Transition Vagrant

[Flat Broke]

Well, my Vagrant came in yesterday, and today I got a chance to build it up. It's 90% complete, but that didn't stop me from taking it for a spin and falling in love with it. After essentially having an idea of how I wanted this HT to feel since Jan 05, I can't tell you how fufilling it is to be so happy with how this frame feels. I'll give some more input after I get some dirt miles on it.

The only thing I have to do is get a different deraileur. It looks like I need a top swing unit to clear everything properly. No big deal as the cable housings etc. are all cut and ready to go. 10 minutes and it'll be done.

I also have to give props to Adrenaline bikes in Tustin. When I picked up the frame, I bought an FSA Pig 1.5-1.125 headset. Today when I opened the headset up, FSA had included the wrong race in the box. Adrenaline didn't have another race handy, so they took the guts of the pig back, and gave me a complete Cane Creek sealed unit at no extra cost. That move saved me time, gas money, and just made me a really happy guy, so I thought I'd share that with other peeps that might shop in SoCal.

Chris

 

[tkblazer]

sweet bike chris, i wouldn't mind a dirtbag or gran mal in the future for those days when i'm feelin daring

 

[gecallo]

Tight lookin' bike brah!...looks like you'll have lots-o-fun on and above the dirt...

 

[Evel Knievel]

These are burley bikes at a good price . But are they geo-ed for DJ , trail , or dual crown freeride ?

 

[spookydave]

Looks good. Time to get it dirty.

 

[Flat Broke]

Got her dirty last night at Fullerton Dave. Obviously its not technical stuff, but she tracks nice and straight through the faster sections and made me feel like we had been riding together for a long time. That's what I was after and thats what I got.

Chris

 

[Neccros]

What kind of riding you planning on that bike??? It looks built for dirt jumping...

I have a somewhat similar built Santa Cruz Chameleon

 

[Flat Broke]

Neccros, the bike will be a jack of all trades. Since I guess the new PC designation for that is AM, it will be an AM that will eventually ( as I get my legs/and skills back) see some FR, and DH(I'd like to try my hand at actual DH racing with the hardtail when I feel I'm more compotent). The bike will deffinitely see some DJ, and if you count whatever concrete it encounters when it's not on the dirt, as urban; it will also serve that purpose.

As far as spec, I grew up riding CroMo cranks and that wont ever change, even with the weight penalty they impose. There is no flex in my cranks even with all 250lbs of love pounding down on em out of the saddle. While I haven't rode a bike with Saints, I've never found an AL crankset that feels like a Profile or one of the many knock offs, and as such, they got spec'd for this bike. Originally I was going to run a single front ring, hence the 32 special supercharger. But because I need to build my legs back up, I'm running 2 ring setup and I might up the tooth count on the bigger ring as I'm out of gear in 2/9 around 30mph. The only other part on the bike that is DJ specific is the fork. When I started piecing stuff together, back in 05, I thought I would primarily ride the bike around town, ocaisional trails, DJ and whatever I hiked/shuttled. I wasn't as sharp on what was out there and I was focused solely on building the bike bullet proof, hence the 04 (beefiest/heaviest year) DJ2s. After losing a good amount of income and a good portion of a year to an ankle injury, I see myself doing more aggressive trails and goofing off than dedicated DJ stuff. With that in mind and more choices available (Pike, Vanilla 36, numerious Z1 incarnations) I'll be swapping to a more multifaceted fork, probably with travel adjust so that I can occaisionally shorten things up if they ever make it legal for bikes our our local skateparks. Outside of the fork, there isn't really anything on there that screams DJ. The day after the pic was taken I added the 2nd ring and xgen front der.

Evil, The bike can actually handle pretty much all of the things you mentioned. It's a little slack for a full on urban/DJ rig, but because I feel more comfortable/familiar with this geometry, it'll work better for me in those situations than a bike that was built specifically for a DJ/Urban environment but doesn't feel right. As far as DC compatibility, Transition warranties the frame for up to a 7" DC application. But with so many good SC fork choices out there now I don't really know why you'd go DC on a hardtail.

Chris

 

[Neccros]

Neccros, the bike will be a jack of all trades. Since I guess the new PC designation for that is AM, it will be an AM that will eventually ( as I get my legs/and skills back) see some FR, and DH(I'd like to try my hand at actual DH racing with the hardtail when I feel I'm more compotent). The bike will deffinitely see some DJ, and if you count whatever concrete it encounters when it's not on the dirt, as urban; it will also serve that purpose.

As far as spec, I grew up riding CroMo cranks and that wont ever change, even with the weight penalty they impose. There is no flex in my cranks even with all 250lbs of love pounding down on em out of the saddle. While I haven't rode a bike with Saints, I've never found an AL crankset that feels like a Profile or one of the many knock offs, and as such, they got spec'd for this bike. Originally I was going to run a single front ring, hence the 32 special supercharger. But because I need to build my legs back up, I'm running 2 ring setup and I might up the tooth count on the bigger ring as I'm out of gear in 2/9 around 30mph. The only other part on the bike that is DJ specific is the fork. When I started piecing stuff together, back in 05, I thought I would primarily ride the bike around town, ocaisional trails, DJ and whatever I hiked/shuttled. I wasn't as sharp on what was out there and I was focused solely on building the bike bullet proof, hence the 04 (beefiest/heaviest year) DJ2s. After losing a good amount of income and a good portion of a year to an ankle injury, I see myself doing more aggressive trails and goofing off than dedicated DJ stuff. With that in mind and more choices available (Pike, Vanilla 36, numerious Z1 incarnations) I'll be swapping to a more multifaceted fork, probably with travel adjust so that I can occaisionally shorten things up if they ever make it legal for bikes our our local skateparks. Outside of the fork, there isn't really anything on there that screams DJ. The day after the pic was taken I added the 2nd ring and xgen front der.

