Transition Bottlerocket as a "do it all" bike.

Evening all,

Im after an AM/DH bike that i can still pedal back up the other side should the need arise. It will be used at Fort Bill, Innerleithen..etc, and any time i fancy a change and using it at Trail centres.

I have a Cotic Soul for more XC stuff and general trail centre gubbins, i really like the Orange Alpine 160 frame but quite expensive, have looked at Santa Cruz Bullits (overkill for me i think) and Nomads but again they are quite pricey (plus my mate has one), looked at the Trek Remedy but not keen on the design. I have seen a Transition Bottlerocket frame for sale, it has 5.5 inches of travel with a Fox DHX 5 Air shock. I like the look of the Transition but wonder if it will be substantial to chuck down the WC Fort Bill course of a day, any of you people use it for similiar duties?

Any other suggestions welcome aswell please.

Thanks.

I've got some new 2011 frames coming and have a 2010 Uzzi VP frame for sale if interested. It's got the new re-designed rear end and a CCDB on it at the minute but may sell without the shock. It's a great climber and not far away from the 951 on the descents.

7-7.5 adjustable travel and G3 dropouts…can build it up as a AM bike and then slacken it into DH mode.

E-mail me if interested.

I have bullit(s) for precicely this use, works fine.
I reckon a bottle rocket would be great too, I think Tony Jedi has a bottle rocket ask him.

I love my bullit, fox 36's, halo spin dr wheels, about 36lbs which si pretty heavy but so am I..

bottlerocket is about the same weight as the bullit if not a little heavier so it'll take all you can throw at it. I've just ordered a bullit so i'll say one of those. I thought about the bottlerocket but looking forward to having more travel and it should be easier to get full seat post extension without a silly long post.

I used my patriot for just that. http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/patriot-66-2006-16-inch-frame-and-2006-marzocchi-fr-150-fork £250 for you. I have now got a prophet MX and that fits the bill as well, just a bit less DH orientated.

i have a botlerocket. its ok so far 🙂

New Commencal Supreme 6?

[/fanboy]

How about one of these http://www.mountaincycle.com/battery

Stu E I have one of those too. Just spent a week in morzine on it, happy days.

Bloody fantastic looking bikes.

@toys19 It constantly amazes me that you don't even need a chain for lift assisted riding.

Intense Slopestyle (old variety)? Mine weighs in at 31lbs for trail duty with 36 Vans, 35lbs for downhill with coil Totems and 2.4" RQs.

Yeah that was during bulding up, I need to get some fotos of it finished…

Been looking at Devenci Hectic aswell. The Alpine 160 is nice but expensive, so i think thats out. Any pics of built up Devenci Hectics or Transition bottle rockets? I think it is between those two. I fancy something a bit different u see.

Although the Intense Slopstyle is very nice and on sale at crc! Hmmm what to do?

Before I got the Slopestyle, I looked at the Bottlerocket (although never rode one). The weight put me off – to me this made it less versatile than the SS.

I'd say pickup and old style bullit frame second hand… should be able to grab one for around £400.

I've got a bullit (2006 frame) and used to have a Mk1 Bullit too (2001 frame). I've also ridden my pals Bottlerocket – including 7 runs of fort bill.

Bottlerocket is great for courses like Innerleithen and general play bike duties, but I wouldn't want to pedal one around a lot, or do any climbing on it TBH… I'd much rather be on the bullit for that – also, I found the bottle rocket really struggled with not having enough travel at the back to hit Fort bill hard and fast.

Your mileage may vary though.

I also used to have an Intense 6.6 (std, not SS) and reckon the SS version would be an awesome bike for the duties you've suggested.

Essential spec for any of the above:
Twin n Bash chainset, with dual ring chain device.
Wide bars and short (but not too short) stem – say 65mm ish
160mm forks with travel adjust (lyrik u-turns are my choice)
Uppy downy seatpost (Joplin or GD)
wide but lightish rims and 2 sets of tyres (a DH set and a high volume XC set)
Coil fork and shock all the way – extra weight not a problem if you're climbing leisurely, but the extra traction and plushness you get on the downs is well worth the sacrifice.

That's basically the setup on my Bullit, used to have the same on my intense 6.6 (which I changed from air to coil, hugely improved descending) and I've ridden both up and down Innerleithen all day, on all the trails there.

