[Closed] transition scout, patrol or something else?

I’m not sure if the Patrol is too much - I find mine fun pretty much everywhere.

Banshee spitfire,
Production privee Shan No5,
Santa Cruz Bronson alloy
There’s a few for ya

2018 Scout here, I don't have any issues with 130mm of travel. Been to bigger travel bakes but keep coming back to the Scout. The shape is that of a bigger bike so you feel just as confident. Limiting the travel gives the bike a little more pop which I love about it. The Santa Cruz 5010 or Whyte 130 a probably worth a look.

Get a test ride on a Scout then make your mind up. BPW had most of the range for test last time I went there.

Ive had a scout and a patrol

The scout was great for trail riding, small jumps & drops, great climber

Unfortunately i went a bit too mad on it and ended up snapping the swing arm, Transition's UK distro replaced it for free very quickly and were surprised it snapped where it did

Ended up selling the bike once fixed and bought a patrol

The patrol is great for trail riding, especially downhill and larger jumps/drops, its ok for climbing but not as good as the scout

The scout is ideal if your not planning on doing any big jumps or drops, it was quite surprising how much the 125mm rear end could handle

batman and noah, all those bikes youve described are a lot shorter and steeper!

escrs, thats useful info. Cheers

I’ve been riding a 2017 Scout for a couple of months now and I’m hugely impressed with it. I’m not doing jumps or big drops; just mountain biking in the Peak but it’s renewed my enjoyment of getting out in the hills. It’s just a hoot to ride and although it’s far from lightweight, it climbs remarkably well and it’s fast and forgiving downhill.

Really the banshee and shans are both Pretty long In the reach department and bang in the middle regards travel! head angle on all of them is around 66/65.5 degrees. The only other factor to take I to account is seat angle and since I’ve just been Looking my self the last few weeks at the scout and the Shan I know there with In a degree of each other so that will of cause effect you in some form or other, I’m surprised you think there a bit short
Since I’ve been looking at the xl scout and xxl no5 I can also add it’s 5mm in the favour of the scout In reach department and there are both pretty long

I built my son a scout up recently and it's better than my suppressor over smaller stuff but it is still a bloody capable bike. It's more nimble too. The 2018 scout has great geo

I sold my Santa Cruz tallboy 3 cc and bought a scout it's such a fun bike to ride, more capable of anything I can throw at it.
My mate took his to the guys over at basque Mtb and said it was getting to its limits on some of the ews courses,

Love my Scout; it's hugely capable for a bike with 125mm of rear travel and is bloody good fun. I know FOD isn't super rad, but it's not felt out if it's depth on the DH runs there.

I'm running a coil shock on mine and it's brill.

If you’re talking about the new SBG Transitions then most bikes will have steeper head angles. I’ve had a Works -2 deg headset in my Spitfire for a year or so and it works great. Pre-SBG the Spitfire neatly split the difference between the Scout and Patrol. Now it just needs the slackset instead of a straight headset and maybe go up a size (the seat tubes and head tubes are short).

You can’t really trust any of the seat angles on charts because they’re effective angle measurements usually taken at head tube height - and the more bend/offset in the tube, the slacker the seat angle will be at pedalling height. The Spitfire has one of the steeper actual angles.

I tried both and went with the Patrol for a few different reasons;
- It's not my only bike, so happy with a longer travel bike that may dull some trails, because I've got a hardtail I also enjoy riding. Had it been my only bike, the Scout may have edged it.
- It's pretty efficient, so no great disadvantage to the extra travel and weight on the boring bits, but more travel for the fun bits.
- Longer, orangutan arms and most my height is in my upper body.

If you're friend is in the Black Mountains, same as your name suggests, got a friend in Hay selling a Scout soon, think the shock is upgraded to piggy back too.

I’d disagree with the comments of not being ok on big jumps and downhill. Have you seen Transition’s latest Scout video? I’ve happily taken my old 2015 one to Black Mountain Cycle Centre and ridden everything there without feeling under gunned, same with Bikepark Wales, and Italy and Madeira on hols (Apologies if I sounds like a bellend, I just think it handles everything fine). Sure, people on DH bikes might be quicker through really rough sections but it’s not generally the bike that holds me back. It’s a very capable bike. But as always, it’s a personal thing.

The alternatives I suggested were just the closest thing I could think of. I don’t think there is a proper alternative to the Scout, especially the new one. It’s a short travel bike for people that want long travel bike geo in a smaller package, no one else does this at the moment.

The new sbg scout is probably get over the patrol. The patrol is a whole lot of bike for mincing down most trails. The geo and travel of the new scout is spot on. Lewis's scout has 160 pikes and a -1.5 works components headset. Forks are 26 so same a2c as 27.5 150 pikes. Head angle is about 65.

I’ll add to the positive comments about the Scout. I’ve a 2016 model fitted with a ccdb IL coil and it handles everything I’ve previously ridden on 160-170mm travel bikes easily, as well as feeing more nimble and faster.
True, it’s not lightweight but It doesn’t feel sluggish to ride.

Happy scout owner here. Perfect trail machine. If hes going to be racing all the time go Patrol.

I went from a TR Covert to a Scout a few years ago. I have never felt the Scout doesn't have enough travel.

I've got a 16 Patrol that I pretty much used for everything up until I got a hardtail for canal path grinding and long xc slogs.

It's bloody brilliant. I demoed heaps of bikes, including riding a mate's 15 Patrol, which blew me away. before foolishly letting spec/perceived value lead me, and deciding to get a Capra. 5 months later I rode my mate's Patrol again. After that ride I got home, sold my Capra, and bought a Patrol.

Whilst flat trails aren't it's strength, it copes with them fine, and she a big bike, climbs well. It's quite benign on standard stuff.
But the moment it gets a bit twisty, or you fancy launching off stuff, or gets a bit rooty and rough, it comes alive.
Yes, my hardtail is faster than it at trail centres, yet, it's probably too much bike for about 80% of my riding, however, a different 80% of my riding (I know maths, that's not what I'm saying :D) it's such a hoot. Since I got it I've discovered a newfound love of searching out the roughest, silliest lines, and runs covered with roots, rocks, and chunder. The perverse joy I get from slamming it in to them, popping off something in the middle, and then flicking the thing in the air and tipping it into a corner is something I've never had with any other bike. At the same time it jumps way, way better than the Capra did, and the way it nips in and out of tight, twisty singletrack corners is bonkers for what's a reasonably 'big' bike compared to a shorter trail bike.

I was torn between the Scout and the Patrol, and TBH I think I would have been happy wit either. Although the Scout may have been a bit better for my needs. But the Patrol certainly doesn't make everything dull.

I think an SBG Scout would be the ideal bike for me. In fact, dammit, that's got me thinking again :/