Description:The Vagrant is the offspring of the DirtBag, but in a hardtail form. Built for aggressive freeriding, the Vagrant is engineered for strength and years of abuse on the shore. The geometry is slack for steep technical sections but can still dirt jump with the best of the hardtail crowd. The seat tube is also long enough to get a full length seatpost.
Submitted by
ieatfood
a Weekend Warrior
from nashville, tn, usa Date Reviewed: August 10, 2008
Favorite Trail:
fast ones
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$500.00
Purchased At:
cycle science, new z
Strengths:
solid frame. the frame is a good weight for what it can dish out. decends super well, corners extremely well and fast.
Weaknesses:
like a few people have said, the paint does chip quite easily.
Bike Setup:
vagrant frame, rockshox pike 454 air, mavic 823 rims built on dimension hubs. sram x9 derailleurs and shifters, xt brakes, xt crankset w/ bashguard (light and strong).
Bottom Line:
this frame is awesome. the reason i got this frame is because it could be used for so many different applications of MTBing. i rode this bike for a year in new zealand, and it was freaking awesome on their freeride trails. buy this frame! you wont regret it.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Davin9999
a Racer
from Tempe, AZ Date Reviewed: June 24, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Mormon/National South Mountain
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$425.00
Purchased At:
Cactus Bikes
Strengths:
Everything. You have to see it to believe it-this thing is beefy! I asked "Fish" from Cactus Bikes what a 6'7" rider who was ready to try jumping would need. I also mentioned I have been biking one of the most insane tech trails out here for years (mormon/national and national south mountain) so I am not in the slightest "new" to riding mountains. His answer was this beauty of a frame. I purchased the frame after looking at the website for Transition and doing a little research. I've never purchased without trying so I made a risky move and bought it over the phone. I was truly...not disappointed at all. As a tall rider (this is for all you tall riders) this is the frame for you-24 top tube length plus whatever your stem is-I now feel comfortable on my bike and can even "track stand" fairly well with this geometry. Unlike everyone else I don't find this frame heavy at all, although my previous bike was a Haro X1 full suspension.
Weaknesses:
None found so far
Similar Products Used:
None like it, last hard tail was a Haro V3.
Bike Setup:
Frame: Large Transition Vagrant (in white!)
Hubs: Shimano Disc XT's
Wheels:
Alexrim DM-18 front (hey! when it breaks I'll replace it)
Mavic EX-721 (not impressed with this rim)
Tires: Geax Sturdy 2.25
Cranks: Raceface cranks
Bars: Tru-vativ bar
Stem: Profile design "stiffy" stem (to be changed)
Bottom Line:
This frame is likely going to be my last.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
terrible1one3
a Downhiller
from Holt, MI, US Date Reviewed: June 24, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Burchfield
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$2050.00
Purchased At:
The Fix Bike Shop
Strengths:
Customer service, company, I know it's lame but the purple color is good enough to be considered a strength!
Weaknesses:
None so far.
Similar Products Used:
I have a Slingshot Farm Boy 29'er with similar parts (brakes, deraillers, shifters... etc)
Bike Setup:
The single ring freeride build through transition:
Chainguide: TBC Single Ring Guide
Stem: Truvativ Holzfeller 1.125/1.5 40mm
Handlebar: Truvativ Hussefelt 31.8 x 680 x 50
Headset: FSA Orbit Z1.5r / FSA Orbit xtreme Pro 1.5
Cranks: Truvativ Hussefelt 170mm 1.0BG 34t
Bottom Bracket: Truvativ Howitzer Team 73mm
Front Brake: Avid Juicy 7 8"
Rear Brake: Avid Juicy 7 6"
Tire - Front: Maxxis Minion 26x2.5 Wire
Tire - Rear: Maxxis Minion 26x2.5 Wire
Tubes: Maxxis Welterweight
Pedals: Primo Sealed Platform
Seatpost: Truvativ XR DC x 350mm
Saddle: TBC Park n' Ride Jump
Grips: ODI Cross Trainer X
Cassette: SRAM PG950 11-32
Wheelset: TBC - Revolution 36 Black
Rear Shifter: Sram X9
Rear Derailleur: Sram X9 Medium Cage
Chain: KMC z9000
Bottom Line:
I am converting it to single speed since purchasing the slingshot. Will no longer use it for single tracks and peddling.
My god does this thing rip the down hill and devour the skinnies!
