Poon price, thanks for that. What did you make of the Rune? They certainly look nice and Dirt seemed to quite like it.
Trimix, I'll no doubt be your way soon so will give you a buzz if that's ok? I could also have a look at you other frame (I'll respond to your email tomorrow if that's ok).
Sure, no problem. The frame is in the loft and can stay there till you've made up your mind. Anytime your around we can hook up for a ride.
mindmap3,
Loved the Rune, felt great flat-out down hill, climbed well and awesome on the tighter stuff (minton batch decent). The Rune I demo'd had the Fox rear shock, i'd probably go with the CCDB. Quirky but I like the option to change the dropouts to allow 26" and 650b.
Didn't like getting back on my Zesty the next day.
Will definitely test them both. The more I look st the Banshee the more I like it although part of me wonders if it is a bit too burly, with those very slack angles its definitely going to be a blast going downhill. My other concern is that the back end looks very busy and a bit of a mud / dirt magnet. But on the other handm if I go up a size it looks better than the Transition (sad I know, but it matters because its a fair amount of cash to drop on a frame).
The good news is that the boss didn't seem too bothered when I mentioned it to her...I think she would rather I did it now before kids are a serious proposition.
It's a choice between these two I think. Just need to get over to Shrewsbury for back to back tests.
I think I'd for for the silver one in either...think it's safest with my poo brown fox forks. Most of the other bits are black aside from the saddle, bars and chain device which are white.
Rune is a shade heavier - 8.5lbs with CCDB Air versus 7.68 for the Coveret with RP23 - that's over half a pound, even allowing for the shock.
Covert at £1250 seems like fantastic value compared to quite a few other similar frames. Shame the carbon one is right up there price wise.
rsonally, I ride a large covert at 5ft11. I rode a medium and found it too short to be honest.
They are excellent bikes in my opinion, I've ridden a lot of full Sus bikes, and really love this frame.
The weight of the Rune is more or less the same as my SX, so it'd be another porky bike although people do seem to say that they ride lighter than they are. Pink Bike certainly liked it, much more than the Covert.
Both are bigger than my SX in the seat tube, the Rune has the same length top tube whereas the Covert is ever so slightly shorter. Either on in large would be the longest MTB that I've had (my old Chameleon in large was 23.5 which felt pretty good). A 24 inch top tube does seem quite long and I hated the large Enduo that was the same shape as my SX because it felt like a barge.
2012 covert here. Love it!
I'm 6ft & a medium is perfect. If I had to replace it the only bike I could think of getting in its place is a 2013 covert.
Its In black with the kashima build. Loco just converted the talas to floats apart from that I can't think of any upgrades I want, or maybe lighter wheels but not really necessary.
Demod an ibis mojo too which climbed better but I preferred the covert over all.
Iridebikes - have you got any pics of yours? The only large one I've seen was the NSMB review.
@therag used to rely on talas a lot until the covert - loco - floats and a loco'd rear shock HG as transformed the bike!
Mindmap3 - worth.demo'ing a yeti asr5 or sb66 as they can be had for around 1500 just as a comparison. A good friend of mine demo'd 5 or may be 6 different frames before taking plunge. Good luck
@banks, yeah cant see the need for it.
Had the shock tunned same time. Only 1 ride so far since sus service & conversion but seems great
Poon - thanks for those links. I got a demo of the Rune booked for the 25th, it'll be interesting to see how it rides.
Need to sort a demo of a Covert out.
I'm officially 5 11 1/2, so just inside the upper reaches of a medium in both.
Is your current bike really that heavy at 32lbs? What weight to do you expect its replacement to be?
I guess it's not the heaviest thing in the world. My SX frame is around 9lbs so fairly hefty. The Covert will drop a reasonable amount off it whereas the Rune will be more or less the same depending on what size I get.
My man motivation really is that I can afford to do it at the moment and the SX us looking and feeling a bit tired now. The DHX had started playing up and the only shock that comes in the right size now is the CCDB which is worth more than the frame is.
Part of me is even wondering if I'd be better looking at something like be Spitfire. Hmmmm.
