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Spire 2022 thread

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#1,181 ·
I've been fairly pleased with the stock RS air too. Never have I owned a bike and remotely liked the stock shock or tune. I just put a MegNeg on mine and am really liking it. Completely solved the weak midstroke and seems to react faster on fast consecutive hits. Also, way easier to initiate travel and drive into the suspension through my hips. I feel I was heavy on my hands a lot and now feels a lot more neutral and active.

With that said I was a big fan of the Kitsuma on my Evo, great shock.
 
#1,183 ·
Hi guys

Hope it won't be a long one as I try to lean towards the point where the Spire comes in but here it goes

So I'm looking for a replacement in my quiver, as besides my 29er Tues DH bikes I needed something for general trail ridding with a bit more oomph. The current Norco Optic is covering quite a broad range of my ridding just that lately I'm not doing too much general ridding, more or less it's just days in bike trips or quick runs at my local trails where climbing doesn't have to be the strong point. In my recent trip to Finale Ligure I just realised on harsher trail I'm underbiked, even though I've added a coil shock and cascade link, you cannot hide the 125 mm rear travel.

Here's where the Spire comes in as I like the suspension layout just that I need something more capable. From what I've read & seen seems the bike can deliver and I've spotted a Carbon GX build with Fox 38 at a good price which seems to be a valuable option.

I have a few questions though. I like slack bikes but seeing many people they use angles reducers to steepen out the HA I'm wondering if the bikes is too slack to ride? I'm not the best person to choose my line so in many situations I plough through rough stuff so I have a bit of mixed feelings about this.

Another thing is the shock. The Float X which is on the bike seems OK but on the long range thinking at something like a SD coil ( cascade must have?) or the new Vivid. What you guys think?

And lastly, anyone cross shopped by chance between the Spire and Propain Spindrift? There is a huge sale in Europe for it but the HA at 64.5 and tall seat tube is a bit of a letdown.

Apologies for the long write up but would appreciate any feedback.
 
#1,184 ·
I have friends with Spindrifts, and they are shocked with how well they climb and pedal for being big bikes. They also all want O chains to calm their feet down a bit through the rough stuff, which is the trade off. The limited seat tube insertion and tall seat tubes make them not an option for me, but I’m only 5-7.

The Spire pedals really comfortably. I don’t think it’s too slack, I wouldn’t bother changing that.

The DHX2 works well but I understand the SD coil with HBO is dreamy, with or without the Cascade link. I did the DHX2 so I could use the Cascade mullet link and run it mullet.
 
#1,185 ·
Currently on the spire with the headset angle and RS coil hbo. The bikes original HA is fine for your situation, I just got some tight sections I gotta get past and the angle headset helps. I reckon either coil or vivid will work well on the spire. I don’t think the cascade is necessary unless you really need that progression. Only other bike I’d look at is the raw Madonna v3 for its stack. I’ve got a 10mm rise stem and 50mm rise bars for the bike to feel dialled.
 
#1,186 ·
Bogdan_mb said:
Hi guys

Hope it won't be a long one as I try to lean towards the point where the Spire comes in but here it goes

So I'm looking for a replacement in my quiver, as besides my 29er Tues DH bikes I needed something for general trail ridding with a bit more oomph. The current Norco Optic is covering quite a broad range of my ridding just that lately I'm not doing too much general ridding, more or less it's just days in bike trips or quick runs at my local trails where climbing doesn't have to be the strong point. In my recent trip to Finale Ligure I just realised on harsher trail I'm underbiked, even though I've added a coil shock and cascade link, you cannot hide the 125 mm rear travel.

Here's where the Spire comes in as I like the suspension layout just that I need something more capable. From what I've read & seen seems the bike can deliver and I've spotted a Carbon GX build with Fox 38 at a good price which seems to be a valuable option.

I have a few questions though. I like slack bikes but seeing many people they use angles reducers to steepen out the HA I'm wondering if the bikes is too slack to ride? I'm not the best person to choose my line so in many situations I plough through rough stuff so I have a bit of mixed feelings about this.

Another thing is the shock. The Float X which is on the bike seems OK but on the long range thinking at something like a SD coil ( cascade must have?) or the new Vivid. What you guys think?

