You don’t have to worry about the Transition crew taking their cyclocross too seriously ( ™ Stevil Kinevil). With the cross season just winding down, the guys from the Pacific Northwest have introduced a cyclocross bike of their own, the Rapture CX. Built with distinct Transition DNA, the Rapture borrows the steel from their TransAM hard tails for a versatile steel cross bike that can operated geared or without.
Jump past the break to check out one of the best bicycle launch videos ever.
With a little help from Adam Craig, the Transition crew gets a crash course in single speed cyclocross racing. Lars n Bars looks cold.
We all know cross is notoriously muddy and wet, which are both bad when it comes to steel and rust. To keep the frames happy, the Race Butted 4130 seamless Chromoly tubes have been ED coated inside and out. That means you can put away the can of frame saver. Internal brake cable routing is offered for the rear brake through the top tube to keep the hose out of the way when shouldering, and the rest of the cabling is routed along the downtube with removable cable stops if you prefer single speed.
Equipped with a custom swinging dropout, the frame is shipped with the geared dropout which still allows for single speeding. If you prefer a super clean single speed aesthetic, hangerless dropouts are available aftermarket. The vertical swinging dropout allows for quick wheel changes even when running singlespeed without having to retension the chain.
A 44mm head tube works with the included steel disc cross fork from Transition, but it also allows for the use of tapered carbon forks like the ENVE shown here. Frames have a claimed weight of 4.7 lbs/2.14 kg for a 55cm, and 2.2 lbs/1.0 kg for the steel fork with an uncut steerer tube. The green bike in the first photo has a total weight of 18.5 lbs/8.39 kg. The rest of the frame uses a 27.2mm seat post, a disc brake only design, and a 68mm threaded bottom bracket with a 135mm rear dropout.
Rapture CX frames will be offered in 48 (sm), 52 (md), 55 (lg), 58 (xl) sizes in Matte Black and Neon Green, with pricing set at $599 which includes the matching chromoly disc fork.
