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New transition smuggler

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On the front page here and everywhere.

Loving both new colours and great to see this get a reboot as it was missing in their line up.

Probably the best UK bike in their line up - 140/130 (or 140 rear). Hope they have increased the rear clearance though as it was pretty narrow on the 2018.

Haven’t seen any UK pricing but I suspect it’s a bit more than the £1,800 I paid brand new for my 2018 alloy NX model!


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 7:09 pm
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The 2023 Alloy NX model as posted by BikeRadar

- Fork: Marzocchi Z2
- Shock: Fox Float X Performance
- Drivetrain: SRAM NX
- Brakes: SRAM Code R
- Wheels: WTB i30/Novatec
- Tyres: Maxxis Assegai EXO+ 2.5 (f), Maxxis Dissector EXO+ 2.4 (r)
Price: £4,499.95 / $4,199

It really is the perfect bike for what I ride, and I am in the market for a new bike.
But NX / Marzocchi for 4.5k? Noope. I'm out.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 7:16 pm
roger_mellie reacted
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You could just buy the frame, am sure it will be only 4k


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 7:33 pm
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The post Covid market has made Transition way too expensive in the UK, hopefully the market lets them get back to lower pricing, as they're a lovely brand and bike.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 7:36 pm
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The alloy frames haven’t been a bad price frame only the last few years. Paid £1900 I think it was for an alloy 2022 sentinel with a float x performance elite shock. It’s a brilliant bike but an alloy smuggler would have been the choice I’d have taken over the sentinel if available at the time.

Their full builds aren’t very good value - if you look at the GX model it’s got sone sneaky downgrades on the shifter and cranks and the wheels aren’t brilliant.

Bird Aether 9 builds are much better value and it’s a similar bike. Just that pink coloured carbon sentinel is a thing of beauty.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 7:56 pm
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That price is nothing short of ridiculous.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 8:27 pm
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It's remarkably close to my Aether 9c: geo, travel, progression etc. The 9c's better looking tho, and I refuse to hear any disagreement on that point.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 8:42 pm
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@benos - I don’t think you’ll get many people agree on that one tbh 🤣

If the Smuggler is the same as my Sentinel you can get a much longer dropper in there too - I could scrape 200mm drop on my Oneup dropper with the Aether 7 I had - but comfortably fit in 210mm drop with room to spare on my Sentinel.

If the 9a or C had been in stock when I sold my A7 I’d be riding one of those now. And then next choice was probably the Reactor 290 alloy (also out of stock) and then was thinking Sentinel or Privateer 141 (also out of stock). Only the Sentinel was available - luckily it turns out I love it!


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 8:46 pm
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Love what I’ve read about Bird and the CS seems great. You would have to be blind to describe their full sus bikes as good looking though. The price of that Transition is ridiculous


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 8:56 pm
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bad price frame only the last few years. Paid £1900 I think it was for an alloy 2022 sentinel with a float x performance elite shock.

New alloy frames are now £2900 ish, model depending.

Looks like a good UK bike if people were realistic about what kind of bike they should ‘actually’ ride for 95% of things 😆


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 9:08 pm
 LAT
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Looks like a good UK bike if people were realistic about what kind of bike they should ‘actually’ ride for 95% of things 😆

but do they need a bike this expensive? 😉


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 9:32 pm
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Yup, the Transition that wasn’t in the line up when I was buying last year. Love my Sentinel but I reckon that’d be even better most of the time. Scary price increase though. My full GX alloy with code RSC and full Fox performance elite was £4600 this time last year. Can’t blame Transition for the awful exchange rate though.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 9:38 pm
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Transition prices in the UK and Europe are insulting this season. Not sure what is going on - exchange rate? COVID tax?


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 9:48 pm
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There's a glut of bikes & parts coming down the pipeline after the covid shutdowns & shipping issues.

I can see there being some bargains to be had, if you have the money later in the year, Transition may find themselves having to discount

That said its a lush looking bike and Ill bet it absolutely rips for what most of us ride


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 9:58 pm
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Looks lovely in pink😁

Maybe even slightly prettier than my aether 9 in Ron Burgundy 😂


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 10:12 pm
 poah
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really bad spec for the price.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 10:14 pm
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New alloy frames are now £2900 ish, model depending.

