I’ve never understood this ‘the industry are forcing us’ line.
We demand short stays.
When presented with new tyre widths we think it’d be nice to try.
We like it when someone says something is lighter/stiffer/stronger/easier to use.

If I was a bike company – I would be trying to design bikes that would satisfy these things. If you’re a little bit earlier than other companies to the table, then you’ve got a competitive advantage.

I just don’t see the conspiracy.

Don’t buy it and they won’t make it.

You would also need to space /bodge your disc brakes as the rotors would not be in the right position if you used non boost hubs.

Hope have been well ahead of the game since the 90’s when no two bikes ever seemed to be quite the same. 5mm of those and a spacer on the axle on the disk side and it’d be good to go, you’d even be able to lace it over the center of the flanges.

As for 1x up front, unless I’m missing something ‘boost’ is just fitting the chainring in the outer position from a triple rather than the middle. As ‘standards’ go, this one should be pretty easy to sort if you have a bolt through hub and a tripple crank.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/hope-rotor-spacer/rp-prod3288?gs=1&gclid=CNXcgc-9jMcCFYgIwwod85oBuw&gclsrc=aw.ds

My only thought is as an “Alpkit Collaboration” it doesn’t look totally bikepackey…

Yes it uses 27.5+ wheels but I’d have expected maybe some guard bosses and/or maybe some clever ideas for things to lash dry bags to, it looks like a nice enough frame, but, dare I say it, it’s not that much different to something Brant might have come up with for OO/PX?

I just don’t see the conspiracy.

I don’t think there is one either. Talking to a sales rep for a large bike manufacturer a few weeks ago he was postulating that the two biggest markets (The US, and Germany in Europe) it was the norm is for riders to change whole bikes every couple of years, unlike the UK where it was more common to “self build”. He said that reps in these two markets were surprised at the UK reaction to what they see as designing better and more capable bikes.

Alpkit make an open water swimming wet suit too. This has no inbuilt rucksack, camping mat or stove.

Though that said, we do have a bikepacking model Sonder model too:-

I always thought the point of bikepacking was that you just ride a normal bike, in your normal style and over your normal trails, but – with luggage. (it is for me anyway)

Only problem with that, is that I now have a complex FS main triangle, and a dropper post.

Take a nice slack/low/long hardtail, add one of those Orbea Digit seatposts and have some braze-ons for bottle options and it’s job done for me.

My main concern with what’s out there is that as soon as you have ‘modern’/forward geometry you also tend to get super-rigid rear ends and heavy frames or super-high custom-build prices.
Which is why the Transmitter seemed ok.

(edit: if it proves to be mid-weight and not too rigid)

AlexSimon – Member
I always thought the point of bikepacking was that you just ride a normal bike, in your normal style and over your normal trails, but – with luggage. (it is for me anyway)

This. very much this.

Currently have the Transmitter on test. First rides have been a hoot.

Plan to load it up and take it to the Lakes, ride some tech, and sleep in a ditch somewhere. I think that’s still bike-packing right?

I’m pretty excited about this frame – seems like a good jack-of-all-trades to me. Keep two sets of wheels ready to go – a 650b+ for quasi-fatbiking and a pair of 29s for gravel adventures – and this will cover a lot of bases. Certainly floating my boat…

Does anyone have an advance on ‘Autumn’ or ‘three months’ for availability?

This. very much this.

I dunno (but then my normal bike is an XC bike not a #ENDURO Gnarpoon), it’s covering ground, exploring etc, not trying to ride the tech bits on a bike weighing upwards of 40 lb.

It’s a bike, marketed by alpkit, it doesn’t have to be bikepacking any more than their climbing gear isn’t. In fact it’s probably jumped to the front of my hypothetical queue for a space in the shed!

So does this then count as “not a bike packing bike”

Reverb and Pike content – winner of the CTR this year;

http://bikepackersmagazine.com/jesse-jakomait-new-colorado-trail-race-record-holder/

Is that cable tie thing on the top tube just in the right place to dig in to your shoulder if you carry it?

