[Closed] New Frame Day - Transition Sentinel

Noice 👌

Nice. I just bought a Transition Spur about a week ago. My first Transition / 29er. Very happy so far.

very nice.

These will be on my radar if i ever fancy a change from my Norco Optic.

Nice, did you nip into SUAR by any chance ;o)

I was then thinking either run them with the same A2C as the 650b ones with the same wheel in – or try a mullet. Bird were strongly against mulleting it as the head tube hasn’t obviously been tested with the long fork / bigger front wheel

but if the a-c is the same then I’m not convinced the headtube actually gets a harder workout? Seems an odd response

Ooooooo.....

Lovely colour, lucky you kept the extra links after shortening that chain.😃

I saw your post on the Facebook group! I just bought a carbon sentinel, it’s so good isn’t it?! In the same boat, although more travel than I was planning it doesn’t feel like an enduro bike I don’t think. Just an absolute blast!
Similar spec to mine as well

Looks very nice.

Weight seems about as expected.

How does it pedal?

Very nice, loving the way the blue and red go together

Is there any reason you went for 150mm forks over the stock 160mm? Suppose it would steepen the head and seat tube angle slightly which would help with the poppy/pedalable feel

Yesss, looks ace! I’m about 3 months into mine and I can’t say enough good things about it, it’s so much fun. (stealth ad I have a Sentinel tune factory X2 for sale if you fancy it).

Nice! You now have the worlds greatest bike!

I have one and absolutely love it, totally capable in all the new updowncrossdurohillfreeridecountry types of riding.

Best bike I have owned. So far.

Kind of want to weigh mine out of curiosity! I think it pedals well, slightly more bob that my commencal meta but not enough to concern me.
I got a stupidly good deal on an ohlins ttx coil. Never planned to run a coil on it but couldn’t resist the offer! Think I may keep the standard shock as a spare though. Will swap to coil once the x2 is set up in a good place.
Looks good though joe, red forks are a winner aren’t they?!

@argee

Nice, did you nip into SUAR by any chance ;o)

Yep - you got it!

@endomick - yes indeed. About 5 rides old XX1 gold chain so I wasn’t up for a new chain. Always keep the offcuts just i case.

Lovely colour, lucky you kept the extra links after shortening that chain.😃

@chakaping

How does it pedal?

I’d say it pedals pretty well - not really noticing a lot of bob. I would say I think I prefer coil shocks though for that - felt like after the initial sag my coil shock then had a firmer mid range. I find air can sag further into that midrange without much provocation. Had it on both my last 2 bikes with air shocks too.

I was thinking I was unfit as my legs were hurting and I thought I’d only done 400-500m of climbing over a 4 hour ride - 3 hours of which was sessioning sections having 121 coaching. Turns out it was 24km and just over 900m of climbing. So it must climb ok!

@saynotoslomo

Is there any reason you went for 150mm forks over the stock 160mm? Suppose it would steepen the head and seat tube angle slightly which would help with the poppy/pedalable feel

It was purely because that’s the length airshaft / fork I already had really. Transition say you can run 10mm more or 10mm less than the standard 160mm.

I’ve got stacks of spacers under my stem as that’s what was on the last bike. I might try moving one or two above it and see how that is. I’m fairly long legged though for my height so don’t want to reach down to the bars.

@marksnook

Looks good though joe, red forks are a winner aren’t they?!

Totally this!

I’m a bit skint right now having bought fork / frame / rims and spokes / tyres - so no shock changes planned right now. I really liked the DHX2 coil on my last bike so if I were to swap I’d be tempted to go coil. Maybe a cane creek inline coil to save weight but still have all the adjustments.

Lovely looking bike and well thought out build

I’ll be interested to hear more about how you get on with this bigger bike, and also with the longer stays and the switch to a 29er.

I was millimetres from pulling the trigger on one of the few Transition Spurs in UK stock in March/April this year, and I’m so glad I changed my mind and went for the Aether 9c.

Perhaps I’ll update after a few more rides. My first ride was all downhill trails at FOD and a little bit of cheeky off piste close to the centre. Nothing really flowy (aside from countdown / launchpad last run of the day and I had to really dial back the effort as I was close to cramp - still took 20 seconds off my flat out pb on the Aether 7 though).

Thinking about riding Rowberrow or Nibley for my next proper ride after Xmas. Might manage a night ride before then but if it’s Ashton Court / Leigh Woods I might take my hardtail.