Rode Boyne Highlands and this thing jumped like it was second nature. It is extremely flickable. It is also A TANK. I had the 36 hole 36mm wheels put on just to make it that much tougher. With the single speed there will be no stopping it! (other than with the awesome brakes)
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
VTSession
a Weekend Warrior
from Boston, MA Date Reviewed: June 15, 2008
Favorite Trail:
I'm not too picky
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
-excellent fit and finish, the pain and the welds are top notch.
-strong and stiff construction tracks well over choppy terrain and transfers power very well.
-geometry is great for downhill/freeride/jumping but climbing on this bike isn't as bad as you'd think.
-nimble through tight singletrack
-short, stiff chainstays make the front end very easy to keep up to get over obstacles.
Weaknesses:
Not easy to find one.
Similar Products Used:
Kona Scrap, Orange Missile
Bike Setup:
Domain 318 fork, FSA bars, stem, cranks, 22/32/bashguard with E thirteen DRS, Transition Revolution wheels, Maxxis Minion tires, Hayes Nine brakes, Mallet pedals
Bottom Line:
I bought this bike a little skeptical after owning nothing but full suspension bikes since 2000. It's an incredibly versatile bike. I bought it built up for more freeride use; it weighs in at a little under 35 lbs.
For XC riding, it works well {not great), despite its weight and geometry it will motor up hills in a lower gear and blasts through tight singletrack well. The slack head angle and short chainstays make this bike so much fun to jump and rip downhill. Every rock and little root has to be jumped off of.
Depending on how you build it, the frame will handle a day hammering down your local bike park. Its also a great bike to drop the seat down on and go do some urban freeridng or dirt jumping.
Overall an amazing bike. Pick up one of these frames and you'll realize how fun a simple hardtail can be.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andy
a Downhiller
from Seattle, WA, USA Date Reviewed: March 24, 2008
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$2000.00
Purchased At:
Fluidride
Strengths:
Super Burly bomb proof. Great colors or you can custom paint, they dont mind! Warraty. Cockpit feel.
Weaknesses:
like most hard tails, the rear wheel needs truing time and again.
Similar Products Used:
uh. simular than the vagrant? its one of a kind, baby!
Bike Setup:
Lots of TBC parts. The Revolution wheel set is awesome lite, but rear wheel needs to be trued once in a while if you're hitting the big stuff. front wheel stayed perfect!
Bottom Line:
I bought this bike to get smoother on a full suspension downhill bike. Now I ride this more than my fully since its just so fun! super light for the kind of stuff it can handle.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
me again
a Downhiller
from cali Date Reviewed: February 10, 2008
Favorite Trail:
fun ones
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
sweet looking stiff burly great geometry...just super dooper pretty colors nice welds
Weaknesses:
the paint does chip pretty easily it is a bit heavy once you start tossing it around for dj/street, it is a bit tall and long
Bike Setup:
blue medium frame 36 van r hayes 9 32 rims the stock setup pretty much
Bottom Line:
so, i've had it for a year and a bit, and thought i would do a follow up review. I must say, it is a fun bike. For tight, twisty singletrack, it is just perfect....and riding hardtail makes you so much darn faster. The geometry is really nice for trail stuff, and still pretty good for dj's, but it is a bit tall for street stuff(not really its intended use). For being a freeride hardtail, it does its job. Also, I must add that the fox 36 van is holding up really well also. It is definately worth the money, and is just a great ride altogether. 5 stars for sure
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Sojourner
a Racer
from Louisville, KY USA Date Reviewed: October 3, 2007
None, though the 1.5" headtube made fork choices kind of tough (but I'm glad it has a 1.5!)
Similar Products Used:
DK BMX bikes, Iron Horse, Felt
Bike Setup:
1X8 with Hussefelt/Howitzer crankset, Transition Chainguide, Transition Park-n-Ride JUMP seat, Transition Stepdown Pedals, Cane Creek 1.5 to 1.125 headset, Transition T-Bars, Shadow Conspiracy grips, Hayes brakes.
