The highlight of Surf Sales' stand at Cycle Show 2010 was the Transition TR250, a shorter-travel, more adjustable version of the TR450 downhill bike that's being mooted as the perfect bikepark machine.
The frame, with Fox DHX RC4 shock, is said to be 0.7lb lighter than its 9.5lb bigger brother and is designed to take a single-crown fork up front – a 180mm-travel Fox 36 is fitted here.
As with the TR450, you can change the head angle and bottom bracket height via the rocker linkage, but on the TR250 you can also alter the travel – from 160 to 180mm (compared to 210mm on the 450) – and chainstay length, via neat adjustable dropouts.
The TR250's neat adjustable dropouts give a choice of three chainstay lengths
This means you can set the bike up with a longer wheelbase for stability on high-speed downhills, or short and snappy for jump trails. Frames will cost £2,150, with complete builds available for £3,000-£4,000. The first bikes should be available in February.
Check out the thumbnail gallery at the top of this page for more of Transition's 2011 bikes – the TR450, Double slopestyle/four-cross rig, Bank dirt jumper and Trailor Park street bike.
The TR250 looks like it could make an ideal mini downhill bike for shorter, more technical trails
