Yeti 575 or Transition Bandit 26

tigertang0

Hey all! Thanks for taking your time to advice me on this topic! I have finally saved enough to get a new bike, now I want to get a versatile full-sus bike, as my XC 29ner racer cannot handle the rough trails. I know the travel and geometry are different, but i do not know which bike would suit my purpose. I want the bike to be fast on the XC parts and able to handle (muddy) downhill sections. I do not want to feel like the suspension is slowing me down a lot, I still want to go quite fast. My built will be XT groupset, Fox float 140, Fox shock,Hope hubs with stans ZTR Arch Ex and the rest would be Thompson Stuff. I am 175cm tall and still growing, and about 60Kg+/-. Thanks and any recommendations and advice is very welcomed!

paulbox

Yeti SB-66 but I am biased...

Seriously though, make sure you try them out, what suits one person down to the ground might feel like a load of crap to you.

jairaj

Both are a lot of money so I'd try to demo if you can. Transition are very helpful in sorting out demo bikes not sure about Yeti. Never had any communication with them.

I've recently bought a Bandit frame (should be delivered any day) so can give my thoughts on that but never ridden a Yeti so can't comment.

Its a very fun bike, I tried quite a few bikes before settling on the Bandit and it put the biggest smile on my face. It may not be the most composed down the hill (that goes to Trek) but it was the most fun by far. Every little root or bump I wanted to just spring off and I'm really not much of a jumper. It was still very capable in technical sections especially the way it handles drops. I was launching off drops that were over 1.5m tall first time, where normally I would have a couple looks and eventually chicken out.

It also climbs well, I never felt I needed to use the pro pedal at all. This will be my first full sus bike so used to riding hardtails and I never felt the back end was absorbing all my efforts. Instead the extra traction gained helped me to climb better.

I think Bike Radar's review on it is absolutely perfect, agree with everything said.

lostboysaint

Had Yetis, wanted the 575, rode the Bandit, bought one. It really is that good. Have ridden the SB66, won't change.

paulneenan76

I had a chat with Clive Forth at an LBS demo day thing, and he was full of praise for his 26"transition, said he'd put some serious km's in to his on all types of terrain including regular Alpine rides - never missed a beat and never needed to do much maintenance over the norm. He is a Transition rider with sponsorship etc., so he has to say a certain amount but he did come across as being very very impressed with the frame, the kit and the company.

Seems a no brainer - though the Yeti isn't to be sniffed at.

Paul

tigertang0

Thanks guys! Managed to try both out and going with the bandit. I felt that the 575 was much burlier than i needed. And Transitions are sorta rarer here and would be special to own one. Going with the 26''!

lostboysaint

tigertang0 wrote:

Thanks guys! Managed to try both out and going with the bandit. I felt that the 575 was much burlier than i needed. And Transitions are sorta rarer here and would be special to own one. Going with the 26''!

Interesting. I'd have said the other way around. The Bandit looks quite svelte but is a beefy bike. The 575 is a long travel XC/shorter travel trail bike.

Either way, as I said earlier, I rode both and bought the Bandit and have never worried about that decision, it's a fantastic bike.

jairaj

I think you might be misinterpreting the longer travel of the 575 as more burly?

The Bandit is a much stiffer and stronger frame. That's another reason I went for it, I wanted a strong frame but without the extra travel that usually goes with it.

Either way, good choice.

Annoyingly I'm still waiting for my frame to arrive, got told last week it was awaiting clearance from UK customs but not heard anything yet. I can't wait I really want to go a ride it now the trails are nice and dry!!!!