So far so good on the 29er wheels - perhaps just a little bit more effort to get it to exit a corner nicely. Although the coach found I was cornering less well on right hand turns because I was slightly collapsing into my outside leg pushing my weight back - weirdly I wasn’t doing it on left hand bends - hence being better at those 🤷‍♂️

Watching with interest as the Sentinel is the backbone of my current fantasy build despite it looking like I'm between sizes (med/large).

Rains forecast later this week, so Rowberrow will be the usual mess, Nibley DH will be ok'ish though, rest of the hill will be a mud bath though, kind of like Nibley as it's closest to me, and if the runs are too messed up there's a fair bit of messing about up there, or nip over to Stinchcombe and play on the little runs.

Can't see you not enjoying the sentinel though, did you leave the shop with any other nice bits, they do a fair amount of shiny stuff, the custom build carbon sentinel they have is pretty much top notch, bet you're glad that was a large!

Onzadog
Free Member
Watching with interest as the Sentinel is the backbone of my current fantasy build despite it looking like I’m between sizes (med/large).

The new ones like the sentinel are pretty good size wise, you'll either be one or the other pretty easily, it's one of the reasons i've liked transition over the years, they kind of remove a couple of the size constraints other designs have.

@marksnook & @joebristol, I need yo get you two together for a local Sentinel owners ride; you’re not far from each other.

I was worried at first as the large was very close to my medium commencal meta. Figured the medium sentinel would be a little small but in all honesty it is perfect size wise.
Stinchcombe/nibley is the local for me so keen for a ride! Yeah parts of nibley hold up real well but the other half suffers after rain

How tall are you guys who are thinking the medium was the right choice?

The track sounds fine, but the ETT seems short for a lot of pedalling along bits. I realise this is a thing with all modern geometry bikes, not just the transition. Consequence of steep seat tube and a slack head tube.

I’m 5’8” on a medium. Literally everything was transplanted from my commencal to the sentinel so even the saddle is in the same position on the rails. If I’m honest although 20mm ish shorter in reach and ett the sentinel doesn’t feel shorter. Commencal was ‘21 medium so 470mm ish reach and 620mm ish ett. Sentinel does fee slightly less steamroller like but I equate that to being a good thing to be honest

@argee

Can’t see you not enjoying the sentinel though, did you leave the shop with any other nice bits, they do a fair amount of shiny stuff, the custom build carbon sentinel they have is pretty much top notch, bet you’re glad that was a large!

Apart from a Hope headset and Burgtech top cap no. Already had everything else from my old bike. Not just hugely into bling - the XX1 chain is as close as it gets.

That carbon Sentinel is 🥰 but daren’t ask how much it is. Frame only is £3300 so.....

@onzadog

How tall are you guys who are thinking the medium was the right choice?

I’m 5’9 - longer legs / shorter arms. Reach is about 6 or 7mm shorter than the Bird Aether 7 I had before it and ett was looking like it’d be a bit shorter from the charts I think. In reality it feels exactly the same stretch to the bars stood up and sat down as the Bird. I think that’s why I was instantly so comfortable on it.

It feels similar ish to the Bird - just it punishes you less over rough tracks -and repetitive root hits don’t slow it down like the Bird would. I think we’re going to get on well.

The large is 476mm reach - I think that’s longer than I’d personally want to go with relatively short arms. I had a previous bike with a 481mm reach and 32mm stem and it was always just a bit uncomfortable on fast / flat corners for some reason.

@alpha1653 @marksnook

Sounds like a group ride at nibbers!

@joebristol
Thanks. Both the medium and the larger have a longer reach than my current bike. ETT is 35mm shorter, or 7mm longer.

@onzadog - how tall are you? Sounds like you could probably ride either. What sort of riding do you do? If lots of long pedally loops then try to get on the large to keep a decent ett - although if that’s more your type of riding it’s probably the wrong bike.

At 5’9 if I had ‘normal’ length arms in proportion to my legs I’d probably have wanted to get the large tbh. I could have ridden the 476mm reach - just I feel a bit more confident on the 450mm reach flat out.

5'10".
Typically ride big days out in the Peak and typically like the more demanding, rocky stuff.

Currently bike is an Ibis Mojo HD3 (large) Prior to that was a Turner 6 pack (medium).

