-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 2
/
2008-03-19-transition-preston-a-year-later.html
181 lines (157 loc) · 11.5 KB
/
2008-03-19-transition-preston-a-year-later.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en"
>
<head>
<title>aadm: transition preston a year later</title>
<!-- Using the latest rendering mode for IE -->
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<link href="http://aadm.github.io/favicon.png" rel="icon">
<link rel="canonical" href="http://aadm.github.io/2008-03-19-transition-preston-a-year-later.html">
<meta name="author" content="Alessandro Amato del Monte" />
<meta name="keywords" content="cycling" />
<meta name="description" content="I love my Preston. Very, very happy with it, but I realize it’s not the state of the art from an engineering perspective. The following post appeared a few days ago on the mtbr.com Transition forum, and I totally agree with it — even if I’m not going …" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="aadm" />
<meta property="og:type" content="article"/>
<meta property="og:title" content="transition preston a year later"/>
<meta property="og:url" content="http://aadm.github.io/2008-03-19-transition-preston-a-year-later.html"/>
<meta property="og:description" content="I love my Preston. Very, very happy with it, but I realize it’s not the state of the art from an engineering perspective. The following post appeared a few days ago on the mtbr.com Transition forum, and I totally agree with it — even if I’m not going …"/>
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2008-03-19" />
<meta property="article:section" content="misc" />
<meta property="article:tag" content="cycling" />
<meta property="article:author" content="Alessandro Amato del Monte" />
<!-- Bootstrap -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://aadm.github.io/theme/css/bootstrap.journal.min.css" type="text/css"/>
<link href="http://aadm.github.io/theme/css/font-awesome.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="http://aadm.github.io/theme/css/pygments/tango.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="http://aadm.github.io/theme/css/typogrify.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://aadm.github.io/theme/css/style.css" type="text/css"/>
<link href="http://aadm.github.io/static/custom.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="http://aadm.github.io/feeds/all.atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate"
title="aadm ATOM Feed"/>
</head>
<body>
<div class="navbar navbar-default navbar-fixed-top" role="navigation">
<div class="container">
<div class="navbar-header">
<button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-ex1-collapse">
<span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
</button>
<a href="http://aadm.github.io/" class="navbar-brand">
aadm </a>
</div>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse navbar-ex1-collapse">
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
</ul>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
<!-- <li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/blog_index.html"><i class="fa fa-th-list"></i><span class="icon-label">blog</span></a></li> -->
</ul>
</div>
<!-- /.navbar-collapse -->
</div>
</div> <!-- /.navbar -->
<!-- Banner -->
<!-- End Banner -->
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-lg-12">
<section id="content">
<article>
<header class="page-header">
<h1>
<a href="http://aadm.github.io/2008-03-19-transition-preston-a-year-later.html"
rel="bookmark"
title="Permalink to transition preston a year later">
transition preston a year later
</a>
</h1>
</header>
<div class="well well-sm">
<footer class="post-info">
<span class="label label-default">Date</span>
<span class="published">
<i class="fa fa-calendar"></i><time datetime="2008-03-19T21:58:00+01:00"> 2008-03-19</time>
</span>
<span class="label label-default">Tags</span>
<a href="http://aadm.github.io/tag/cycling.html">cycling</a>
</footer><!-- /.post-info --> </div>
<div class="entry-content">
<p>I love my Preston. Very, very happy with it, but I realize it’s not the state of the art from an engineering perspective. The following post appeared a few days ago on the mtbr.com Transition forum, and I totally agree with it — even if I’m not going to trade in my Preston anytime soon. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I made the change from a 2007 Preston to a 2008 Nomad a couple of months ago and my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. <span class="caps">IMO</span> the Nomad is superior in every way. Lighter, more travel, and you can really tell with every pedal stroke that the suspension design is more sophisticated. Where the Preston was harsh and I could never get it dialed in to eliminate bob and still feel plush, the Nomad feels amazingly plush and bottomless but is rock solid under pedaling. The real wheel moves back slightly when it hits obstacles, so you just glide right over them. The difference is enough that I regularly find myself cleaning technical obstacles I never did on the Preston. I too was worried about the longer chainstays and slacker angles on the Nomad, but like the Preston, the Nomad has a relatively short toptube which keeps it nimble. It doesn’t feel “choppered out” at all and climbs better than the tank-like Preston. By all reports, the