And lastly, anyone cross shopped by chance between the Spire and Propain Spindrift? There is a huge sale in Europe for it but the HA at 64.5 and tall seat tube is a bit of a letdown.

Apologies for the long write up but would appreciate any feedback.
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I don't think the head angle is too slack for trail riding. I like it and wouldn't steepen it. Since you're used to riding DH bikes (as I am) you will probably like the Spire's head angle as-is.

I have a Super Deluxe Ultimate coil that works great for descending and is pretty darned good for climbing too. I swapped in an air shock (Cane Creek Kitsuma air) for general trail riding though since it's lighter and more tunable to how I like it for climbing.
 
#1,187 ·
I've been riding this bike almost exclusively now that it's pretty dialed. Highly recommend coil -- it should pedal better than the vivid according to what the vivid was intended for but ymmv. I've run a SD coil for years and loved it. On this spike I ran the factory spec SDU for 2 rides and immediately replaced it with a coil (i went with the 11-6 since they had CPO sale that made it the same price as other coils I was looking at). Can't recommend going to a coil enough, the bike is so planted with it and just plows through chunder and rock gardens without even blinking.

I've done some 2500-3k vert climbs on it and I'm blown away how well it pedals, it's not going to beat PRs on my smaller travel bikes but that's absolutely not what I bought it for. It can pedal all day if you need it to and unless you have extremely tight trails as your main riding terrain, it'll be a blast to ride. I did roll my bars forward to get more upsweep and it really changed the dynamic of the bike so I'll be tuning the cockpit this spring.
 
#1,190 ·
Nat said:
Are you there right now?
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Yeah, up in town now but headed back down in a bit. Headed out on Friday to get some canyons but I'll be back around on the 1st to meet up with some buddies. I'll be in the general area for most of May.
 
#1,192 ·
Awesome stuff guys, love your on point feedback. From what I've read it seems it's the one :) not wanting to steer the boat again and I know this has been looked over but anyone rode the Spire back to back with the Megatower?
 
#1,193 ·
Bogdan_mb said:
Awesome stuff guys, love your on point feedback. From what I've read it seems it's the one :) not wanting to steer the boat again and I know this has been looked over but anyone rode the Spire back to back with the Megatower?
Click to expand...
I have owned both and ridden both extensively. I sold the Spire and currently have the MT2 and prefer it for a few reasons that may or may not apply to you.

1. Stack size: I am tall - 6'2". The stack on the Spire is really low. I know this is like, a "thing" with Transition, and also Knolly, but it doesn't work for me. I finally fixed it with a new CSU and a whole stack o'spacers, but I don't think Transition wants you to do that - they certainly cut the steerer from the factory on the fork so that you can't. I think they want you to be bent forward riding it, I just didn't love that.

2. Sizing: The wheelbase of the XL Spire is huge - 1322mm. I would have preferred the geometry of the L, but then with Transitions insistence on the super low stack, I would have been stuck with an even taller stack'o'spacers - probably beyond what is actually suggested by the manufacturer on most forks.

3. Geometry: The Spire is a touch more slacked out than I ended up wanting, and the flip chip just makes it even more slacked out. There are many downhill bikes that are more balanced than the Spire.

The Santa Cruz sizing, fit, and geometry works better for me, and it's honestly a great daily driver for me, though I have it built up fairly burly with a Super Gravity casing in the rear and a coil shock.

Your mileage may very much vary.
 
#1,194 ·
Dabs For Everyone said:
I have owned both and ridden both extensively. I sold the Spire and currently have the MT2 and prefer it for a few reasons that may or may not apply to you.

1. Stack size: I am tall - 6'2". The stack on the Spire is really low. I know this is like, a "thing" with Transition, and also Knolly, but it doesn't work for me. I finally fixed it with a new CSU and a whole stack o'spacers, but I don't think Transition wants you to do that - they certainly cut the steerer from the factory on the fork so that you can't. I think they want you to be bent forward riding it, I just didn't love that.

