Australian Mountain Bike – August 01, 2019

shuttlesorlongpedalups.Theneedwas

foracapabletrailbike,withapreferenceto

29erwheels.Thegeometrywouldneedtobe

modern, with a stiff frame and dialled handling

being preferred over long travel.

When you start narrowing it down, there

actually aren’t too many bikes that fit that

bill. A Specialized Stumpjumper ST fits, also

a Yeti SB130, and even the new Norco Fluid

thankstolocalsuppliersSuperSports,we

haveanewlong-termtestbike.Thisframe

willseeacoupleofdifferentbuildsandmany

differentpartstestedoverthecomingmonths.

TESTED

WORDS:MIKEBLEWITT IMAGES:TIMBARDSLEY-SMITH

HereatAMBBwegettotestawholelotofbikes.

Sometimesabikecanbeawesomebutyou’re

stillhappytosenditbackoncethereviewis

done,asyoujustpreferthebikesthatyouhave

paidtohavehanginginyourshed.Amongthe

otherbiketestersIhavehadtheopportunity

tothrowalegoverareallywidevarietyoftest

bikes.TheMarinGestaltX11inthisissuewas

somethingalittleleftofcentreforustotest,

butsowastheYTTUESthatRyanWalsch

testedafewissuesago.Adownhillbikeis

superspecialist,andnotreallythebikemany

ofusgrabtojustgo,well,mountainbiking.

Itwastimetolineupanotherlongtermtest

bikeforAMB,andtheroughbriefwasabike

thatsuitedgoingmountainbiking.Something

toriptrailson,ridesomelinesblindwhen

travellingtootherpartsofthecountry,and

somethingthatwouldhandleitselfdoing

shuttles or long pedal ups. The need was

FSforsomethinginthelowerpricebrackets.

Ofcoursetherearemoreoptions,butonceI

startedlookingattheTransitionSmuggler,it

lookedtobethebestfit.

Availableinbothcarbonandalloy,the

Smugglerisa29ertrailbikethatmarries

140mmoftravelupthefrontwithastout

120mmouttheback.Transitionarebasedin

thePacificNorthWestintheUSA,thelandof

loamandroots.Astheicononthebackofthe

seattubesays,theirbikesareengineeredto

party.AnditwasactuallyavisittoBellingham

fortheShimanoDeoreXT12-speedlaunch

thatputmeonthetrailswithoneofthestaff

fromTransition,whotrulyshowedhowthe

bikesweremeanttoberidden.Withnoillusion

thathavingthesameframewouldequipme

withthesameabilities,thisdidbringthe

TransitionSmugglertothefrontofmind,and

thankstolocalsuppliersSuperSports we

Transition

Smuggler Carbon

RIDINGEXPERIENCE:

Riding, racing and

working with bikes for

a while.

GENERALLY RIDES:

Norco Revolver, Norco

Threshold CX

HEIGHT: 178cm

WEIGHT: 72kg

BIKE TEST TRACK:

Around south east

Queensland.

MIKE BLEWITT

Super Sports sell the frame alone and a variety

of whole bike builds as well.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

The Smuggler is pretty damn solid. As I was

building this up from a frame kit, it was easy

to pop the frame on a scale. The large frame

without a headset or the rear through axle was

2.99kg. On the one hand, pretty light. But also

pretty solid, which is what you would expect

from Transition. The down tube is hulking,

heading south from a massive head tube that

is also a nice and short 110mm, helping keep

your weight on the front wheel when you need

to load it into corners.

The main pivots and swing arms also have

a similar girth, and there is a rubber guard

incorporated into the down tube for protection

from rock strike. We did add a Frameskin kit

for an extra level of protection though, for

scratches and the like.

The rear suspension is a four bar linkage,

driving a custom tuned Fox DPS shock. It

“THE SMUGGLER REALLY RESPONDS TO BEING RIDDEN HARD,

BOTH FROM PEDAL INPUT AND ALSO WORKING THE BIKE.”