Here's my bullit.

do they still make the spesh sx? Underated imo.

or the giant reign

I have a bottle rocket as my "hooning" bike, and its great when pointing downhill, loves to jump and is suprisingly spritely on singletrack despite its weight. And it is heavy! mine is built up that way with coil 66's, vanilla R rear shock and reasonable chunky tyres and wheels which is great in the alps. But i wouldn't say its suited to a long days xc. They are quite short bikes so you can never really get stretched out. I have ridden mine round cwncarn xc and quite a few xc days in the surrey alps or warncliffe woods and its fine but hard work.

In fact reading your post again it sounds like you would be using it more like i use mine so yes its a great bike and yes i am pretty certain it would happily survive ft bill and definately be great at innerleithen, in fact if you could pedal it round the black xc at glentress some of those descents would be a blast!

Thanks for all the input so far guys. I have been offered a 2010 Orange Alpine frame for £975 so that is back in the frame. That is what i originally wanted. I won't use it often at Trail centres very often, just when i fancy a change from the Cotic.

Too many nice bikes to choose from! What to dooooooooooo??

"like the look of the Transition but wonder if it will be substantial to chuck down the WC Fort Bill course of a day, any of you people use it for similiar duties?"

Any solid slack-ish trailbike will deal with this, my Hemlock proved pretty ideal and didn't snap in two or anything

Considered a Pitch Pro? They cost peanuts and it's ideal for your purposes I reckon. Or one of those cheap Wolf Ridges that are still knocking about, in orange of course 😉

I can flog you a medium 2006 bullit frame in black with 5th element shock for £375… V good nick.

How about a Chumba XCL? Super tough 5 incher and pretty versatile.

This forge197 bike from off here

Got a blue medium frame just like this one for £900 with RP23.

I did take my Orange 5 down fort bill but found i could have done with a bit more travel. Not tdrribly keen on Bullits to be honest. I did look at a hemlock but the price on that Alpine is hard to resist.

I like the fact the bittlerocket is a bit different tho, rode a pitch pro and couldn't get on with it. Pity ad they look ace and are a total bargain!

Bottlerocket was plenty strong enough to handle fort bill… but the short (ish) travel rear end battered me a fair bit. I'd have rather been on my bullit.

Orange Alpine would be just the job with coils front and rear ideally.

Yes me thinks that aswell. Dilemma over i think. Thanks again to everybody for your input. Exceptional job as always.

No worries….

pics up when it's built !

Will do. Cotic pics first at the weekend.

im trying the bottlerocket as a transition has never broken at herts shore.
intense have lasted no time at all 🙂
it's easy to chuck it about in the air like the demo9 but it feels a bit wandery on alpine descents

Bottlerocket was plenty strong enough to handle fort bill… but the short (ish) travel rear end battered me a fair bit. I'd have rather been on my bullit.

I dunno about this I used my 5 inch travel air shock battery in the alps, on the 4 dry days it was very rough with braking bumps etc, the rear end coped fine..

I've got a bottlerocket, built up with a coil shock and coil lyriks. I used to have a 6.6SS and, although the bottlerocket is slightly heavier, I haven't noticed any real difference pedalling it uphill.

It was good fun in the Alps recently, but it is a bit short and I'm not sure I'd want to be doing all day epics on it – I have a Blur for that. The Bottlerocket is much more fun to ride the downhills on though.

lobby_dosser – Member
do they still make the spesh sx? Underated imo.

Yes they do..

..But the dumbasses at Spesh aren't bringing them into the UK 🙁

would be a lot of fun at innerleithen but pretty harsh down fort bill.

Bullets are ropey as **** geometry wise for DH.

Trek Scratch Air. Much better than a Bottlerocket downhill, much better than a Bottlerocket uphill. Easily lighter too. I've ridden both, uphill and downhill. The Trek is hideously unfashionable though, with a lairy paintjob.

edit: but that sx above is pretty raw too, so I suppose it's all relative.

Mike – bear in mind that you won't have a warranty on the Orange Alpine and as good as they are, I've heard more than enough stories about them breaking to know I'd never buy one without a warranty.

Of course all bikes will break (eventually); the issue is how frequently does it happen for you to feel comfortable not having the back up of a warranty?

Ill take my chances with it, thanks anyway Geetee. I cnt see me giving it beans every weekend anyway. It is so i have the option to ride bigger when i want to as opposed to riding big all the time.

Id have the scratch but id want to be sick everytime i looked at the paintwork!

I like the sx Trail but not the latest white one. The one in the pic above is nice as is the gold/bronze model.

Nice Caddy