It’s on the RHS, so if you carry on the drive side sure… but that’d be the least of your worries I’d think.

Looks like a nice bike, I’d be in the market if I didn’t have the El Mariachi.

I think this ticks an awful lot of boxes for my next bike and a great replacement potentially for my underused Curtis.

That is quite some feedback!

We are looking forward to the first rider reviews as all of us have taken the Transmitter out for a spin; everyone comes back smiling whether from a trail centre red run, a quick pedal around Edale or an overnighter in Mid-Wales.

We understand the techy bit – you keep writing on forums about it, we are going to go out and ride in the mud and have fun, I’ll check back later 🙂

As well as the Transmitter, we have the Broken Road (Pictured above) a bit more rigid for long adventure bikepacking and a road/gravel/touring titanium – the Camino. We’ll make sure everyone gets to see them… if we are not out riding them!

Jay

Yes please Jay – there is a lot of affection here for the Tripster ATR, so your Camino would attract some market share.

Do post some more pics and specs as and when you are permitted.

Re availability – I emailed Alpkit and was told November…

Yes yes, but what colour?

“Broken Road” – A Mam Tor reference? Nice.

Check out the first pictures over on OutdoorsMagic – http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-news/alpkits-new-bikes—first-pictures/14249.html

The Camino –

We have a review coming up from road.cc on the camino and some bike luggage and I’m sure we will have a few more bikes out there and possibly a demo day before release in Oct/Nov’ish

Jay

Not sure if this has been done, but here are some of the new Alpkit bikes:

Sonder bikes

Is it possible to fit 29″ wheels into the transmitter?

Is it possible to fit 29″ wheels into the transmitter?

No. It’s 650B+ bike, not a 29er. So no. Sorry. Whilst you could get something in there, not anything of any decent size.

Any geometry info on the new frames yet?

Nov 5th came and went and no bikes/frames 😕

Any user reviews on this yet?
Like the look of the transmitter full build in black with a pair of pikes.

Also interested in user opinions…

I borrowed one from Alpkit for a week or so while it was in development and really liked it. Felt like a Ragley but a little roomier – I have two of the things and Brant designed them too, so not that surprising I guess. Geometry, very familiar in a slack front end, steep seat-tube, descends and climbs brilliantly, but with uncanny amounts of grip from the 650b+ 2.8 Trailblazers on firm to medium stuff. and great over rocks, handy as I live in the Peak.

What I did like was that it didn’t feel weirdly unusual, more like a normal hardtail, but on steroids with added grip and cush from the tyres. It’s also, bear in mind this was a proto, a really nice looking frame, liked the flattened top tube. I couldn’t tell you if that really did the ‘lateral stiffness with vertical compliance’ thing given the size of the tyres though. Whatever the reason, it didn’t feel harsh. For perspective I have an Mmmbop as a winter hardtail and that is a little stiff.

I thought it was a really good, fun, all-rounder and like it enough that I bough the same frame off them recently, though I’ve not got round to building it up yet. I can’t tell you much about how it feels in standard build spec, but I rode it with both Pikes and Sweeps and they both worked well enough for me.

Also posh version SRAM 1×11 worked well for me – first time I’ve ridden it – never felt I needed a lower or higher gear off road at least. I quite like the bolt-on cable/hose guides, but as a serial Ragley owner, I’m used to them.

Full disclosure: I do know some of the Alpkit guys, but no-one forced me to give them money, I did that because I genuinely liked the bike a lot. I should also say that I’ve not ridden any other 650b+ bikes, so I’m coming at it from the point of view of someone who mostly rides stroppy 26″ hardtails – mostly a Ragley Ti – along with the occasional outing on a Blur 4x and it was ‘different’ enough that I really enjoyed it.

