Good reviews and awesome to see you guys spending time together, I was lucky enough to grow up with parents who supported me throughout my BMX racing days and those road trips/races with dad are times I’ll never forget
I recently rented a Sentinel and was totally blown away. What a sweet bike! Felt comfortable on it at the end of the first trail. Rest of the day it felt like MY bike. A couple days later I rented a Santa Cruz Nomad, rode it a dozen times down the hill at a bike park and never felt comfortable. I was fighting the Nomad all day long.
Im a dallas tx rider but I run a 2018 alloy sentinel as my travel bike. When i travel i usually go to bigger places so i need a bigger bike than my daily here in tx. The sentinel is a great bike. The geo is perfect. Not too much travel but enough for just about anything. I even put on a 27.5+ 2.8 wheel&tire on the rear of the sentinel from my santa cruz hightower for bike park days. It fits on the sentinel just fine. Slackens the head angle a little more and drops the bb from 345 to about 335.
Very cool to see you in the PNW... Hope you get a chance to do some of the other trails (Raging, Olallie, and Tokul). We have a wealth of awesome riding. Gotta love having your kid out there rip'n it.
Great video and great ride! I have a friend that lives in Bellingham and have yet to go visit him. He gives me grief on a regular basis and I see why. He rides these same places. I've noticed more pedal strikes as well on my trance 2 29 even here in FL trails. Lastly, gosh man Dawson is just killing it! It's so cool you two travelling and making these memories. Thanks for sharing them. Oh and the geo looks pretty sweet on those Transitions.
Sweet if dawson got a transition. I ride the sentinel and love it. I think you would really like the smuggler for your local trails. Can’t wait to see the 2020 changes to transition.
Dawson is an absolute shredder! I would get the patrol all day long. That is such a capable bike! Truthfully, I really wanted a transition patrol but it is too much bike for my every day trails.
Clint is correct. The wet season really changes everything. Wet tree roots at all sorts of angle. Peanut butter mud. Snow. Frozen ground. Night riding! It's glorious around here...all year round.
I'm not sure if I knew those were your hometown trails. if I had I would have reached out to you! I'm in New Jersey now on business (day job business...no riding). We left Bellingham last Wednesday and went down to Seattle for a few days before coming home. The trails up there are awesome! We definitely plan to go back. I'll reach out to you when we do.
I'll tell ya personally I'm done with the low BB bikes. I made the switch to Canyon and to me it corners harder with less effort and I almost never get a pedal strike. I don't know what the bb drop is on it but man its much more fun to ride when you just don't have to think to much about pedal strikes.
Great video man! Quick question... you were saying cranks 170mm are better. I have a 175mm crank but my Tallboy front travel is just 120mm(29er) not 150+ like the bikes you were riding. Should I get a 170mm crank instead of the 175mm? I'm thinking to upgrade mine. I'm 5'9 and I ride a medium frame. Thanks 🤘
I just bought a 2017 transition patrol frame..do tou think this thing can still keep up with the new versions or with the modern geometry? Im expecting for this thing to climb good uphills..tnx
Yes. The newer patrol is pretty much the same frame with a different shock. Transition was very progressive in their frame design so even the older ones are still very relevant.
Welcome to the club, my girls rebel , and it hurts bad, please no one tell a teen no. Good going Dawson, but the old wise folks are not like the children that use dare you. Anyway, I got kids to that don't to be told what to do, but the the wise are not daring you, they just don't want you to get hurt, my cousin is national champ on motocross and was in a coma two weeks ago, we worry little bro !!! Anyway Clint, I got a could one for you tomorrow, I'm to tired to tell my story tonight, it was about a pit bull dog doing all he could do. And I forgot my spray. I'll tell my story on the dog vid later. I'm tired. May God bless You and the family. One more, being a professional is easy, wanting to be a pro and not becoming one is hard.
my riding means I would have to have a xc bike and switch to enduro bike, on next trail, 😂 I think my next bike will have to having roe travel I am using 120mm to the max on most rides, and when winter comes then I do that even on the road, cus of all of the holes and tracks. I think my next bike will be Nicolai G1, due to all of the features it has but if that did not exist, I would probably go for the Sentinel. I am 181cm so I think the bike you rode would be too short for me. how tall are you? I am on the limit with 430mm reach on my bike knees hit the cockpit & fork, but I think 440 will be too short.