Sounds like a large would be the better option for you just imo

joebristol
Full Member

Sounds like a large would be the better option for you just imo

And suar had a large in stock as well in carbon I believe 😁

My first ride on the SENTinel yesterday at FOD
Coming from a 2020 Scout this thing is fast AF…. 🙂

https://www.instagram.com/geoff.chip/p/CXrat-psJhq/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Yeah, the Sentinel is a lovely bike, still working out if the next one will be a sentinel or a spur, coming from a patrol i'm trying to do less daft stuff as i can't really justify any more big injuries, spurs looking favourite, but that sentinel just looks nice and with FoD being the usual place for me as well, it would get used!

“Both the medium and the larger have a longer reach than my current bike. ETT is 35mm shorter, or 7mm longer.”

I’d be wary of trusting ETT figures from geometry charts - a lot of them are measured level with the top of the head tube which is lower than many riders have their saddles. Combine that with most actual seat tube angles being a lot slacker than the effective seat tube angles (due to bent seat tubes) and once the saddle is up the distance to the bars is longer than the charts say.

That was the concern. Obviously, in an ideal world, a test ride or demo day would sort it but that's easier said than done.

Also flicked between spur and sentinel. The spur makes sense for most of the miles I do, but the sentinel makes sense for the bits that make me smile most. There's also more mud clearance on the sentinel. 2.6 Vs 2.4. also, I think I'd end up going back to coil on the next bike.

Yeah, coil is good, I like the dvo jade x on a transition, you stick the progressive spring on and you have a nice feel, plus a lockout if required for ups and so on

I had a quick car park spin on a Sentinel when I went to pick up my Spur. it was a size large (same as my Spur) but felt quite small. It was the owner of the bike shop's and he was running a 35mm stem though. Even though, I'd have probably gone for an XL at 6ft / 183cm.

My Spur is absolutely perfect though. Best fitting bike I have ever owned.

Good bikes them alloy Transitions, a touch on the heavy side though!

My brother has an alloy Patrol with a Lyric and X2. It's very stable and confidence inducing, it thumps through just about anything.

@chestercopperpot

Good bikes them alloy Transitions, a touch on the heavy side though!

I think the frame is a touch heavier than my Bird Aether - the Sentinel is about 3/4 of a lb heavier than the Aether was.
Although that had a DHX2 coil on it and this has a float x air shock. Some of the extra weight is in the bigger wheels / tyres but most of it is the frame. All the other components are the same including the Lyrik.

Is the bird frame for sale and is it a ML?

Glad the new bike is fun!

@surfingobo

Afraid it was a medium and it’s sold already.

Got the shock to sell though - Fox DHX2 factory only 8 months old and lightly used. 210x55 with a basically new lower Fox bearing mount. 400 or 450lb Cane Creek spring. Gutted it won’t fit the Sentinel (trunnion mount on there plus different stroke and eye to eye shock).

2nd ride in the local ish woods. Fine on the climb - first run trail and a stick jumped up and snapped my xt rear mech off in the back wheel 🤣

I need to give it a thorough check over wheel wise but the hanger is still straight and the wheel still seems to be round. Tracked down the only 12 speed mech I could find locally after ringing 5 shops - another XT at £103 🤦‍♂️. Brexit / Covid sucks with all this rrp actually being the price now.

That's crappy luck even at the best of times.

Yeah I’ve literally never broken a mech before. Did one hanger previously on a Boardman I had - that would probably have been preferable as it’s £25 for a hanger vs £103 for a new mech. It seems 12 speed mechs are sacrificial these days rather than the hanger!

I've got a theory that mech hangers have had to get stronger.

I think wide range cassettes put more leverage through the hanger. I find I have to retweak the mech hanger every few rides to keep the shifting sweet. No reason to think I've knocked it. I know 11 and 12 speed is more sensitive to hanger alignment, but once it's straight, it should stay straight.

I snapped an xt 12 speed a few months back, right through the metal, they’re not that strong unfortunately, and extremely expensive now.

Still, got a spare cage, clutch, etc if the new one goes wrong!

Yeah the mech hanger looks properly beefy. Says UDH tm on it which is a bit misleading. It’s not a SRAM UDH which would be handy - just a proprietary Transition UDH one which most of their bikes use I think.

Jockey cage, clutch and wheels are all intact so spares for the box I guess.

New XT mech feels a lot tighter than the last one - all the pivots on the old one feel distinctly secondhand.