(kids are on the horizon so I doubt I'll be buying new bike bits once that's a reality).
lol That doesnt change
It probably won't, but getting a £1,500 frame past the boss won't happen.
I thought I was going to have to break out the 'its not even an expensive frame' argument (which it's not when you look at how many fames are now £2k plus).
Now got a demo of a medium Covert booked for the same day so I can compare it to a Rune and see which I like best.
Odd request I know, but has anyone got any pics of a Covert in large? The only pics I've found are from an NSMB test and they're all at funny angles and make the bike look wrong. I know a bike needs to ride well, but I want one that I like the look of too!
The more I think about, the more I'm leant towards a large, but will need a test ride to confirm.
Maybe if you're going towards a large size it might be worth demo'ing the 29er version too? Might be a bit more in proportion.
mindmap3,
Make sure you post back after riding both bikes. Like I said i'm waiting to take to Covert out and would love to hear a comparison from riding them both on same day.
http://www.nsmb.com/3645-transition-covert-review/
I believe the bike in the review (linked) is a large. I didn't read the review so cannot be sure but it certainly looks bigger than my medium. Nice colour than green too,
That's the older Covert though, the 150 version
Prezet - I won't be going down the big wheel route because I want to keep my wheels and forks.
Poon - will definitely post up my thoughts. I'm looking forward to testing them both. It may well be my most thought about and informed frame purchase!
Thanks Jef. That Covert in large looks huge compared to the medium jobbies.
My yellow covert carbon in the pic on page 1 of this tread is a Large
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Cople more pics:
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Simon your carbon one looks lovely and and a lot less ungainly than the green one. I guess part of that is down to the carbon tubes being chunkier, so there isn't a huge front triangle filled by a tiny air shock.
Hmmmm. Hopefully it'll all be decided next week when I ride then both!
Indeed the green one (possibly 2010?) looks like a horse compared to the yellow carbon above. There is a lot of seat tube above the cross bar on the new carbon one which does make it a neater looking bike.
Definitely. I know I shouldn't be so concerned about looks, but I intend to keep this frame for a fait while, especially as its the most I've ever spent on a frame. Not only does it need to ride well, I want it to look nice.
Some large bikes pull it off but others just look like gates. The large Rune is a better looking bike than the green Covert. Pink Bike didn't seem to like the Covert much but loved the Rune. The UK press seem to like the Covert a lot though.
PinkBike's Covert review was more focused onthe full build, they specifically had problems withthe front end being too high/light - Transition had specced a 50mm rise bar - that doesn't suit the bike, IMO. Some people like a high front end for DH, but low rise works on 160 forks for a reason
How a bike feels is a lot to do with things like bars, stem, tyres - even tyre pressures and grips etc.
Never mind personal preferance for set up and suspension tweaks. I tend to take bike reviews as mostly fiction.
How does it handle on the technical stuff? Like tight switchbacks and so on?
Drooling over a Covert in yellow, but it will be years before I can afford one.
it handles nadgery stuff very well as its not too slack and having a short stem and wide(ish) bar keeps it nimble. but with the new shocks i think it will be better as probably not sitting as low in its travel so less likely to get pedal strikes etc. and a bit more sprightly
I'm building a black one so can wait to find out how the BOS shock works with it.
The covert front end is a bit light on steep climbs and does want to pop up with the downstroke of the pedal on the steepest climbs, but its not a problem to keep it under control. I've got used to this now and find it useful to get over obstacles on technical climbs. I can get over stuff on this bike that would have me off and walking on other bikes I've had, it certainly doesn't affect the bikes DH ability though and you can really lean off the back of it. The bike is super manoeuvrable on tight switchbacks and technical terrain (and mine is the 29er which according to the anti-29er brigade shouldn't be able to do manoeuvrability). The more I ride it the more I love it. Nothing seems to phase it. It flatters the rider.
My mates looking at the Rhune and he's going to organise a test ride soon, so I'd be interested to compare.
I'm still really torn. One minute I'm buying a Rune, then it's a Covert because it's a bit lighter and not quite as slack, then it's back to the Rune and so on. The Covert looks like the more complete design with regards to cable routing - it can look pretty messy on the Rune. I'll ride them and make a quickish decision or I'll think about it too long.