Bottom Line:
Transition Vagrant (hardtail frame)
I have had this frame now for almost a month, and have been riding it at least 5 days a week. I purchased Ifm 6Œ3 with a 32 to 34 inseam (pants), and the Large fits me perfectly. My first impressions were great- the weld pools were clean and tight, the paint color (electric blue) and coverage were awesome, the box chainstays were beefy, and the 1.5 head tube just looked muy burlyc
I picked up the frame pre-built with a wheelset and brakes frankenbiked bits from an old FS, and an an array of hand-picked components (Ifll review these later). I had the bike set up as a 1X8 since I like the simplicity of a SS, but needed some gearing to make it an all-rounder. The purpose of the bike was three-fold: I wanted something I could dirt jump, something I could take for urban sessions downtown, and finally something to ride at Bernheim Forest with the wife and pull the kidsf tow-behind trailer with. With two small boys (a 3 year old and an 8 month old), diapers and Thomas trains eat up most of the budget. I needed one bike that could excel at almost anything. Turns out I found itc
When looking for a new frame, I knew I wanted to go with Transition (www.transitionbikes.com) since they are a small rider-owned company (therefs four employees- Kyle, Kevin, Cam, and Neil, not counting the fabricators in Taiwan), and their products have garnered some great reviews. I had a hard time deciding between their gTrail-or-Parkh and gVagranth frames, and ended up sending them an email. Then the unthinkable happenedc THEY REPLIED BACK THE SAME DAY. Neil jokingly told me that he was personally forbidding the sale of a TBC frame for baby-pulling duty (heh), and then proceeded to go over all of my concerns/points and recommended that in the end I go with the Vagrant. Enough said, it was ordered later that week. With personalized customer service like that, how can you go wrong?
So anyway, I picked up by new ride from Reserfs Bicycle Outfitters in Newport KY (just on the other side of the Ohio River from Cincinnati). Great group of people, did a great job hooking me up. So after a two hour ride back to Louisville, I got the bike back on new-home soil. My first reactions were that this frame was a tank, still nimble, but way sturdy. When you are a clydesdale like me (252 lbs), that matters! Days quickly passed and I began to get a better feel for the geometry. As my familiarity increased, so too did my confidence. I have sessioned downtown, bits of Cherokee, taken it a half-dozen times out to Derby Cityfs BMX track (even raced and placed in the NBL cruiser class!), and of course for relaxed pedaling at Bernheim with the family. Quite simply put- I am still impressed with this frame. In every case it has been smooth and up to the task. This frame was my return to a hardtail, and maybe that has something to do with it, but I canft help but think that the guys out in Seattle built one hell of a frame. Gracias my cuates!
Link to frame: http://www.transitionbikes.com/2007/Vagrant.cfm
MSRP (frame only): $429
Colors: Kelly Freen, Electric Blue, Gloss Black
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
me
a
from california Date Reviewed: February 19, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
sick looking frame super stiff very nice welding great color nice and heavy wonderful geometry
Weaknesses:
paint scratches a bit easily, but who really cares
Bike Setup:
06 frame with all the spec'd parts except sram x-9 and the 36 van r
Bottom Line:
what a great bike. I was a little bit worried about going back to hardtail, but i'm happy i did. Its a super stiff bike, which helps on rough stuff, and the 36 van works wonderfully with it. The geometry is absolutely perfect for trail riding that is super tight, and it turns like no other. Its not too fun for fast rock gardens because its just painful, but whatever. If you ride tight single track thats not too rough, this bike is wonderful.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Josh
a Downhiller
from SLC Date Reviewed: February 5, 2007
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Purchased At:
Transition
Strengths:
Pretty much bulletproof.
Weaknesses:
Negatives: It hurts my arse without a shock in the back. I'm not sold on the Z1 Sport. It feels harsh and packs up when trail riding at speed. But it does the job, takes single hits well, and I'm happy I chose it over a Manipoo. Paint does wear off easily. The bike is a bit heavy overall, although I haven't weighed it. But I'm happy it's got the strength to take what punishment I can dish out.
Similar Products Used:
Iron Horse Yakuza hardtail, Yeti ASX, Foes FXR, Spec. Big Hit, etc., etc.
Bike Setup:
Stock build kit from Transition except for Juicy 5's.
Bottom Line:
Well it's February, the snow sucks so I can't really ski, but it's cold enough still that the snow's not really melting off the valley trails, so there's nothing to do but sit and think about biking and wait for a storm to come so I can get back to skiing pow. So I figured in my boredom I'd throw up a season one review of the Vagrant.
I am a bad bike owner and put my toy away dirty:
Just for some background, I hadn't owned a hardtail for about 7 years before I got the Vagrant last summer. The first thing I noticed riding it, aside from the fact I couldn't stay seated over the pedally rocky gnarness, was it was fuggin fast! It's just amazing how much more speed you can pump out of this thing through berms, rolls in the trail, etc. Of course it does get slowed down a lot more than my 6" trail bike once the going gets rocky. But as long as it's reasonably smooth and straightforward - you just feel lik you're on a rocket roller coaster ride.
