Hi Guys,

I’m looking for Bird Tr owners and their thoughts on them.

I really like the look of them and have spoken to Bird who were really helpful with their advice to me. I feel I may be on the limit between the Tr and AM though. I kind of want the short travel of the Tr, the weight is a nice bonus and I like the look of the geometry but my scepticism lies in that I don’t know if the frame will be strong enough for what I am going to use it for.

I will be using it mainly for local weekly rides which aren’t that taxing, trail centres and local singletrack but I may want to use it for the odd DH runs, uplift day, pump tracks etc.

I would just like to know what current owners think of theirs and what’s the most abuse you have given it.

Cheers

Sorry not a TR owner, but I have the non boost AM and use it for all of that, except uplift day as I have a full sus and am too old for full day of uplift on a hardtail. My riding tends toward the steep and the AM copes perfectly with that and DH tracks, yet is fun and involving on the mellower singletrack. The newer boost AM is a little longer and slacker than the old AM so maybe further from the TR in ride characteristics, though the TR is long just not a slack.

Had my TR for 2 years now and ride it more than my full sussers. My use is pretty much the same as you have described and the bike has been spot on, the only exception is the DH but I’m keen to give one of the 2019 enduro events I’ve entered a go on the TR. Where are you based, are you in a position to demo one?

I would have opted for the AM but my budget at the time wouldn’t allow it.

I absolutely love mine.

I’m a fat git (wrong side of 100kg if you must know) and not exactly gentle on equipment – mine seems fine so far (I’ve had it since May and used it a lot). Riding-wise it’s mostly been used on rooty forest singletrack stuff – I tend to use my Trance for bigger stuff like the Peak, Snowdon, etc, mostly for the comfort factor and the fact I can get away with more mistakes on the descents.

That said, I have yet to encounter anything I can ride on the susser that I wouldn’t try on the Bird. In fact, as the Trance is a bit older and lacks the long-and-slackness of the Bird, the difference is noticeable. The Bird is way more confident through tight techy stuff.

Great bike, you should get one 😁

You can run the AM with a shorter fork and if you do so with an angleset you can tweak the head angle to suit as well. I’ve done a whole lot of messing with mine, with two different anglesets and a straight headset and forks at 130, 140 and 150mm.

If you run the AM with a 130mm fork and an external lower cup Angleset you’ll basically get the stock AM geometry at sag but with the travel of the TR.

(Conveniently I have an Angleset that’ll fit that I need to sell!)

My TR (I got frame only, with Yari forks) is plenty capable for any of my local riding in Kent. I took it to FoD earlier this year, it was great on the Blue/Red. But I’m not so experienced with the orange trails. Had a go on Launchpad (smooth/jumpy IIRC), avoided getting air as best I could, and bike and I survived no issues. Another day, after doing the red, had a few runs on the beginner orange trails by the pump track. Zero TR remained in one piece.  Went back right up the top and started another trail, without any problems to begin with, but then I ended up on Flatlands (I think) which to me was a really rather unfriendly gnarly mass of roots and bailed out of that at the first chance. However the TR still hadn’t fallen to bits. For the other couple of days I was a bit tired so stayed within comfort zone on a mix of blue/red trails. Still in one piece.

I bought frame only however. Running it with 130mm Yaris, Spank Ozzy 345 wheelset and 2.35~2.4″ tyres, SLX groupset.

It’s my goto bike over my 2012 120mm XC full susser.

Appreciate the feedback guys. I liking that people are using and abusing them. They did say I could mess about with an Angleset with no need to worry about strength.

Plus the frame should have a lifetime warranty assuming it’s the same as all the other Bird bikes. Can’t fault the guys at Bird for service either – they’re great. As well as taking calls and emails / happy to discuss on that medium, they’re also very active on both the Bird owners page on Facebook and on here.

I have a Zero TR, a mate has the AM.  We ride together quite often, he’s a better rider by a fair chunk and used to do a bit of DH racing.  On the ups, I’d say the TR has a slight edge, but minimal.  On the downs they are both very capable and competent, but the main difference is the rider !

