turned up
Grips: ODI Ruffian (dremeled for extra sticky & soft)
Weight: don’t have it yet.

Little northwest canada jaunt…

Went back to Whistler for Crankworx again this year, I think quite a few people shy away from the resort during the big show but I think if you stay out of the village it’s a pretty pleasant place to be. Big thanks to my buddy Judd for hooking us up with his condo, more than enough space, bike storage, huge deck with a view of the valley trails and a sweet shower!

We spent a ton of time riding the bike park this year but had major intentions of hitting some loam up in the hills surrounding the park. You cant go to the whistler area and not do that right? I think we spent the first day riding in pouring down rain which was greatly needed to put out the fires that were burning all over BC. If you have been to whistler you know it takes a few runs to get flowing, the riding there is pretty different from what we have on the east coast but once you got it, it’s all grins.

O-Sin > In Deep > Fatcrobat > To Tight > Joyride > Heart Of Darkness makes me feel funny in the pants.

After 3 days of getting beat to death on the mountain we headed over to talk with guys at Cromag who were headquartered about 1 block from where we were staying in function junction. Thanks to Ian & Julian at Cromag we got the inside line, Little did we know some of the better whistler valley trails were sitting right in front of our faces. Literally across the street was a drop in on a single-track that lead us up the mountain that overlooks function. The guys there gave us a little tour of where they make it all happen which was great to see, any company that is rider owned is good by me. They make some solid stuff, it’s no wonder you see their bars and other components on almost every local’s bike in the lift line.

The climb was pretty brutal in rain jackets, about an hour and a half hike on the big bikes but great views along the way up. We started in on a killer trail named ‘cheap thrills’ that put us on classic steep rock faces, with moss and loam for days. It was extremely refreshing to be hitting some soft dirt that got along well with my maxis minion sticky tires. I don’t think I have ever had as much fun on a bike as I did up on that hill. We even ran into a couple moto trials guys that were riding the same lines as us. It’s awesome how dark the forest get’s up there just completely wet, slimy, and treacherous but fun as hell at the same time. I forget our exact line off the hill but I think it was cheap thrills > 99’er > danimal > industrial disease and finally finished on Moose Knuckle (why not right?).

So the last night was pretty amazing and by amazing I mean horrible…so we stuck around up in Whistler to watch some slopestyle and by the time we began heading back down to Vancouver it was around 4 pm. We stopped in Vancouver to check out some totem poles (don’t ask but they were cool)…which put us at about 6 ish…Well we had a flight out of Seattle around 6 am.

Here is what we ended up doing, cleaning the van, putting the seats back in (it’s now around 12 am) so why get a hotel, stupid right? We ended up at some gnarly rock n roll bar called ‘The 9 lb Hammer’, guys with tattoos on their faces were staring us down, we were drunk and tired. Then we end up at some diner next to Boeing’s headquarters drunk, tired, angry and god else knows what. After the food we decided we needed sleep at about 3 am, so 5 guys, 5 bikes, and 5 guys worth of gear settled down in the van for some shut eye…hilarious.

Vintage Grand Prix Pittsburgh 09’

Every year Pittsburgh pulls off the vintage grand prix locally at the Schenley Park Golf Course. Basically it’s a high brow event where everyone comes out to show off their cars, drink wine, and eat grapes in a true Roman Debauchery fashion. I am not one for vintage cars (at least most) but some of them do it for me. I was particularly drawn to the old Range Rovers, Porsche’s and Ferarri’s.

I stopped by during the actual car show to see what all the commotion was about. It was pretty cool how they have it set up. Each brand had it’s own section, the Porsche guys were turning there noses up at everyone, there was a huge representation by BMW this year being the ‘Marquis’ manufacturer, and the Italian section made me feel like a 5 year old in a toy store. If I hit the lottery tomorrow the following would be in my garage:

-Ferrari F-430 Scuderia (Red)
-Lamborghini Gallardo Nera edition (Triple Black)
-Audi S6

All of which were present in this years event (except for the Nera edition) which made me beyond happy. Here are a few photo’s I took but I was concentrating on talking to
owners and getting my fill rather than snapping off thousands of shots.

So, I finally got mobilized on my blog, first iPhone app I actually paid for but $2.99 isn't bad. This post is just a test to see how this little guy worked while I drink a bit of over proof rum I bought in Jamaica this past winter.

what better way to test the app than do a photo dump from my favorite photos in my lib.
















-- WNKV via iPhone

it's summer and time to chill out...got a CHUB

Yep it's summer out there everyone, bikes, beer and long weekends...Here are a couple great chill tracks which are perfect for mojito sip'n...

WEEN - Your Party (Natasha & Nicole props on this)


Low vs. Diamond (ditto on the props)


Got my CHUB hubs in the mail the other day with ti hardware, cant wait to get these guys built up...

Double Dead Guy

Been wanting to try this forever and finally found some here in Pittsburgh the other day, the bottle is rad, the logo is even radder (is that a word), and the taste is serious business.

Give'er here...

I had to take a shot of my 2 favorite things today.

Neil Peart - Ghost Rider - Ducati

So way back when i was a little kid, my first ever exposure to music was the band RUSH, my Dad was a huge fan because of the drummer...this guy Niel Peart. I can remember being a little kid sitting in the passenger side of his SAAB 9000, listening to Rush records....Some of the best memories being a little kid...

Well in life you are very influenced in those first few years and RUSH became one of my favorite bands. I am not really sure why though, I don't really listen to that much classic rock but something draws me to them. Neil Peart is one unique individual his drumming is controversially the best on earth, but it doesn't stop there. The guy is a legitimate bad ass and not the 'I'll punch in your face type'. He rides his BMW motorcycle from gig to gig all over the world, talented cyclist, lives in a cabin in Ontario, and overcame some serious adversity in his life. How he dealt with it was even more legit...

