New TR 450's are just around the corner, and I'm stoked for the new bike. The 450 is a pretty tested design at this point, so there wasn't too much to change. The bike has won ProGRT's, National champs in America and (I think) in South America, NW Cups, Fluidride Cups, All-gravity series races, and it was even worthy of being ridden by me. That's a pretty big deal because, frankly, I'm a pretty big deal.
Along with bold new graphics, the thing I'm most excited about with the new bike is the adjustable chainstays. If there was one thing I would have changed about the bike last year, I would have airbrushed my face and the American flag all over it. But if I had to change a second thing, I would have made the chainstays a touch shorter. At 17.5", they were just a hair longer than what I was used to. The new dropout has a three position chip, like the flip chip in the linkage to change head angle/BB height. There are no moving parts in this dropout, too, so there's nothing to come loose. For a caveman like me, that's good news.
Bold new graphics for 2012! Available in three new colorways: Sweet, Rad and Tubular!
So now the bike has adjustable angles and geometry that includes:
-Chainstays adjustable from 17", 17.25", 17.5"
-Head angle adjustable from 63-64 degrees, and then when you factor in fork height it's more like 62-65.
-BB Height adjustable from 13.75" up to 14.25"
A lot of people keep asking me what exactly the new dropout is going to look like, how small, big, light, heavy, cool, or ugly the flipchip will be, etc. I talked to Kevin and Kyle at Transition and got a nice high-res, close-up photo of the new dropout that should answer all questions and dispel all rumors:
Is 17.5" too long? Is 17" too short? I don't know, but I'm looking forward to trying all the settings out. The flip-chip has worked well and w/o any play in the linkage, and it's probably going to work flawlessly as a dropout as well. So besides 10-20 extra grams, there's really no cost in having an adjustable chainstay. Maybe I'll set it to 17" and just manual everywhere.
What would Bobby Root do? 17" chainstay for sure.
BTW, the bikes ship with a 2012 Kashima shock, which is totally schweet.
I'll let this adorable video of a kitten explain the benefits of Kashima coating on suspension components:
Needless to say, I'm really stoked for the new bike.I'll let this video explain to you what I plan to do on the new TR450:
-Chaz
