Transition Bikes have given the Patrol enduro bike a hair cut, putting a balanced 160mm travel on a 27.5″ wheel in the rear and a 29″ wheel up front. The freeride contingent will be stoked to hear the 2021 Transition Patrol can also take a longer stroke shock and a dual-crown fork for dealing with the more exciting hucks you may find in the woods.
Hannah Bergemann introduces us to the alloy Patrol, longer, slacker and steeper where it counts. Here’s everything you need to know.
2021 Transition Patrol
A refresh for the Transition Patrol is overdue, with the last meaningful geometry update seen in 2018. Of course we were expecting to see longer reach figures, a slacker head tube angle and a steeper seat tube angle, but we weren’t necessarily expecting a mixed wheel size bike.
So, what are the geometry figures for the 2021 Transition Patrol, and are they adjustable?
We have two geometry charts for you to froth over, with a flip-chip at the bottom shock mount offering two configurations. In the high setting, a 63.5° head angle (actually a lot slacker than most brand’s low setting) and a 78.1° effective seat tube angle sit between a 480mm reach. We’re really pleased to see these much steeper seat tube angles becoming more mainstream as it can make these long travel bikes much easier to pedal to the top.
In the low setting, the HA drops to 63° as the bottom bracket drops 5mm to 333mm. This concomitantly slackens the seat tube angle to a (still healthy) effective 77.6° and reduces reach by 5mm. For those who want to slacken the head angle beyond 63° without making the seat angle slacker, the 56mm/56mm headset will happily take an angle set.
That headset will also take a reach adjusting headset, permitting the use of a 170mm travel 29″ dual-crown fork. Transition do say that if you’re going 27.5″ front and rear, you’d want a 190mm travel dual-crown. Swapping out the stock 205mm x 60mm shock for a 65mm stroke increases the rear wheel travel to 170mm, giving riders the option to turn a nippy enduro bike into something rather more ambitious. This “freeride” config would be an aftermarket upgrade only.
GiddyUp Suspension Kinematic
The Transition Patrol is available in S, M, L and XL. The smaller bikes get 436mm chainstays while the stays on the L and XL bikes are longer at 440mm. That results in two slightly different leverage curves, with the longer stays displaying the more linear curve.
The latest iteration of Transition’s GiddyUp suspension kinematic gives the Patrol 24% overall progression. The marketers tell us this gives it “an excellent balance of support and small bump sensitivity. Anti-squat is tuned to enhance pedaling performance and provides a platform to push against when pumping, without sacrificing a bottomless feel when needed”.
Speaking of a bottomless feel; there is clearance for, and sufficient bottom-out resistance in the leverage curve to allow riders to swap out the stock air shock for a coil option. Transition suggest a sag range of 27 – 33%, allowing riders some freedom to tune the feel of the bike according to their riding style and local trails.
Frame Details
The 2021 Transition Patrol runs a 6061 aluminium frame with Boost (12mm x 148mm) rear axle spacing. The stays permit clearance for tires up to 2.6″ wide and a 223mm diameter rear brake rotor.
The frame runs a threaded bottom bracket and a 55mm/56mm press-in headset. Cables are routed internally for the rear derailleur and dropper seat post while routing for the rear brake is external. There is room within the front triangle for a water bottle and there is an accessory mount on the underside of the top tube to aid packless setups.
The pivots get Enduro Max Sealed Bearings while the main pivot also gets extra protection against water ingress and trail crud in the form of bearing shields. The chainstay, seatstay (drive side only) and downtubes each get a rubber molded protection against chain slap and rock strikes. Finally, the bike runs a SRAM UDH derailleur hanger, making a replacement easy to source.
Final Fun Fact
This isn’t Transition’s first foray into the world of mixed wheel size bikes. Some of you may recall the Transition Dirtbag of 2002 that ran a 26″ front wheel and 24″ rear. That there is Transition’s marketing guy, Lars Sternberg, sending the Dirtbag in 2021.
Pricing & Availability
The 2021 Patrol is only available in alloy at the moment. Historically, Transition have offered a carbon model so expect one to drop in due course.
Bikes will be available this summer. We can tell you that every model will feature a OneUp Components V2 Dropper Post and Bash Guard, with 165mm crank arms stock. Head to the Transition Bikes website for full details on models and pricing.
