Once it's in motion, its slack head angle and long wheelbase create a rock crawling monster, an immensely stable bike that'll scale pretty much anything, especially if the trail isn't too twisty and turny. Much of my riding over the last year has taken place on longer travel 29ers, so I'm familiar with what it typically takes to get them to the top of tricky climbs, but the Sentinel really is a different beast. The reduced offset fork will also partially counteract the wheelbase length increase that comes with a slacker head angle. Even though on paper the longer reach numbers may seem daunting (a size large will now be 475mm), the new bikes are spec'd with 10mm shorter stems, and the steeper seat angle will also help to maintain a similar bar to saddle distance to Transition's previous models. The bikes have an even longer reach, a slacker head angle, a reduced fork offset, a steeper seat tube angle, and shorter stems. There are five main components that differentiate Transition's new Speed Balanced Geometry from what they have used in the past, concepts that have also been applied to the Patrol, Scout, and Smuggler for 2018. Those numbers are all parts of Transition's Speed Balanced Geometry concept, which we covered in detail here. There aren't many 29ers on the market with geometry as aggressive as this – a 64-degree head angle, 475mm reach for a size large, and a reduced offset fork.

It's the Sentinel's geometry that's been lighting up the internet lately, and for good reason.

Transition sentinel for sale