2025 Transition

Relay Carbon Eagle 90

Transition has made a bike to tempt the e-bike naysayers, a lightweight raver of a bike driven by Fazua’s Ride 60 motor. We rode it until they demanded it back, in a quest to find out how it fares against the best electric bikes you can buy today. Need to know  Lightweight, mid-power e-bike with Fazua Ride 60 motor and removable battery Built to be ridden with or without 430Wh battery, thanks to near drag-free motor 160mm travel front and rear, choice of mullet or 29in wheels, coil or air shocks Sleek carbon frame with real bio-bike looks, or available as an alloy frame build Builds from £6,999.95 with NX and alloy frame, up to XX AXS carbon at £12,599.95 They say there’s nothing really new in mountain biking, just old ideas recycled, like Shimano’s auto shifting, steering dampers and electronic suspension. Here’s another one to add to the list, Fazua’s latest Ride 60 motor has 250W power, puts out 60Nm torque and uses a 430Wh battery. That makes it pretty darned close to the old Shimano E8000 motor and battery launched in 2016, which had the same average power and 10Nm more torque. And, just as it was seven years ago it’s cutting edge stuff, coming on the most exclusive new bikes like this Transition Relay. The difference of course is that today’s mid-powered motors have sacrificed the peak power for low weight and compact size, in an effort to replicate the look and ride feel of a regular bike. Fazua’s Ride 60 motor is claimed to weigh just 1.96kg, while the 430Wh battery is easier to verify because it’s removable on the Relay, and reads 2.27kg on our scales. That 4.23kg system weight is light but on the other hand it’s actually only 1,100g less than the old E8000 motor and bigger 504Wh battery, according to Shimano’s website.  Which is the best e-bike motor? Power, punch and range compared You’ll be relieved to hear Fazua wins in terms of space savings too, the Ride 60 motor is so tiny you’d be forgiven for thinking the Relay is a regular bike, and the fact you can whip the internal battery out and pedal it around is useful, even if just for the ability to charge the battery off the bike. Powered up, the display uses a traffic light system, and it is integrated into the top tube, with a series of lights to let you know how much juice you have left and which of the three power modes you’re in. The claim is it’s intuitive because the lights instantly remind you of the mode you’re in, but to do that you have to first learn which colour relates to which power mode. I’d argue words and letters are more intuitive as most of us have already learnt them. I also found the LEDs far too bright for riding at the end of a summer’s day, so I imagine they’re blinding on a night ride. The bar-mounted Ring Controller …Continue reading »

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Transition just released the info on the new lightweight Relay. They say the bike will hit the market late March 2023. Check out the Transition video for a look at the details, or keep reading below. So many choices We get to choose between...

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The new Relay is designed to be ridden with or without a battery installed.

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