Transition Relay PNW Alloy

You know the ride: a long climb to earn a descent that is steep, loose and properly fast. The Transition Relay PNW Alloy is an alloy eMTB for that kind of day, with Fazua Ride 60 assistance rather than a full-power motor doing the pedalling for you. You still put the work in on the way up. On the way down, 170 mm of travel and a slack front end are there so you can commit.

Confident intermediate and advanced riders will get the most from it, especially on loops that stack technical descents after a long climb, or on self-shuttled laps where the motor saves some uplift time. Indoor charging, and the odd ride with the battery left at home, are part of the appeal. Maximum assistance for minimum effort is a different kind of electric bike. So is a week of mellow trails, where 170 mm and a coil are more bike than the riding needs.

Compare Transition Relay PNW Alloy prices and offers

The Eagle 90 build is the current UK model. Transition's official UK RRP for the Relay PNW Alloy Eagle 90 is £6,999.

An original UK RRP of £7,999.95 belongs to the earlier GX package. That figure sits with a different set of suspension, brakes, wheels and gears, so it describes the older build rather than this Eagle 90 specification.

What is the current Transition Relay PNW Alloy?

Shifting on the Eagle 90 build is mechanical SRAM Eagle 90 Transmission, a 1x12 with a 10-52t cassette and a single-click shifter. The derailleur is Full Mount, so it bolts to the frame's SRAM UDH interface instead of a traditional hanger. Links, skid plates and the cage are replaceable, which matters when a rock finds the mech. You still have a gear cable to look after in the wet. You don't have a derailleur battery to forget. A later AXS conversion is possible if you add matching Transmission parts, AXS controls and a derailleur battery. That isn't how the bike arrives.

RockShox supplies the suspension: a ZEB Select+ fork and a Vivid Coil Select+ shock, both at 170 mm. The shock is a 205 mm x 65 mm trunnion. Brakes are SRAM Maven Bronze, with 220 mm front and 200 mm rear rotors from S to XXL, and 200 mm both ends on XS. Wheels are DT Swiss E 1900 Spline 30, with a Schwalbe Magic Mary Super Trail Soft 2.4 up front and a Big Betty in the same construction out back. Put together, it is a coherent descending kit rather than a trail bike with a long fork bolted on.

Transition publishes 22.63 kg for a size M with the battery fitted, and 20.36 kg with it removed. Those figures are for size M only. Use them when you are checking a car-rack limit, or working out whether you can lift the bike onto that rack and up the stairs at home.

The bar is an 800 mm ANVL Mandrel, the stem a 40 mm ANVL Swage, and the dropper a OneUp unit running from 120 mm on XS to 240 mm on XL and XXL. Rise, crank length and rotors also change with size, so the right row for your frame matters more than a single model-wide guess.

Relay PNW frame, geometry and likely ride character

This bike and the standard Relay share an aluminium frame. The factory Relay setup is 160 mm, normally with a 29-inch rear wheel. Relay PNW is the 170 mm version with a 27.5-inch rear wheel, and the lower flip chip accounts for that smaller wheel. Against the current 160 mm Relay Carbon Eagle 90, this alloy PNW is the more aggressive travel setup, and its official UK price is lower.

You can move the frame between those setups later, but only with the matching wheel, an approved 160 mm or 170 mm fork, and the right shock stroke: 205 mm x 65 mm for 170 mm of travel, or 205 mm x 60 mm for 160 mm. An air shock in the right size is a supported swap if you would rather change spring rate with a pump. The chip on its own doesn't do the job. A dual-crown fork isn't approved.

Sizes S to XXL make this a mixed-wheel eMTB, 29-inch at the front and 27.5-inch at the rear. XS isn't a mullet. It runs 27.5-inch wheels both ends, with a 37 mm fork offset and a 568 mm axle-to-crown, where the other sizes use 44 mm of offset and 588 mm. Buy the XS as that small-wheel package, not as a mixed-wheel bike with a different badge.

Speed Balanced Geometry is drawn around the stock 40 mm stem. Head angle is 63.6 degrees on XS, 63.3 degrees on S, M and L, and 63.4 degrees on XL and XXL. Reach runs from 405 mm to 527 mm, and the wheelbase from 1172 mm to 1341 mm. Effective seat angles are steep, 79.3 degrees on XS down to 76.3 degrees on XXL, which is what holds you over the pedals on a seated climb. Actual seat tube angle is published between 70.3 and 70.6 degrees depending on size, so a gauge on the tube won't match the effective number. Expect calm steering once you are moving. The smaller rear wheel helps the bike change direction. The length and the slack front end still want a committed line.

