TRANSITION SPUR XO AXS - £7,999 Can the smallest of revisions keep Transition's downcountry demon at the top of the pile?

Transition's Spur has set the benchmark for downcountry bikes since its release in 2020.

- Tom L

Now we have the 'difficult seconc album. However, the US brand have avoided the usual pitfalls of following up a successful release, by wisely leaving what made the original Spur almost perfect - the geometry and suspension - well alone, and giving it only a mild update, in the form of compatibility with the latest drivetrains and a fresh lick of paint.

They've revised the spec, too, fixing the one minor quibble we had the first time around. Is this enough for it to keep its place at the top of the pile?

THE FRAME

Little has changed from the firstgeneration Spur to this latest edition.

It now features SRAM's universal derailleur hanger, allowing use of the brand's latest Transmission drivetrains, but otherwise, the frame remains the same. It's still constructed from carbon fibre and features 120mm of rear-wheel travel.

Transition continue to use a singlepivot back end with flexstays on their shortest-travel rig, rather than the four-bar linkage found on their other full-suspension bikes. The brand claim this is lighter, and that the carbon lay-up has been carefully tuned so that the inbuilt flex has no impact on frame durability. You can fit a shorter-stroke shock (190x37.5mm) to reduce travel to 100mm, should you wish. The frame is designed around a 120mm-travel fork. While you can fit a 130mm one without voiding the warranty, Transition say that they don't recommend this.

Elsewhere it's more of the same.

There's plenty of seatpost insertion depth for the latest long-travel dropper posts, an accessory mount under the top tube, and space for a 750ml bottle. The dropper post cable (and gear cable, on models with mechanical drivetrains) runs through the frame, but not the headset, while the rear brake hose is routed externally, on the non-drive side of the down tube. There's ample frame protection underneath the down tube and on the driveside chainstay.