The first ride I took the Vagrant on was a session at the local DJ zone - a very MTB-oriented spot with long, fast jumps. Most gaps are 15-20 feet, and there are some cool features like a nice 8' step-down to 10' ish step-up gully. As long as you hit the trannys just right, this thing flows beautifully and it's much easier to carry speed through the DJ's than on my full susser (duh). But my ankles hurt when I cased it. Which eventually led to me pussing out and using my big squishy bike at the DJ's after a month or two. But that's OK. Otherwise I mostly used the Vagrant for trail riding - 1-2 hour lunch loops from my office, 2 hour after-work rides from my house, etc. Usually about 1500-2000 vert of climbing with a smooth, fast descent. The post gets crazy high for climbing but drops so far down when you're descending I usually didn't slam it to the frame - it was almost too low. I think this rig would be sick for 4X or other applications like that, although it would probably be too heavy for really competitive racing.
I think my favorite way to ride this bike is a local section of trail here in Salt Lake called Bobsled. It's been around for a long time and is a pretty famous section of trail, and while it gets monotonous sometimes because it's in my backyard, and isn't exactly techie, it gets slagged on a bit. But the thing is a 1.6 mile descent with just a ridiculous amount of berms (it basically follows a dry creek bed, and banks up on either side of the bed continually). There are probably 30 or so beautifully manicured, huge berms - many of them you can easily get your bike nearly horizontal on. It's not crazy, but every time I ride it I get a huge smile on my face. And the Vagrant just shreds it. I thought I rode it fast on my trail bike or even my ASX, but the Vagrant just accelerates through and out of every berm. It's just a blast. Seriously digging this bike.
Changes: Just gotta put on a chainguide. I will actually be spending some time in Ohio and I've got a SRS I'm going to throw on there and ditch the front derailleur - I'm stoked to take it and check out Ray's sometime this winter.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Derek
a
from Rode Island Date Reviewed: July 20, 2006
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Transition phone call
Strengths:
Great color and sizing. Super welds and nice seat/chain stays. Love the 1.5 headtube.
Weaknesses:
Only thing I had to do was ream the bb cups since I am using an external bb. Normal procedure.
Similar Products Used:
Other hardtails
Bike Setup:
Purchased frame. Put on Fox 36 Van RC2, DeeTracks, Hone cranks/bb, El Camino brakes, Truvative stem/handlebars, FSA headset.
Bottom Line:
The frame is awesome. The bike has a great weight and overall feel. Able to hit everything that I do on my fully with no worries. Paint is great, with no scratches. Rear end is super stiff with the gussetts and stays. Use for DH/FR/DJ and overall fun for urbans.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Josh
a Downhiller
from SLC Date Reviewed: July 6, 2006
Favorite Trail:
Empire
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Transition
Strengths:
Beefy frame, great component spec on the complete package.
Weaknesses:
I exchanged the Hayes Nines for Juicy 5 brakes, but otherwise haven't found a weakness yet. Paint does seem to scratch very easily...already lots of top-tube scratches from my knee/shin armor from the dirt jumps.
Similar Products Used:
Iron Horse Yakuza hardtail, Yeti ASX, Foes FXR, Spec. Big Hits, more...
Bike Setup:
Stock complete kit from Transition aside from Juicy 5 brakes instead of Hayes Nines: Z1 Sport Transition Revolution wheelset TBC T-Bar handlebar FSA FR 70mm stem FSA V-Drive Extreme cranks, BB SRAM X-7 drivetrain, X-Gen FD etc
Bottom Line:
I haven't ridden this a lot yet, but will get a bunch more time on it in the next couple weeks. Took it to the dirt jumps for its first time out and within one lap I was comfortable enough to be hitting the big line on it. Super fun. Nice and compact, has great standover height which is key for me. I come from a FR/DH background so the slacker geometry makes me feel comfortable and right at home. I expect DH to be a blast on this as well.
Seatpost gives me full leg extension, but I haven't had the chance to go XCing with it yet; will post a follow-up review when I do. GREAT value for the money.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Alex ......
a Downhiller
from PA Date Reviewed: July 1, 2006
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$5453211.00
Purchased At:
direct
Strengths:
Everything if you get this bike you will see what im talking about! Build Quality,Price,Customer Service,Cosmetics!
Weaknesses:
nothing and even though some complain about the paint on transitions bikes i have yet to find any problem with it!
$
Overall Rating:
