Transition scout – a brief review

So i was lucky enough to take a brand new Transition Scout for her maiden voyage today, round a snowy and icy GT, courtesy of the guys at Pedals[/url] in Edinburgh.

Their medium demo bike looks awesome in the Limeade colour and the spec is amazing, pretty much what i would stick on a bike like that:

DT Swiss wheelset
Fox 34’s
RF atlas 50mm stem
Easton haven 35 carbon bar
SRAM X01
150mm stealth reverb
DMR vaults

A quick setup period for shock pressures and saddle height etc. and it was good to go. Pic below – I’m totally in love with the colour:

First impressions – it’s a very light bike and feels very well balanced. The 140mm fox 34’s up front are from their other demo bike but have the ride height of a 150mm pike. Despite the OEM models coming with 140mm travel i didn’t find the front end too high, it all felt very composed. Interestingly even though this is a medium and I’m 6’1 in shoes i never felt cramped in the cockpit. I’m definitely going to get a large, but for those looking for a demo, don’t be put off by a medium.
Climbing felt quite different at first, compared to my 2010 150mm pronghorn. The bike does sit down a bit in its travel when climbing (I think shock setup runs about 30% sag) so there is a small bit of bob, but this means the travel is active and gives loads of grip. I never felt like i was fighting against a platform. The lockout on the shock did make a noticeable difference to climbing though, so I flicked the lever over for some of the longer fireroad slogs. What I really noticed was the level of grip at the rear, throughout the day I was amazed at the traction I could get – my legs were the limiting factor in getting up climbs.

The bike really shone when I pointed it downhill though. I tagged along with a great group of guys from Fife (hello and thanks again John, Dave and Mike if you are reading) and started down the one of the red trails. Coming from a bike with a traditional seat post the reverb was very welcome and 150mm travel meant it was right out of the way. My overall impression on the first descent was how well it cornered – it felt really stable and planted through the corners. I was well weighted over the back of the bike but not to detriment of front wheel grip, I never felt like I was going to lose the front end. I did graze my heels on the deck once or twice, but that’s easy to get used to and avoid. I also chucked it over a couple of rooty / rocky drops and again was impressed how easy it was to get the back end into the air – it didn’t feel forced at all when trying to get a bit of air over the drops, just like it gently yet willingly defied gravity and followed you over the drops. The steering was very direct too and went exactly where I wanted it, it just felt good. I tried to remain objective on the bike and ignore the jargon I’ve seen in some of the online reviews, but the best way I can think to describe it was the bike “giggling” its way down the trail. It certainly felt very playful and confidence inspiring. I didn’t hit any massive drops or jumps, because it’s not really the type of riding I do, but the rear end never felt like a limiting factor compared to 150mm up front. Maybe a big rock garden or something would give you a better idea of the debonairs ability to soak up big bumps but I never felt like it was out of its depth. One of the key reasons I like the scout anyway is the fact it’s not 150mm – I just don’t think I’m a good enough rider to make use of that travel (in a good way) 🙂

I was only really out for a few hours and a single test ride is hardly conclusive, but I really enjoyed the stability and flick-ability of the ride and in particular the climbing grip was outstanding for me. So much so that I’ve just ordered a large frame in Limeade from the guys at Pedals. Big thanks to the guys for putting up with my endless chatter and sorting me out with a demo so quickly.

Now all I need is a form of words to avoid the raised eyebrows when I suggest I’m taking the scout up the woods for a good thrashing 🙂

You said ‘brief’.
I was thinking more along the lines of ‘meh’ or ‘mmm’.

Looks like such a fun bike!

Nice picture. Didn’t read any of it. Too long.

Yeah wrote the title before the review. 😕

TL;DR version. mmmm!

Right who’s up for a game of “Bike Review Cliche Bingo”?

I’ll kick off with a classic move,

“The bike really shone when I pointed it downhill”

Jesus cut him some slack…..

Yeah no need to be a bunch of dicks.

Glad you enjoyed the bike David – I can’t wait to get out on it myself. Possibly Monday!

Thanks for taking the time to write a decent review especially when there are still very few people to have ridden these in the real world, I am sure some folk will find it very useful 🙂

I’m not reading it. Simple reason being that I’ve only just built up a Bandit so I don’t want to be tempted!

I found this very useful Dave so thanks for that. I’ll be test riding the scout too very soon and hopefully it’ll replace my bandit 😉

Thanks Dave. Down to test that same bike in Feb, along with a spitfire. Interested to see how both pedal up hill as I am sure they are both great downhill. Thanks for your insight.

Thanks for the review Dave. Got my heart set on building one of these up imminently, just need to go try one for size.

Nice review Dave,Sometimes a couple of hours is all you need to demo a Bike,I think if you have it for a week you can adapt to a bike then find its good points and buy it just for them reasons,I demoed a carbon nomad last year and as in the first hour of riding after a few on trail adjustments it felt perfect.
I would like to see more “real life reviews” on here rather than he said she said talk,I was on the transition patrol boat before I saw this,now i think I’ll be pointing my wallet at a scout.
So your 6’1 and you were ok on a medium,I’m 5’8 so would a medium be on the big side do you think?

Medium and if it feels a bit long seated stick a 35mm stem on instead.

In fact, you are bang in the middle of medium if you go on their size guide.

Scout Size Guide

OP, what did you think of those cables dangling under the bottom bracket? Its the only thing putting me off.

I have cables like that on my yeti and it is no issue at all.

Really bigjim? For some reason I thought that they would get snagged on roots, caught up in mud etc.

you’ll have smashed your chainring to pieces first.

How would they get snagged on roots?

It’s a non issue – don’t worry.

nope, the chainring is always lower and there is a wheel behind that. you could feed a stick into it if you tried, but that would be odd.

My Transition Covert has cables in that area, although it’s a bit different since my cables are routed through the chainstay. It’s not roots you have to watch out for (that’s a bizarre thing to imagine btw), it’s getting the cable caught in the chainring as the suspension compresses. Judicious use of zip ties has solved that for me.

Love the Limeade colour. Thanks for the review.

ta guys

Hey,

being honest i didn’t even notice the cable routing like that on the demo bike, although did see it in the online pics afterwards. I think the chances of catching something in them would be pretty unlikely though and as others have said i think you’d obliterate your chainring before that.

darrenspink – Member
Really bigjim? For some reason I thought that they would get snagged on roots, caught up in mud etc.

You do see bikes get damaged under there, saw an anthem recently where the shifting was buggered for exactly that reason,all the outers wrecked by a rock.

Not a dealbreaker, but I’d rather not have my cables down there.

being honest i didn’t even notice the cable routing like that on the demo bike

I’m with Dave, I didnt notice it either when I demo’d it!

Not a dealbreaker, but I’d rather not have my cables down there.

I’d probably prefer that a rock hits a soft squidgy cable outer and destroys £6 of Shimano’s finest than the same rock hits an unprotected downtube.

Besides – whilst I’m sure it’s happened before to someone, it’s not exactly a big risk, is it?

My 2009 FSR has the sam cable/hose arrangement as that. Never snagged or crushed. You just need to remember to leave enough slack for when the suspension is compressed.

My Transition Bandit (29er) had the stealth routing for the rear mech, so the cable went over the BB and into the chainstay tube. A chain drop caused the chain to get sucked in-between the frame and cable, damaging both. Moving froma 2×10 to a 1×10 solved the problem. Looking at the pic, it seems they have done away with that design.

Lovely looking bike! Still sticking with my Bandit though 🙂