Evil, The bike can actually handle pretty much all of the things you mentioned. It's a little slack for a full on urban/DJ rig, but because I feel more comfortable/familiar with this geometry, it'll work better for me in those situations than a bike that was built specifically for a DJ/Urban environment but doesn't feel right. As far as DC compatibility, Transition warranties the frame for up to a 7" DC application. But with so many good SC fork choices out there now I don't really know why you'd go DC on a hardtail.

Chris

Damn... we are similar in the fact I wanted a beefy hardtail when I decided to build one.... and here is a pic of mine... Its not as bulletproof as yours but its a fun bike

 

[Flat Broke]

I actually thought about getting a Chameleon when I ordered my Jack Flash frame. If I had, I'd probably have been on the trail a while ago. But things work out for a reason and I ended up with the vagrant. Your rig looks sharp and probably weighs in a good 8-10lbs less than mine. I haven't had the Vagrant on the scale, but the Jack Flash weighed in at 38, and the Vagrant is a heavier frame. I can quickly kill 2 lbs with a tire change, and another 2 and change depending on which fork I upgrade to, but after that, I wouldn't be making any additional parts changes in the name of weight reduction. The remainder of the weight will have to be handled on my end of things

Chris

 

[Neccros]

well I dunno what it weighs, but it is heavier than my full suspension Enduro!! I got the GigaPipe DH BB in it and the rims are off a Specialized P bike.... 80mm DH stem... I have ridden alot of XC on this untill I scored my Enduro and eventually this will get its own set of XC wheels as a buddy/backup XC bike

 

[b-rad!]

Alhough i dont get to ride them nearly as much anymore, i have to say, i have a great appreciation for a sweet FR HT. and that is one of them. I love it! I would only change one thing. Do your self a favor and get some Avid speed dial levers. you get such better control and feel as well as more fun dials to fiddle with! who doesnt want that?!

 

[Flat Broke]

Thanks for the compliments. Actually I'm surprised how well the Tektro levers work. My brother has a set on his ride and I hate his, but mine are nice and crisp, and out of the box the pull feels really good. Actually the only thing I want to ditch on the bike is the fork. Hopefully I'll get something a little more trail friendly here in the next few weeks. The tires are definitely overkill for trail riding and suck energy bad, but I had to try em I was thinking of maybe picking up some High Rollers or bling blings to shave pretty much a pound off each tire and get less rolling resistance from the tread. But outside of that and me being out of shape, I love the bike.

Chris

 

[Neccros]

Thanks for the compliments. Actually I'm surprised how well the Tektro levers work. My brother has a set on his ride and I hate his, but mine are nice and crisp, and out of the box the pull feels really good. Actually the only thing I want to ditch on the bike is the fork. Hopefully I'll get something a little more trail friendly here in the next few weeks. The tires are definitely overkill for trail riding and suck energy bad, but I had to try em I was thinking of maybe picking up some High Rollers or bling blings to shave pretty much a pound off each tire and get less rolling resistance from the tread. But outside of that and me being out of shape, I love the bike.

Chris

I'm not sure what type of riding your going to do, but I run the Larson TT's on my HT. They grip nice for XC/whatever and they roll fast. I run the 2.35's in a 60a durometer... Mine are wire bead for now but plan on getting some folding bead ones when these wear out...

Or a similar tire that just came out is the Kenda Small Block 8's based on the Nevegal

 

[Flat Broke]

How do you like the Larsens for going down stuff and rocky terrain on the Chamelon?

Pretty much anything is going to roll better than the DH specific Minions I have on there now, but I want to make sure whatever tire I end up with is pinch flat resistant to some extent (as much as a tire can be with a 250lb rider) and is stable footed in our typical SoCal loose dirt over shale/hardpack type terrain. I was thinking that while the Larsen would pedal better than the High Roller, the added bite of the lugs on the roller might be a decent trade off.

I looked into running Kenda NG/BG combo, but the published weights on those things are around my 2ply minions. I was looking to shave a bit of weight (though not at a premium over traction) with the next set of skins.

Chris

 

[spookydave]

I love those Minions. I run the 2 ply super tackys on my DH bike and single ply 60's on the Bullit.
Bro, just run what you have for now. I'd think your fitness is the main limit at this point. Just get out and ride and one day that fitness level will just click in and your off. And of course when you wear out those tires move into something lighter.

 

[Neccros]

How do you like the Larsens for going down stuff and rocky terrain on the Chamelon?

Chris

Well I havent done much technical stuff with my hardtail yet, so I cant really say. Since I didnt have insurance back when I was starting to ride, I kept it mellow and mostly did XC stuff till I got a little better and got insurance.

On climbs, I did find myself spinning the tires a little and/or lifting the front end up(due to my frames short chainstays mostly). After playing with gearing and weight positioning, it took care of that problem that i thought was a tire issue.

Other than that the larsons I think are better suited towards hardpacked terrain where you want a fast rolling tire... For technical, I would probably look elsewhere...

 

[Flat Broke]

Dave,

No argument about the fitness level. But the best way to get that straightened out is to just ride more. That being said, I'm trying to get out 2x a week, and I'm looking at possibly doing SART this weekend. The thought of lugging around the added rotating weight of the DH Minions on top of my already hefty self was the driver behind the question. But your post reminded me that the FR version of the Minion in a 2.35 would let me keep the burliness of my current tires while still shaving 1.1lbs of rotating weight and moving to a harder compound which would be nice too.

So that being said, does anyone have any input between using the single ply 2.35 minions vs the high rollers?

Thanks for the input on the Larsen TTs Necros.

Chris