Nomad is just as strong as the Preston too (well, stronger really, with all those broken Prestons out there lately. In fairness it sounds like that was probably just a bad batch of welding though).Don’t get me wrong, the Preston’s not a bad bike. I like that Transition is a small grassroots company with a cool reputation (rather than the yuppie association that <span class="caps">SC</span> has) and their bikes are a great value, not to mention better-looking than the weird humpy Nomad. But if you can afford the Nomad, it has a whole world of advantages with no real disadvantages. I hated the Preston at Whistler, it just didn’t have enough travel. Then for smooth <span class="caps">XC</span> trails, it felt too heavy. The range of riding it was well-suited for was a lot narrower than the Nomad, which can be ridden at the bike park and <span class="caps">XC</span> trails and everything in between. I mostly credit this to the <span class="caps">VPP</span> suspension, along with the lighter weight allowed by engineered, hydroformed tubing, which Transition really does not have the resources for. I think Transition’s engineering is more experience-based than technology-based, which doesn’t really give the same degree of sophistication <span class="caps">IMO</span>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My comment to this: the Nomad is indeed a beatiful bike, and everybody agrees that this is a bike that excels at both climbing and descending. But it’s way too expensive, and it’s probably too stylish for my taste (I prefer the raw looks of all Transitions, with their punch-in-the-eye colors and their straight and squared tubes). </p>
<p>I realize that the Preston is too heavy (mine is a 16.5kg bike, i.e. more than 36lbs); about the suspension design, I also realize that this is a very simple layout, but somehow it works pretty well for me. I can’t really notice any bobbing once the propedal of my <span class="caps">DHX5</span>.0 is dialled all the way in; I can’t feel the suspension locking up under braking. </p>
<p>And the limited amount of travel… well that’s something that you know well in advance, Transition says clearly that this is a <em>short travel</em> freeride bike. To be honest, I haven’t really felt any need for more travel; it’s been a few months of riding my Preston now, and I’ve never suffered on both fast downhill courses and gnarly rocky trails. Yes of course if I had more travel I could go faster and safer, but this is my first full suspension bike, and I feel like I have so much to learn; being more careful in my approach to this wonderful world of offroad biking, having a bike that does not suck up all the obstacles along the trail, really pushes me to improve my riding skills. </p>
</div>
<!-- /.entry-content -->
<section class="well" id="related-posts">
<h4>Related Posts:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/2016-10-16-backcountry-pyrenees.html">backcountry pyrenees</a></li>
<li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/2016-01-10-nicolai-mojo.html">nicolai mojo</a></li>
<li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/2014-01-13-stolen-bikes.html">stolen bikes and new bike</a></li>
<li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/2013-07-24-google-calendar-activity-tracker.html">google calendar activity tracker</a></li>
<li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/2012-11-13-elba.html">elba</a></li>
</ul>
</section>
</article>
</section>
<style type="text/css">
#navcontainer ul
{
margin: 0;
margin-top: 40px;
padding: 0;
list-style-type: none;
text-align: center;
}
#navcontainer ul li { display: inline; }
#navcontainer ul li a { padding: 1em 3em; }
</style>
<div id="navcontainer">
<ul id="navlist">
<li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/2007-11-14-spa-francorchamps.html"><i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i> PREVIOUS</a></li>
<li><a href="http://aadm.github.io/2008-03-21-san-genesio-classic-trail-the-video.html">NEXT <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></a></li>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<footer>
<div class="container">
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-xs-10">© 2005-2019 Alessandro Amato del Monte <p><small> <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="//i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/4.0/80x15.png" /></a>
<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>
</small></p>
</div>
<div class="col-xs-2"><p class="pull-right"><i class="fa fa-angle-up"></i> <a href="#">TOP</a></p></div>
</div>
</div>
</footer>
<script src="http://aadm.github.io/theme/js/jquery.min.js"></script>
<!-- Include all compiled plugins (below), or include individual files as needed -->
<script src="http://aadm.github.io/theme/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<!-- Enable responsive features in IE8 with Respond.js (https://github.com/scottjehl/Respond) -->
<script src="http://aadm.github.io/theme/js/respond.min.js"></script>
<!-- Google Analytics -->
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-32354823-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function () {
var ga = document.createElement('script');
ga.type = 'text/javascript';
ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>
<!-- End Google Analytics Code -->
</body>
</html>