TRANSITION PATROL

My first:
FULL SUSPENSION MTB
ENDURO MTB
27.5"er

This tranny fell into my lap by pure luck. But ever since she's been in my life, my riding has been taken to the absolute next level. Every trail I've thrown at it has been crushed with ease and brought a good number of hearty crashes to help me get better. Transition makes one absolute hell of a bike, and hot damn I'm proud to have this bad boy in my quiver. Quite the gateway drug.

Year	2017
Make	Transition
Model	Patrol
Frame Size	L
Wheel Size	27.5"
Gearing	1 x 12
Drivetrain	SRAM GX Eagle
Brake Type	Hydraulic Disc
Brakes	SRAM Code RSC
Fork	Rockshox Lyrik RCT3 - 160mm
Shock	Rockshox Super Deluxe RC3 - 170mm
Rims	DT Swiss EX511
Hubs	Stan's Neo
Front Tires	Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 3C MT Exo
Rear Tires	Maxxis Minion DHRII 2.4 3C MT DD

Ain't she a 'beaut?

Maximum Shreddage - Places

As I said, this baby is meant to ride. And ride she does. Thanks to my incredible riding buddies (Andy, Joel, John, Colin, and so many more!!!), I've been able to take this Patrol all over to shred some incredible places.

Whistler

Having home being located in the PNW is a HUGE advantage in many ways - one of which most definitely being the proximity to Canada, and thereby Whistler!

Thanks once again to my AMAZING riding buddies, I've been able to head up there three times, to the MECCA of Mountain Biking, to grip it and rip it and shred it up with some amazing people.

Needless to say, it's lived up to expectations everytime as a location, and this damn Patrol has slayed it at the world's best mountain bike park with EASE. Operator has some skills yet to be acquired, but this bike has killed it on everything, all the way up to some insanely technical double-black diamonds, and of course the one and only A-Line.

Lac Blanc

Being over here in Europe, and at least at the start due to Covid, I haven't been able to cruise around with my trusty steed as much as I'd like. BUT, thankfully, there's a pretty good bike park only a couple hours away from Karlsruhe down in France. Lac Blanc is pretty small, only about 7 runs at the place, but the quality is quite high.

As you'd imagine, my Transition Patrol can shred here too. There's a lot of variety in the types of trails, and I've been able to build up some confidence to hit most of the stuff there. Good technical routes to test my skills with all the rocks and roots, good flow routes to enjoy the pumping through the packed turns, and a bunch of good features to work on some big jumps and drops. Not quite a world-class place, but quite the fun location being a quick hop, skip, and jump away from home.

More places

I've got a lot more plans of places to take this bad boy to, including Scotland, France, and more. And I've got all faith that this incredible bike will have no sweat in being able to that, as long as this damn Covid gets under control.

Maximum Shreddage - Skillz

When I got this bad boy, I was quite the rusty mountain biker. I'd had my Rincon already for ages, but after going to college and then completing my rotational program, I hadn't really hit the trails in a good few years. Thanks to the hookup of my buddy Andy, an unfortunate circumstance for my buddy Steve that got the bike to me, I was in business to get out and get better.

Andy, Joel, Colin, John, and many more guys have constantly pushed me to get better to hit bigger stuff, have better technique, and have even more fun with every step.

Now fortunately/unfortunately, I'm not one of those dudes who's got a GoPro on my helmet to capture every trail, every jump, every drop, all that stuff. Mostly because I'm not that much of a showy person, but also because that's a ton of footage and I don't want to put in the time to edit and go through it all. Despite that, I've got a couple videos shredding it up on some cool stuff.

The Fish Ladder at Black Rock A Double on Johnny Bravo at Sandy Ridge

Thankfully, there've been some much bigger things that I've tackled and conquered. But, alas, you'll just have to trust me on that one. :-)

The Death Bell Rang Once

After multiple years of maximum shreddage, the Patrol could no longer hold on. The first death bell rang when I was quarantined with Covid. See that saga here (Bike Fixup turns to Bike Disaster) and here (Bike Disaster turns to Bike Fix). After some wrangling, I was able to pull my dear Patrol back from the brink of death and keep her riding and rolling. Whew.

With a new lease on life, the Patrol was ready for a full week in France at Portes du Soleil, and oh boy was it a roaring good time. After that, I got a ride or two in before heading home for the summer, and as soon as I returned, I re-built the suspension on, and this dear old Patrol was ready for maximum shreddage in Scotland!

The Death Bell Rang Twice

I got a few rides in, but as I was starting the last full week of riding on my trip, I got a half day of riding in and after lunch headed up a new section of trail. Before I could start the fun part ripping downhill, something sounded funny. It was enough to make me stop and figure what was going on.

Good thing I stopped, because I found the second and consequetial death bell for my lovely, trusty steed. After having ripped through the chain stay in April, I'd unfortunately now completely ripped through the seat stay. Needless to say, my heart dropped. No joking, it was an immediate depression that set in. There was no way I was going to find a replacement part here, and that realization tore me to bits.

With that, I had to officially lay my 2017 Transition Patrol to bed. After returning home with a new frame, the 2017 Patrol was torn down, boxed up, and sent off to Transition, like a Phoenix smoldering to ashes. The returning to form is to come...

Original Publish Date: January 3rd, 2021 First Edit: November 9th, 2021