After spending three days, and 4 big rides on this bike, this is our Transition Regulator CX Review!
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This is the BEST, MOST FUN, most natural feeling FULL Powered eMTB that we’ve ridden so far! Emily and I both rode the Deore Regular CX’s on some gnarly black and double black trails in Leavenworth WA, as well as flowy jump trails in Bellingham. Well, we had our eyes opened (to say the least).
Regulator CX Geometry
The geometry of the Regulator is very intuitive, and comes with a refreshingly thoughtful cockpit (even on the lower end Deore build). We would like to thank Transition Bikes for putting a 35mm rise handlebar on a bike that’s meant to handle some proper downhill trails.
This higher front end takes the pressure off your hands and puts you in a more upright position that feels GREAT on the climbs and descents! In the lower (flip chip) position, the bikes 44 degree headtube able feels planted but still very easy to maneuver on tight and steep trails.
At 49 pounds the bike felt much lighter in than its weight in most scenarios, and even had me forgetting it was an eMTB until I tried to bunnyhop or pull for a jump that I wasn’t ready for.
The Deore Build (foot in my mouth?) – $7,299
My original statement (from our Best New eMTB’s post) that the “build’s suck” needs to be slightly refreshed. I think if you’re looking for the best, AND lowest priced eMTB that you can afford… This Deore Regulator CX build is great, and a smart build! The Deore brakes have plenty of power (even for a big guy like me), and the Deore drivetrain worked flawlessly. I didn’t love the lack of adjustability that came with the lower end suspension package, but I can’t say it was on my mind, even on the gnarliest descents.
My only slight hesitation with the Deore build is that the brakes are hard to regulate on steep and loose terrain. I had a couple situations where the trail was too steep to stop and my front brake was having trouble modulating. So it was locking and unlocking, causing some interesting two wheel drifts. That being said, I would 100% recommend this build for people on a budget.
Battery Range
There are NOT enough people talking about the range of these bikes. I wish reviewers would just tell us how long you could ride so we can all get a ballpark of the battery size we need.
For range info we are only going to use my (Joe’s) info because I weigh almost 50 pounds more than Emily.
First Day – Leavenworth WA
Body Weight: 195
Distance: 24.62 miles
Ascent: 6,320ft
Power Mode: Mostly Blue, Purple, with some Red at the end while climbing, and Green on descents.
*30 min charge at around 30% battery
**Less than 10% battery at end of ride
This is a little convoluted because we stopped to charge the bikes to get the most out of the day after riding around 4,200ft. At that point we were riding the whole day on purple/trail mode, and I had around 30% battery remaining. Then we charged the bikes for roughly 30 mins, which took the battery up to around 50%. From there we went FULL BOOST for about 2,100ft, which drained the battery to under 20%.
Second Day – Bellingham WA
Distance: 23.7 miles
Ascent: 4,429ft
Power Mode: Purple and Red while climbing and Blue on descents.
**Less than 15% battery at end of ride
During this ride we spent most of our time climbing in Red/Boost mode to really push the speed up the forest service roads in Galbraith.
It will be really nice once Bosch released the new top tube display that shows the actual battery charge percentage. We would really prefer to see the batter percentage in stead of just the bars.
That being said, we we think we probably could have ridding 6,000ft on purple/trail mode on one charge. And we’re very impressed with that range!
What We Didn’t Like
This is still a full powered eMTB, which means it going to be heavy. Don’t get me wrong, this is the lightest feeling 49 pound bike we’ve ridden, but there is still heft to the bike that is noticeable is certain scenarios.
If we were going to buy this bike we would buy the higher priced model to get the TRP brakes and lighter 47 pound build.
Final Thoughts on Transition Regulator CX
The Regulator CX is currently our favorite full powered eMTB, and we recommend this bike to anyone looking for the range and weight of a 600 Wh bike that is SUPER capable.
Learn more at Transition Bikes → Regulator CX
Leave a Reply