Someone else has said buy a Rocket, which admittedly I do like but I'm trying to keep it down to two or it'll cost me a fortune in demo bike fees.
wobbliscott - MemberI must admit i'm a bit confused as to the benefits of the Carbon Covert. According to the Transition website the frame weight is identical to its Alloy equivalent.
Not sure which websit you're looking at, but I see the Carbon listed at 6.9 lbs / 3.15 kg (Medium Frame With Rear Shock) and the alloy at 7.68 lbs / 3.49 kg (Medium Frame With Rear Shock)
It's half a pound heavier than a Mojo HD, and more compared to a Nomad. Bit disappointing, considering the massive price difference between the alloy and the carbon that there isn't more weight saving between the two. Maybe it's a sign that they've erred on the side of strength for their first carbon bike.
mindmap3,
Once you've been up and down the Long Mynd a couple of times you'll get a good idea. I didn't find Rune heavy whilst.
They must have updated the Transition website then. I looked at it a few months ago and it was definitely reporting the same frame weight as the alloy version. I even showed some mates as we were comparing carbon vs alloy frame weights across a number of different bikes ( was a boring day at work that day!).
Bump for more pictures. I really need this bike in my life, but I am struggling to justify the £800 markup on the frame alone the UK retailers want to impose.
After the carbon Coverts by the way!
Thought I'd bring this thread back to life now I have ridden both bikes...
Annoyingly, I liked them both!
First up was the Banshee which despite being in its slackest setting still went up the hills ok, but was a total hoot on the way back down. It just encourages you to hit everything flat out and feels very smooth. I'd probably run it in the neutral setting so it was a tad steeper. It didn't feel like a heavy bike and pedalled pretty well. The downsides were that I did catch the pedals a few times and the Fox CTD shock which I thought was a bit naff; it would definitely need volume reducing spacers. Being so slack it was hard to manual and not that easy to bunny hop but it did feel a bit alien because I'm so used to my bike set up. Overall though,very impressed with it.
Next up was the Covert, when I jest got on it I thought that it was a one horse race...I didn't really like it. The medium is too short for me, I'd definitely need a large. I know I'm only looking for a frame but the build didn't do it any favours; basic Monarch shock, Avid Elixir brakes which were hateful, didn't like the bars etc. However the more I rode it, the more I liked it. It climbed a bit better than the Rune despite bring a tad heavier but wasn't quite as confidence inspiring when charging down stuff although it felt more playful and easier to pop off roots etc. The Lyriks were noticeably stiffer than the 34's on the Rune and didn't dive so much.
So, I've got some thinking to do. At the moment, the Rune is probably edging it a bit and I think the aesthetics may swing it...the large ali Coverts look a bit like a farm gate. The ano black Rune looks really smart too.
Based on today, I'm not sold on the Fox CTD stuff. The rear shock felt like a step backwards from my DHX Air (mine has been pretty good despite most people hating them) and for once I found myself agreeing with the mags about the 34 forks because they really do blow through their travel.
The riding at Long Mynd is great and the views were amazing today. I couldn't believe how quiet it was either; I saw very few people despite the ace weather although those long climbs had me sweating like a pig.
Hey Mindmap3, Cheers for the write up... Not sure its helped 😀
Im still impatiently waiting to get fixed and get out on the Covert myself. Sounds like you'd definitely want to go with the CCDB can over the fox, thats what i'd planned on doing if Rune was the one.
No worries.
The Covert is a great bike but I'm going with the Rune with a CCDBa partly because it hides it's size better and partly because it felt faster and smoother in the downs. The fact that I've got a good deal in the frame, headsetand aaxle adapters for my rear wheel helped too.
The geometry is also suitably different to my SX so makes it worthwhile. The Covert is fairly similar. Part if me feels bad for not getting the Covert because the guys from Plush Hill Cycles were so friendly and helpful.
Let me know if you've got any parti questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
I'd be interestiled to hear your thoughts on how the bikes compare when your fixed.