When it comes to the rear shock on your sons' trance, why don't you just replace the old one with a piggyback shock or something? It will also save you the money on buying a new bike.
If you ever want to demo one my buddy paul owns a shop in lithia near alafia. His also a transition dealer. 917 Lithia Pinecrest Rd Brandon, Florida 33511
I just checked transition and patrol tech specs, it looks like they are heavy, 32+ lbs even for carbon version. Is there is any reason why they are so heavy ?
11:20 I think ppl should stop mentioning the top tube length that's irrelevant, it's the reach number that matters. were you actually talking about the reach or top tube? just toptube length will be longer on a ladies city bike, just an extreme example, it can be much longer yet still much shorter reach.
Top tube length isn't irrelevant. That's what tells you how far the handlebars are away from you when you are seated. A steep seat tube is an advantage because can shorten the top tube while keeping the reach / wheelbase long. Reach and top tube are separate numbers and both relevant.
@@theelias7909 ok when the headtube length is changed the yes, agree but from sale length, it does not not matter that's what I meant i should be more clear, but so should the video. Taller bikes will have taller, longer top tube. These numbers are not showing the reach and stack well. So reach and stack should be used to look for bike that fits.
It's too much bike for the average rider in Florida. However Dawson does a lot of jumping and the big drops at Santos. We plan to start traveling more to North Georgia and North Carolina, and enduro is his style.
I would not ride that hard with the Grip damper, on my bike I have to use zip ties to keep it from locking up the fork, at technical terrain or if I do a high or brutal bunny hop, big roots downhill will lock up on my 32 fork, so unless they changes something since, I would advice against doing any gnarly riding with it.
Appreciate you video's/channel. Some thoughts from someone who rides downhill and xcountry/trail rides with a 15 y/o son (and I'm alot older than you): a) While you rode up to these trails, you basically starting to get into what are typically trails at most bike parks. You're starting to lose some credibility on what bike is/isn't playful because you're an excellent rider, but like many excellent xcountry background type riders, you haven't learned how to properly hit the purposely built jumps on the trail. You get over them, but you're not playfully jumping them. The reason this is important is to make a qualification on if the particular bike is truly playful or not. You noted before does one need to learn to jump? Answer is yes to really determine how playful a particular bike is/isn't. b) Your really at the point where it just becomes a reality that to fully (and I stress fully) enjoy the trails, it often just becomes necessary to have at least a couple bikes. For example, when you're at a bike park (like your last video), it's best to ride a specific downhill bike. Sure one can ride a trail bike down many of the trails, but it just doesn't let one get the most out of the trails. For example, I have a 2018 Giant Trance Advance 2 (27.5) that is just fine for trail riding, but it in no way compares to riding a downhill bike (even dh bikes that are many years old) at a bike park. As you mention in this video, the enduro bike really is too much of a beast to be riding uphill on typical trails for long rides (sure it can be done but it's hardly optimal). One bike for everything is a compromise (just like my son racing NICA on a 27.5 Specialized Camber Comp Carbon is a compromise). c) Might be time to consider doing a video on safety equipment. Should Dawson be riding with a Leatt or other neck protector at the bike parks?
Good point. After our trip to Bailey mountain bike park I told Dawson I would definitely rent a downhill bike next time. The trail bike was just under-gunned. As far as playfulness, what I refer to is how the bike switches lines and pops out of corners. That's my riding style. If I rode these trails more often I would definitely be progressing on jumping... we just don't have that type of capabilities where I normally ride unless you're doing really big sets. For safety equipment, I also told Dawson that the next time he does a bike park he will have, at a minimum, a back protector.
Dawson is just like... whatever dude, just ride. Watch yo shit! Conscious of cranks? duh? Transition makes some phat bikes. Bit too long of chainstays for my taste but they are great bikes. Dawson should check out something in the 425mm chainstay, maybe in a Kona or similar. More like what he's use to from BMX. Little more playful and easy to get aloft. I think he absolutely dig a Process 153 or 134 and swapping the fork out for a 150 or 160 on the 134.