2. Sizing: The wheelbase of the XL Spire is huge - 1322mm. I would have preferred the geometry of the L, but then with Transitions insistence on the super low stack, I would have been stuck with an even taller stack'o'spacers - probably beyond what is actually suggested by the manufacturer on most forks.

3. Geometry: The Spire is a touch more slacked out than I ended up wanting, and the flip chip just makes it even more slacked out. There are many downhill bikes that are more balanced than the Spire.

The Santa Cruz sizing, fit, and geometry works better for me, and it's honestly a great daily driver for me, though I have it built up fairly burly with a Super Gravity casing in the rear and a coil shock.

Your mileage may very much vary.
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agreed with the stack height. I ride an XXL megatower and have ridden a buddy’s XXL spire, both with 50mm rise bars, and the megatower is night and day better with the taller front end for people on the taller end of the spectrum
 
#1,195 ·
That's interesting info, I'm on the opposite end of that spectrum (5'7") and I've been really starting to enjoy the geometry of the spire, even on longer steep climbs. I did rotate the factory bars forward a bit to get more upsweep and extend the cockpit slightly. I think I might go for a slightly higher rise bar and see how that does. But overall I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I was worried it would be too big with that huge wheel base. I'm running a M and could have gone with a S and almost wish I had but I'm getting used to the M.
 
#1,196 ·
Picked up a fender from ground keeper customs finally. Eventual plan is to get the bolt on with their decal kit but they didn't have what I wanted in stock and this works super well.
Image


Also picked up a decal kit for the zeb but man it looks good all black with the black logos. Currently leaving it without but I see myself putting them on soon
Image


Image
Image
 
#1,197 · (Edited)
NJTransplant said:
Sorry if you said this already, I read through this thread in the fall and forgot about your issue specifically but did you reach out to transition or your local transition dealer specifically with those photos? I would try and get that warrantied like they did 2 of my front triangles. Someone else just replaced theirs as well. I went through my LBS but transition shipped the frames out quick once there was deamed to be a manufacturing issue that those holes are out of shape enough I'd expect they'd do something for you.
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Nad design. It’s not getting pinched enough. Same issue here.
 
#1,198 ·
Image


Love this bike! I've had it built up for about 4 months/ about 600 miles now, and outside of some chain noise it's been flawless. Alignment is bang on, no weird creaks or issues. It's heavy, right about 40lbs, and I've comfortably done half a dozen 30+ mile days with 6k+ feet of vert. Such a comfortable and efficient enough climber, and it kills it on the DH. With the coil the chunk just disappears. Mullet is great for my short legs. The length does make manuals more work, but I wasn't that great at them to start with. Nothing lost there. Super stoked on it.
 
#1,199 ·
Funny enough I've been out traveling the PNW (On vancouver island right now) and the clacking has been getting progressively worse again it seems like. Bike rides fabulously and I want to love it but the noise is killing me. Going to probably hit the outpost HQ on my way back to Colorado on saturday and see what they say. Everything has been nut and bolted multiple times. Nothing is Loose or anything like that so I'm not sure where it's coming from at this point. it seems excessive to be chain slap but I know there's a good amount of that on this bike as well.

I have some specific requirements for bikes I've come to enjoy (especially the horst style linkage) that transition checks all the boxes for so I want to figure out what's up and continue riding it but it is getting frustrating. Either way the bike loved riding in bellingham and around that area and is performing fabulously (including saving my ass when I do something stupid). Overall the bike is amazing and I plan to continue to ride it and work with Transition to see what comes of the clacking noise.
 
#1,200 ·
bikeboardorblade said:
View attachment 2100144

Love this bike! I've had it built up for about 4 months/ about 600 miles now, and outside of some chain noise it's been flawless. Alignment is bang on, no weird creaks or issues. It's heavy, right about 40lbs, and I've comfortably done half a dozen 30+ mile days with 6k+ feet of vert. Such a comfortable and efficient enough climber, and it kills it on the DH. With the coil the chunk just disappears. Mullet is great for my short legs. The length does make manuals more work, but I wasn't that great at them to start with. Nothing lost there. Super stoked on it.
Click to expand...
Is that Ely, Nevada?
How is the riding there?
I've driven through there the last three springs and will again next year but have elected to do other stuff in the area over riding.
 
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