Looks like a good UK bike if people were realistic about what kind of bike they should ‘actually’ ride for 95% of things 😆

It's definitely better looking but is it really worth twice the price of an Aether 9? I'd agree on it being the right sort of bike for 95% of UK riding though.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 10:41 pm
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I remember having a go on a Smuggler back in 2015, it was that ride that converted me to 29ers, it was such good fun. Didn't have the pennies at the time for a new bike, but at least picked up an Aether 9 last year and absolutely love it.


 
Posted : 16/02/2023 11:02 pm
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New alloy frames are now £2900 ish, model depending

Which would be mental expensive 100%. Looks like the sentinel alloy is up from £1900 ish to £2300 which is sort of understandable but making it a bit pricy for an alloy frame.

I think the Patrol and Spire come in more expensive due to the X2 shock on them (which actually I wouldn’t want as they seem to have a lot of issues with cavitation and on the trunnion ones breakages) - but £2900 feels unrealistically priced.

It’s definitely better looking but is it really worth twice the price of an Aether 9

It’s definitely not worth it - I’m guessing the ride will be similar ish - I haven’t fully checked the geometry but would expect the Smuggler to have slightly longer chainstays for more stability / balance vs long reach.

Will be interesting to see the weight of the smuggler alloy frame - my Sentinel alloy frame is a bit lardy- it felt significantly heavier than my Aether 7 frame when I was swapping kit over. Obviously the 29er wheels and tyres are heavier but that’s about it.


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 9:52 am
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yeah the pricing has gone so far wrong in the UK for transition

RRP carbon frames now £3999, puts them above SC and inline with any other top end frame, ive always seen transition as a nice realistic pricing brand, not quite the quality of SC/Yeti etc but very fun bikes to ride all the same, but now given the quality isnt up there with SC etc im not sure id pay that for one now, without at least 20% off

gutting really as the new gen of the transitions are ace, and the nice little new features on the smuggler will no doubt follow on the new sentinel next year (udh, better full internal routing, inset headset, no loam pool, no trunnion etc) would be a instant upgrade for my current sentinel and would swap it out for it, but the price.......


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 10:06 am
joebristol reacted
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also in feb 2022 (yes just a year ago!!) i paid £1899 for the alloy frame, its now up at £2899 so a £1000 hike in a year for identical frame with same everything, so either exchange rates/brexit or some other crap has caused this, or simply transition are trying to cash in like the rest of the ridiculously priced things us brits get bent over for


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 10:10 am
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New alloy frames are now £2900 ish, model depending

For real?

I thought they'd lost the plot when they were asking £2.2k or £2.3k for the alu frames.

Even Orange's alu frames are cheaper than that (and will be way lighter).


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 10:36 am
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RRP carbon frames now £3999

if I’m being asked to pay that, I’ll save a bit longer to get the extra 5%/£200 for an Atherton.


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 10:39 am
joebristol reacted
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Or save 250 quid and get an Hb916 with ohlins shock in the chameleon paint job (I know it's a very different bike)

https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/bikes/frames/hope-hb916-mountain-bike-frame-set-2023-chameleon__394027


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 11:19 am
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Looks a great Uk trail bike but those prices are bikes high for the spec


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 11:20 am
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RRP carbon frames now £3999

£250 more and you get a one-of-100 Last, hand made in Germany. If you buy it shockless and source the suspension yourself, probably getting close to parity.


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 1:39 pm
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I'd get the rather similar Carbonda frame for under £1k, stick a nice shock like a CC Air IL on it and keep the rest of the dosh 😀


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 2:13 pm
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I've been torn between head saying Spur and heart saying Sentinel for a long while now.

The smuggler could have been the perfect compromise, especially in pink. However, as others have said, that price opens up a lot of other options. Shame really as it has lovely lines. My 9nly reservation other than price, is the headset bearings sitting straight onto the carbon.


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 5:06 pm
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Slightly biased as love the look of transitions frames! New smuggler is a lovely looking bike though. Amazing colour options too.
I paid 2700 for my carbon sentinel frame about a year and a half back. New prices seem utterly ridiculous!


 
Posted : 17/02/2023 8:53 pm