Thinking about a bandit frame for 2012. Anyone ridden one? If so, how did you find the sizing? They look short.

Currently riding a 16″ orange 5 but would go for the longer 17″ if I was to get another. Trying to decide between a medium and large for the transition.

Thoughts?

J

Yes I’ve ridden one, but I’m an XL so of no use to you at all, sorry. Worth pinging the importer the question as he’s a short-arse.

i emailed transition about sizing and got a prompt reply

I’m 5’10.5″, my mate had a medium for a demo bike and I had a good 30 minutes on it, felt perfectly fine size wise to me.

It’s also an absolute ripper of a bike adn really easy to ride very quickly indeed.

i have one in my van ready for tonights nightride . i want to see if my daughter likes it 🙂

The van? No.

She’ll love the Bandit though.

rode it and its pretty cool. low bb was wierd compared to my bottlerocket. maybe i should get one 🙂

I have got one in a medium. I am about 5’9″ ish and it is fine . on paper the tt is short but it is due to the steepish seat angle and the crank is more under the seat. A much better pedaler than it should be considering what a great bike it is at silly speeds. Hands down the best bike I have ever had / ridden.
Try one if you can, if not just buy it!!!!!!!

Tony can i get a seat on it/spin?

scottish mark

yeah man it will be at marshalls weds til friday

Super!!!!!!!!!

cove123, i reckon you’ll love it. my daughters riding it tonight in broxbourne with us 🙂

Thanks for the info. I’ll contact surf sales. Cheers. J

I’m 5 10 and got a large,fit is spot on,spoke to the guys at transition and they recommended that size,I really like the bike

Did another load of mileage on mine last night. This time just charging around the New Forest so lots of pedalling and not a lot of chance to exercise it’s abilities going down. It’s a very, very good pedalling bike, not a lot in it between it and the Yeti ASR5 that I was going to buy before I discovered it. I am very much in love with it.

Where are you from J?

We have a medium built on the shop floor (Church Stretton, Shropshire) that you are welcome to throw a leg over and have a spin in the car park, our demo is Large, I’m 5″11 and could go med or lrg but went big on this one as they are a little short although med with a layback would be fine for me too.

I’m based in Sheffield. Sounds like a medium with a layback would be right for me. I’m 5’8″ but still feel a bit cramped on my 16″ orange 5 with an inline post and 70mm stem.

18 bikes is probably your local dealer, might be worth giving them a bell to see if they have any in stock as its a bit of a road trip to throw your leg over ours but yeah medium sounds like a winner to me.

Some great feedback there, I race and ride for Transition as well as teach mtb skills (www.mtbskills.co.uk). My experience is that you should take into serious consideration the top tube length of the bike when buying rather than the traditional frame size. Geometry has been changing at a rapid rate, although the last few years have seen this rate of change slow. For you to have the ability to move the bike around reach is a critical factor. I’m approx 5ft 9.5 inch tall (I would and can upon request quote my reach, just in the office on my own and its hard to measure your own arm length!), I used to run small frame size and 50mm stem till around 2009, I now run a Medium in all the Transition range. My Bandit fits like a glove, inline RockShox dropper post and 50mm 0 deg rise stem and 15mm of spacers under the stem. Bars are 750mm wide with a 15mm rise 4 deg upsweep 9deg back sweep.

The points re bb positioning are valid, although remember we spend a large amount of time stood up powering and using our legs as shock absorbers (hence the advantage of dropper posts – they give you more clearance to bring the bike up into the body on hops, drops, large bumps and jumps and also help you lower your centre of gravity in the turns whilst staying centered over the bike). There is of course an element of personal preference in feeling and accompanied equipment but I highly recommend a dropper post and the riding position an in-line offers. The UCI have just changed the ruling on the distance behind the bottom bracket a riders hip can be, tour team road bikes have changed from tradition geometry theory and created a better “more efficient” riding position, this method of calculating geometry to suit a rider is of course only available at pro level.

The 2012 bikes have had a few tweeks and my feedback on all there products are fed back to the US, my feelings on bb area with the Bandit is how low the thing is, this of course means it corners like its on rails, truly amazing levels of grip,. the bike also feels incredibly stable and planted on loose surfaces at high speed and performs on a par with many 5 and 6 inch bikes I’ve ridden over the years. I would however change from the current stock 175mm crank arms to 170/165mm arms. Your dealer should be able to assist here and in confirming 2012 tweeks. The obvious ones are the rear end option of 135mm or 142mm. If you can, go 142.. The shock platform has changed and cable routing for rear mech has been tweeked. The complete bike comes with a shorter stem and different bar, lower rise etc. Tyre option for UK bikes may be different but please don’t quote me on that. This time of year I’m based in Mabie forest 7stanes area, spring and summer months I’m in the French Alps. If we can assist in any way please feel free to drop me a line, best contact info is on the web site or just google – Clive Forth. Happy New Year..

Don’t suppose anyone living around the North West area has a Bandit for me to throw a leg over?

or any dealers in the NW?

think 18bikes is the nearest – id love to see how these ride. for those that have one, is there much bob on climbs? i’ve always been put off single pivot bikes, but guessing things have moved on a lot now…?