I find the TR a great all round bike, and I have never found it out of it’s depth on typical Scottish natural stuff.  I prefer my 2017 Anthem for Trail Centre riding as it’s more nimble and kinder on my old bones.  The Bird, is slightly heavier and bigger tyred than the FS.

I recently bought a non-boost AM with a 150mm Yari second hand, and it is a cracking bike. I honestly don’t think you’ll notice much difference in climbing between the TR and the AM; but you might notice it on the descents.

If you’re buying new, my advice would be an AM Boost with a 140mm Travel fork. I think that Bird are phasing the TR out (no proof or announcement – but they’re non-boost frames and have been discounted for a while; I think feedback on the hardtails they’ve had indicates they don’t need two models)

This way, when you buy a Boost hardtail you can easily buy a frame-only Aeris, for example (other full susses are available 😉 ), swap the parts over and need not buy anything else if you decided to go full suss. The specs on the Birds are really good and I think that would be my chief consideration when buying new – futureproofing as much as possible.

But either way, I don’t think you can go wrong. They’re great, sturdy bikes, that will take almost anything you throw at them. You’ll chicken out before they do!

Bit of a high jack, hope you don’t mind. I’ve been looking at frame only boost am and wondered if they are a stiff bone shaking ride or do they have any compliance at all? I’m reading conflicting reviews. Thanks.

@colourofsound I toyed with the idea of a zero AM frame as a winter swapout for my Aeris but I suspect you’re right about the TR and AM, there’s a lot of crossover there and now there’s a 29er hardtail in their lineup it keeps things simpler.

OP – I don’t think you need to worry about strength of the TR and less so about the weight aspect but personally I’d be going for the AM boost

I have the non boost AM and I’d describe it at stiff rather than harsh or compliant.

I’ve had a TR since April and haven’t looked back. Absolutely love it; the geometry seems to suit me perfectly.

I have had no problems with my local singletrack, ok not really hardcore but in Friston, Stanmer, Surrey hills, Tilgate, St lennys, Whiteways and cross country locally around my area its been a blast. I even managed a 7th place in the Wonder Dog lap in this years Brighton Big dog and considering the racy short travel XC bikes it was up against I think it performed well. I can’t however comment on proper DH trail centre riding though. All I’ll say it’s slack enough to have some fun but not to slack to get some miles under your belt. Go and demo one if you can.

@fd3chris my experience of different hardtails is limited; but I had a Boardman Comp before my Zero AM and the Bird feels like a full suss in comparison. I ride in Wales so it’s fairly rocky and I think as long as you size it right the Birds feel pretty plush, especially with bigger tubeless rubber. Obviously it’s different for each rider, but I certainly enjoy it far more than my previous bike and it’s very comfortable in comparison.

@joemmo yeah mate that is my plan! In talks with Ben at Bird about how much of a pain it will be as my Zero isn’t boost. That Aeris 120LT is on my hitlist. In fact, I think I quizzed you about Dans comments on Facebook in a Pinkbike thread…?

I love mine, mainly use it over the winter instead of my Whyte T130. Very similar feel to the T130 as the geometry is almost identical minus the suspension at the back,

I can’t think of anywhere I’ve ridden in the UK where I wouldn’t ride my Bird. I goto BPW once or twice a year and take the T130, I’m also getting old and like my comforts, but would ride the Bird there – I just about manage to cope with the reds BTW!

@colourofsound – right, so I guess you’ll need a wheel + a frame… Yes I saw your comment on PB and I think someone else replied. The gist of it seems to be that the LT link makes a small geometry change, adds 10mm travel and changes the shock leverage to be more progressive. I’m reading this to understand what that means – but have an LT link on order anyway 🙂

@joemmo I await a real world report then!

Thrown my TR about a lot and takes fair bit of abuse. Maybe not full on DH though, but I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t cope.

For me the TR over AM was more about having a general go to bike for anything, all weather and conditions, ride from home, pootle about or chuck about, plus keep up on speedy rides. I’ve got a couple of full sus for more AM / Enduro type riding. Also the 130 travel on my TR is ideal for most my stuff (general stuff around Surrey, MOD lands, Surrey Hills etc). Actually of my two full sus (130 and 170 travel), I use the shorter travel way more and that included Ard Rock this year.