Living in Norfolk and having been lost in the gravel bike/ rigid bikepacking world for a while i seem to have ended up with 7 bikes all of which are rigid with not even a front fork for a bit of squish between them, having ridden the Peaks and a few other areas recently, my old body is taking a bit longer to recover from always riding either rigid gravel bike or my rigid Stooge…

On the look out for a short travel full sus, and a 2015 Transition Smuggler is up for sale near me… so a few questions for anyone that owns one, like a lot of Yank bikes do they size up a bit small? I usually ride a medium/ 18″ frame, but have owned Santa Cruz and Turner in the past, both of which i rode a large…

Also other choice was a new Sonder Cortex, other than Singletrack, i can’t really find many reviews, anyone ride one, like it?

Cheers

I ride a 2017 Smuggler same geo as 2015. A large is 18” frame size, I am 6ft & ride an XL which is 19.5” frame. Transition have a low stand over & for their age a low seat tube for size. Depending on your height am sure you will be fine on a large. Although most people On here like to ride bikes on the small size, it makes it more chuckable.

I am 5ft 8in and used to ride a large Smuggler for the longer reach, which made it more comparable with current bikes.

Rode well with some geometry tweaks (angleset and sometimes offset bushings too). Genuinely felt like it had more travel than 115mm, but sometimes in a bad way when climbing or pedaling on the flat – but still wasn’t the worst pedaling bike I’ve had in recent years.

I’d probably lean towards the Sonder myself unless the Tranny is a billy bargain.

Great thanks both. Seem to always find the US brands size up small.

I want something that will pedal well o the flat to, as most of riding will still be in East Anglia

I’ve a transition smuggler, as above it belies it’s 115mm travel and begs you to chuck it down all sorts of stuff. When I bought it, I had intentions of running light wheels on it for xc duties now and then. In the end I never do this (tried it once) and always leave the enduro wheels on – you need strong wheels to make the most of the fantastic frame.
So, although it sort of can do xc, that’s not where it is most fun or how it is best built.
Also it is bloody heavy.
Anyway, not sure if that helps.
If I was going to be doing mainly classic xc then I would look for something lighter, faster and more nimble. BUT if you are looking for a bike to confidently throw down rocky Lake District or Peak District descents, that does pedal ok and you can occasionally do a bit of xc on, it’s really a great bike.

PS I’m 6’3″ on an XL. Would not want smaller, low standover, nice and long

PS maybe I made it sound a bit like a winch and plummet bike. It’s not really just that, I regularly pedal mine longish distances so long as I can make the most of technical descents on it along the way. You just have to be aware there will be better bikes if the descents are mellower or its relatively non-committing technically.

I have a 2017/18 Smuggler built from a frame with XT, Arch wheels, Fox 34, etc. It’s good at most things (and not heavy). I’d recommend it for all-round trail riding. I’m 5ft9 and a medium fits me well.

I’ve just got a Cortex – makes me smile, a lot.

Can’t really give an ooh the suspension does this or that type insight having come from a mk2 Cotic Soul and 30years of steel hard tails. Small wheels, no dropper, triple chain ring, steep angles to a modern bike is a bit too much of a change to unpick the why and wherefore.

Sonder have bikes to demo and hire from Alpkit – I hired a Cortex for the day to get a decent demo in on trails I knew (if you buy you get the hire cost back). Also I’d only been on a full sus for about 20minutes so I had no frame of reference. I like the geometry a lot – went XL – it feels like it fits properly and the seat angle feels it’s in the right position. I was never a fan of the slacker seat angles.

Came back from the ride thinking that’ll do nicely. Gave it 24hrs before buying; mainly to mull over if I’ve found something that does the job but haven’t demo’d anything else does it matter. In the end I didn’t think it could be beaten on £ / ride feeling thing. I could have spent more but would that really make my bike days noticeably better in amongst everything else that can shape them – no.

Sonder do let you do some customising / upgrades – I went for a set of Hunt Trail Wide wheels. Cant fault the team in Keswick or at Sonder / Alpkit HQ for service.

I think it would be a really good bike for the Peaks – see if you can get one for a demo.

I had a 2017 Smuggler. 5ft11, Large. Just got a 150mm dropper in (but I have short legs). Echo what was said ^^ up there. It’s a great bike, feels more than 115m travel (I ran 140mm on the front) but it’s heavy.

It is a huge amount of fun tho on any kind of technical trails. The mud clearance isn’t great tho, even a 2.3 was struggling in the mud we get here in the winter.

I’ve got a Cortex too. It’s genuinely excellent for Cross Country/DownCountry/Enduro… you name it, it does it. I’m 6 foot and have the XL with a 210mm dropper as I preferred the look of the reach number over the Large. I’ve got a 140mm fork and Maxxis DHF/DHR2 tyres.

Goes uphill really nicely, pedals well and combined with the 29″ wheels it gets rowdy on the descents. Probably have a go on one if you can and pick the spec to suit your budget. I built mine from a frameset.

Pic in Link: