[Da Peach]

I've had a Blindside since about this time last year. I've loved it all the way through riding the Shore and had an awesome summer at Whistler.

A couple weeks ago I was waiting for some friends for a day of shuttling. They were late and my rear shock bushing was in need of replacing so I figured I'd try my luck with the shop in the parking lot while I waited. The mech at the shop was going help me out and we found this:

(yes, I know I have my tire on backwards... I've since fixed that, doy)

I had been wondering what was creaking. The link had been rubbing on seat stay. Turns out the shop didn't have any bushings for me, so we just put it all back together and I went for yet another kickass ride.

Emailed Transition with a description of my problem, and had a response to my email within a couple hours.

I filled out the warranty form and about a week later this showed up at my door:

Note the grommets on the tops of the chainstays for improved routing of the derailleur cable and rear brake hose...

Another and perhaps more significant improvement, is this from this:

To this:

Note the added brace. Keeps everything nice a straight, and the stays from eating the rocker like it had been.

Slapped it all back together and now it looks like this:

The divot was pretty deep!

Got the routing of the cable and brake hose down through the pivot now. Also took the opportunity to tidy up the front brake cable, do a bleed, and put on a 450 spring. Bike feels awesome.

Kudos to Mike at Transition for kickass service. I didn't have to miss a single day of riding.

 

[J]

Awesome!

 

[Uncle Cliffy]

That is super cool. I never liked the separate stays... Nice upgrade!

 

[Mike Like Bikes]

awesome, customer service another reason the tr 450 is sounding better and better

 

[Da Peach]

awesome, customer service another reason the tr 450 is sounding better and better

Yup. A buddy of mine just ordered one after my little story. With service like this, it definitely takes some of the worry out of buying a bike new on the market. A small TR450 would be my next bike if I were to buy one next season. Such slick looking bikes...

 

[TrumbullHucker]

nice man, glad to hear! thats a very sharp blindside setup, component wise and color wise. I've heard transitions CS is awesome too!

 

[Da Peach]

nice man, glad to hear! thats a very sharp blindside setup, component wise and color wise. I've heard transitions CS is awesome too!

Thanks. The cranks are new...

 

[eater]

what a graet service and a top update on the whole rear!!!

 

[Da Peach]

Damn. Forgot to snap pics of the fresh coat of mud. Next time.

 

[dropmachine]

Transition is a great example of what happens when you let smart, hard riding bike guys start thier own company.

Great job transition.

 

[Nick]

you ever take that bike off any sweet jumps?

 

[Killerbarbies]

Transition is a great example of what happens when you let smart, hard riding bike guys start thier own company.

Great job transition.

Second that...great company to work with.

 

[Mike.rider]

great to hear they have always treated me well. just curious was the washer in between the rocker and the seatstay? It would be interesting to know what caused the rub.

 

[Gex]

Gotta love Transition my experience with that company has been nothing but awesome.

 

[DirtyMike]

Hey Peach, I would venture to say that if you contaced them again, you could get a front triangle as well to match up the cable guides. I would mention to them how your new stays have the guides opposite of front triangle and your holding the guids on with a zip tie instead of the proper guides...... Just a thought.....

 

[MMike]

So basically now with the link connecting your seat-stays, now your bike is heavier.

What POS.

 

[MikeMetzger]

Hey guys,

Glad to hear that the customer service is up to snuff. I think being an avid rider owned company we know exactly how $hitty it was dealing with other companies and their warranty's or service. So we put a lot of focus in that part of the company. No one likes looking at a broken bike when the weather is nice

As for the new front triangle, that wouldnt be exaclty fair, Im more than happy to level with customers and help them out. Not so happy to bend over lol

 

[Da Peach]

Hey guys,

Glad to hear that the customer service is up to snuff. I think being an avid rider owned company we know exactly how $hitty it was dealing with other companies and their warranty's or service. So we put a lot of focus in that part of the company. No one likes looking at a broken bike when the weather is nice

Transition's concern for their customer's is really evident. Like I said earlier, this has been the best bike related customer service experience I've had.

As for the new front triangle, that wouldnt be exaclty fair, Im more than happy to level with customers and help them out. Not so happy to bend over lol

Fair deal! But will you warranty my tie wraps?

 

[kidwoo]

Fair deal! But will you warranty my tie wraps?

No because canadians talk funny.

 

[Da Peach]

No because canadians talk funny.

I've noticed that people out here in BC call them "zap straps".

I presume you're going to need a bunch of 'em to strap that camera to your retrofitted roost guard?

 

[kidwoo]

No for that I'm going to need a bunch of click strings.

 

[brungeman]

I's gots me 2 of them there Transitions (a Blindside and a TOP) and couldn't agree more!... if I could afford to pick up a new xc bike this season, the covert would probably be the replacement for my 575. Working for a shop that deals Transitions, you get to see the CS first hand! Props to Transition! That is not to say that other companies don't focus on customer service, but companies like Transition and Yeti in my experience have been two of the best!

And Mike, you are right, having a broken bike sucks. As a sales person, telling a person that the brand they are looking at is built to take the abuse of hard riding, is only one aspect, telling them stories like DaPeach's and about the care taken when something does go wrong is usually the deal cincher! again, props!

 

[Da Peach]

No for that I'm going to need a bunch of click strings.

That is some hi-tech shiz.

I would have thought you'd go for whiz tags at the fanciest. You're a regular Leonardo DiCaprio of innovation!

 

[davep]

great to hear they have always treated me well. just curious was the washer in between the rocker and the seatstay? It would be interesting to know what caused the rub.

The rub is from inside surface of the seat stay bearing boss. You can see quite clearly in the pic with Peach's hand, that the bearing on that side got pushed out to of the bore. Since it is actually the bearing that is anchored to the linkage(and thus cannot move WRT the linkage), the net result is that the seat stay moved inboard,contacting the linkage.
This can happen to some extent on MANY linkage bikes, but is usually minimized by some sort of cross brace to keep the stays/linkage arms/etc spread to the propper width.

Re-seatting the bearing in the bore with propper cylindrical/press fit adhesive (as ALL bearing should be) would have fixed they problem (and most likely prevented it in the first place)....but the updated part is definately a FAR better design.

 

[Spahman]

I got some marks from cable rub like that on my turner DHR.. thanks to the previous owner

 

[in the trees]

+1 on Transition's customer service. Awesome!

 

[spocomptonrider]

The guys at Transition are awesome! Great riders and all around good guys. Can't say enough good things about them.

 

[MMike]

I've heard that Transitions can affect the electrical systems on Mazda 3's after prolonged exposure.

 

[Da Peach]

I've heard that Transitions can affect the electrical systems on Mazda 3's after prolonged exposure.

Better than what Yetis do to Jeeps! And my lights are working again. It's a miracle! Thanks Transition!