Neil wrote a book a few years back titled 'Ghost Rider' lost his wife and daughter in a 6 month span, and decided instead of curling up in a ball that he would attack the mess he was in, how he would do this was via motorcycle...I really believe how you handle a bad situations defines you as a human being. The way I look at it you have 2 choices, curl up in a ball and feel sorry for yourself or give it hell doing whatever you do. Option 2 will always come out on top...I have to applaud the guy, getting me to read a book is an impossible feat, and I did read his book. Actually finished it on the beach in Malibu a few weeks after graduating college. None the less, the guy dealt with some serious shit, and did so via interstate highways, I am a true believer in therapy by road. There is something about driving that makes you figure out life...

So here I stand, at yet another cross roads, thinking about taking a bit of inspiration for Sir Peart. Experiencing a similar situation to he, I think it is about time to step it up a notch...I have been looking at Ducati's and think it is time to purchase a monster, something about the raw spirit of this bike draws me to it, i have the time to get to the west coast and back this summer (Matt you gonna be home?). Wish me luck lets see how this goes.




quick vid of the man himself, just watch it, i think you will appreciate...he is a magician.

aluminum sex!

This bike has been a long time coming, Matt has been campaigning the covert for a while but transition stepped it up a notch in launching this new iteration of the bike. I don't understand why the rest of the bike industry does not take a hint from the great folks at transition bikes, they are consistently putting out exactly what people want in a great mountain bike...clean lines, durable goods, and great customer service service. Not to mention they were gracious enough to invite us out to Belingham Washington this summer to hang out at the factory and ride the local stuff.

the other day i received a comment on my face book account that was something to the effect of 'man you love transition don't you'...I do, and I could be on any bike i want at this point in life, i choose to ride them because they are a rider owned company that knows how to build a fucking awesome mountain bike. I will be ordering this bike in the next few days.

See what people are saying about this bike here

moab - fruita - junction

Quite a few mountain bikers travel to both Utah and Colorado each year to ride Moab and Fruita simply because the riding in both states is world class. What most people miss when they get to into either town are the true gems spending most of their time on the over hyped, overridden, and least interesting trails. Each of us made the same mistakes when we were rookies riding in the west but we have learned…This past week was the absolute best I have had on a mountain bike in the past 12 years. 6 rides in 3 days with no rest except for food and beer.

We flew into SLC where Justin picked us up and we immediately headed into the Wasatch with a full moon. Got into Fruita at about 3 am mountain time where Matt and his buddy Richard were waiting with some serious IPA’s. The next morning we got up and hit some of the favorites in Fruita which were pretty good but the wind was blowing us off the ridges. ‘Moore Fun’ is pretty rad and advertised as the ‘most technical trail in Fruita’, well it’s pretty technical but we smoked it, worked out the cob webs and got ready for the next day.

The second day was spent in Grand Junction which is littered with great trails with big exposures and some pretty epic steeps. After calling some buds who had run the trail system out here before we found the trails and took off. Matt, Justin, and I found some great steeps that were a blast I felt like I was in the original Kranked movie when ‘skiing’ your bike down cinder steeps was cool.

After finishing up our loop at junction we jumped in the car and headed west for Moab. Getting into town rather late we decided it was a ‘good idea’ to sprint to the top of amasa back (about a 3 mile climb) so we could hit one of our Moab favorites ‘Jackson’s’. I had serious reservations about the amount of light we had getting on the trail at about 6:30 but in matt’s cool and collect manner he said ‘dude we are fine’. Well with dark looming I stepped up the pace and got us to the top at about 7:15 when we started heading down. If you haven’t ridden Jackson’s you need to it is one of the best trails in Moab but you need to be on your game. It contains some technical and exposed sections that are only feet from a 500 ft plummet into the Colorado river below. That said we finished the trail brail style with the last half mile in complete darkness. Jackson’s is best ridden at sun down with the low light reflecting off of the red walls of the canyons that line the Colorado can only be described as ‘epic’.

Once we got back to the car, my gimmick ‘glow in the dark’ pedals were actually glowing, never thought I would get to use that feature but hey whatever. Justin powered up his stereo with a metal band called ‘the sword’, Bob proceeded to throw running start metal fists at the silhouettes of the giant cliffs above Cane Creek road, you would have had to have been there.

The next day we woke up, fired down some pancakes and headed up to porcupine rim. Probably one of the most ridden trails in Moab, the best portion lies above the normal drop point. Due to heavy rain and snow pack we couldn’t ride the descent into porcy proper. It’s pretty funny to think back to our first time on porcupine rim, we all almost died due to exhaustion which im sure the 30 hour drive the day before didn’t have anything to do with but regardless it’s a great ride. Back to town for pizza and beer and a quick rest, then back to the bikes.

I really wish I could talk about the final trail we rode in Utah but I can’t. Started out riding high desert bermed corners with ledge drops scattered through out. It was the kind of trail that had me laughing while carving turns and roosting desert dust. Took a break halfway down with a few PBR’s which was probably a mistake. The remaining few miles were some of the most technical of the entire trip. Massive rock step downs, exposures, and drops.

Each year we seem to find more to ride and push the envelope in Moab. Is it North Shore style gnar? Absolutely not but make no mistake there is some challenging stuff in Moab that forces you to be on it. I guess I’ll have to wait until the fall to get my next Utah fill. Justin, see you then.