Hope that’s maybe some help. Can we have a Transmitter Ti please? 😉

Mine turned up 2 weeks ago 🙂 (it’s the GX and Yari full build) and my full sus bike hasn’t been touched since. The Transmitter is such a fun ride – puts a smile on my face every time I ride it. In instils so much confidence in rocky and steep downhill sections and with the high volume tyres it’s really comfy. I took it to Hadleigh for its first proper ride and I cleared all of the black obstacles and rock gardens with ease – always hesitated on my Nicolai FS. Once you get the big tyres rolling they hold their speed and provide great stability. I’m a 650b+ convert

Quick update in case anyone’s interested. Been riding my Transmitter for a couple of weeks now, built up 1×10 wth a 32-tooth front ring and an 11-42 Sunrace cassette on the back, standard X Fusion Sweep 650b fork set at 120mm, which feels about right. Wheels are Hope Pro 2 Evo on WTB Scraper rims. The shifter’s a Saint and the rear mech is the wider range Zee Shadow Plus. Has a Reverb as well.

Started off running WTB Trailblazer 2.8 front and rear, but it was sketchy as a front tyre, so swapped for a NN 2.8 which also fitted no problem. Both tyres tubeless. Also had to fit a Rad R mech cage to get the Zee to shift cleaning on the Sunrace cassette. The other change I made from the initial bill was to swap the 40mm Alpkit Love Mud stem to a slightly longer – 55mm maybe – Ragley stem because the front end felt slightly wandery on steep climbs, of which there are quite a few in the Peak.

Anyway, mostly I’m really loving it. My ‘normal’ bike is a tweaked Ragley Ti with a 2015 Pike on the front and while the Sonder’s not as light or ‘quick’ feeling, the 650+ tyres are fantastic over rougher stuff, rocky chunder where there’s a great combination of grip and rollover – it just motors over stuff that baulks normal-sized tyres and seems to have more grip, well, everywhere actually.

Fantastic on the loose rocky stuff that’s lying about all over the place at the moment and really confident on the downs where the slack head angle and added grip really do work.

It’s not quite as precise as my Ragley Ti on the ups and lacks that instant turbo boost kick when you need it, but then it’s heavier particularly in the wheel department, so that’s no surprise really. What did surprise me a little is just how relentlessly quick it is over flat, but rough ground – uneven rocky stuff, pot-holed tracks, half-brick sized rubble and babyheads – it just sort skims over stuff without losing momentum, like a 29er but with more float and cushion.

I’m generally a wheel standard skeptic, I thought 650b was at best a marginal gain and at worst a cynical exercise in market manipulation, but the 650+ thing really does seem to bring something different. Overall I’m really enjoying the bike, no regrets about debuilding my Mmmbop hack to build it up, just a brilliant, fun bike.

I’ve heard elsewhere that the Trailblazer isn’t good as a front tyre. Setting up some B+ wheels and got a Bridger 3.0″ for the front but not convinced it will fit my forks 😳 it will depend where the widest part of the carcase sits in relation to the narrows on the fork. If not then it’s either a Nobby Nic or a Rocket Ron in 2.8″ variety.

The Trailblazer is awful as a front tyre, though it works well enough out back. The Nobby Nic seems okay to me, but to be fair, my only plus-sized comparison is with the Trailblazer, which is mostly keen on going sideways.

There’s an mtbr.com thread where someone’s measured lots of 650b+ tyres laid out flat from bead to bead, it doesn’t tell you definitively if something’ll fit, but it gives you a starting point when it comes to comparing tyre relative tyre sizes, though of course shapes and profiles vary as do tread heights and distribution.

The other thing with plus-sized tyres is that they do seem pressure sensitive, there’s a small-ish window between too soft and too firm.

Here’s the spreadsheet from that thread – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dJpZsY3X_jR6N1TuYwz_clONUs0na2B1XaCaUIctX6U/edit#gid=0

The numbers in the top row with a lilac background are rim width – it gets mentioned in the thread.

Well the Bridger fits through the forks 😆 with about 4mm either side. Overall it’s about 12mm shorter than the Bonty XR4 on Hope XC rim that I’ve had in there up to now. These measurements are at 16psi. Adds about 850g to the weight of the front.