GiddyUp is the linkage, progressive enough for a coil and still able to offer support and traction when the descent gets rough. The stock Vivid Coil should take the sting out of repeated hits. On smoother trails the same setup can feel muted, swallowing the small feedback a shorter-travel bike would leave in your hands. A 99 Spokes ride of a carbon PNW with an X0 AXS build, not this alloy kit, found the chassis extremely composed on steep, fast ground, and less engaging on smaller features unless ridden hard.

Climbing should be manageable rather than effortless. You have 60 Nm, a steep effective seat angle and a rear wheel that can sit and grip, and you will still be working. The Ride 60 is rated at 250 W continuous and 450 W at the Boost peak, then it decouples above the assistance limit so the pedals aren't dragging once the motor stops helping. Riders stepping off a full-power eMTB will feel the slower pace. Riders who want a mountain bike that happens to have a motor will feel at home.

UK maintenance, battery care and wet-weather ownership

The battery is a removable Fazua Energy 430, published at 430 Wh, and it has to come out of the frame to charge. Transition's time for a full charge on the supplied 3 A charger is about 3.5 hours. Handy if the bike lives in a shed with no socket, as long as you wipe the pack and the contacts before it comes indoors after a muddy ride. Keep those magnetic interfaces clear of metallic grit.

Riding with the battery removed is part of the design, not a workaround. It lifts out without tools, and the drive decouples so you aren't fighting a locked motor. On the current size M you are still on a 20.36 kg bike, which is a lot beside a normal enduro bike, and a better prospect than hauling the full 22.63 kg when the day doesn't need the motor.

No plug-in range extender is supported. High assist, cold, mud and a climb that doesn't ease off will all use the 430 Wh faster, so tailoring support in the app and planning the route matter here. A second main battery is the practical way to add range. Fazua also documents a possible replacement Energy 480 for compatible removable Energy 430 flat-bar systems, after a firmware update. Confirm that it applies to this complete bike before you budget for it.

Some battery doors have alignment marks that may not show the locked position. Turn the latch the way the fitting guide shows, then give the door a gentle pull so you know it is actually shut.

The Eagle 90 cable still wants a look after wet rides, even though you have escaped a shifter battery. Rear tyre clearance is published up to 27.5 x 2.6 inches, and that is a guideline. Leave room for UK mud, and watch for frame rub if you go fatter than the stock 2.4s. Cables are reached through the battery opening, which is at least a straightforward place to start when something needs replacing.

A normal bottle fits from M to XXL. XS and S are set up for a 450 ml Fidlock bottle and may need an adapter. There is also a gear mount under the top tube.

Fazua firmware is part of living with the motor, and some diagnostics need a dealer who can talk to the system. The frame is covered for life against manufacturing defects for the registered original owner. Transition states that Fazua supplies a two-year warranty on the drive unit and battery.

What changed from the Relay PNW Alloy GX build?

The Relay PNW Alloy GX is an earlier build on the same Relay Alloy platform, which Transition covers from 2023 to 2026. It isn't a different frame. The motor was already the Fazua Ride 60 with the removable Energy 430, and the tyres were already Magic Mary and Big Betty Super Trail Soft 2.4s. Its original UK RRP was £7,999.95.

Transition's 2023 GX specification is the package most people will be weighing against a newer bike:

• SRAM GX Eagle cable shifting and a 10-52t cassette, rather than Eagle 90 Transmission
• Fox 38 Performance Elite fork and Fox DHX Factory coil, 205 mm x 65 mm
• TRP DH-R EVO brakes with 223 mm front and 203 mm rear rotors
• RaceFace Aeffect R wheels and Praxis Alloy ETOR cranks, 160 mm on XS and 165 mm from S up

A later GX suspension setup from Transition refers to a ZEB Select+ and a Vivid Coil Select+, so on an older GX bike, trust the fork and shock fitted to that frame rather than assuming every GX package left with Fox. Dropper travel wasn't published for the GX build, so don't copy the Eagle 90 dropper chart across. The frame, the flip chip, the removable battery and the 170 mm PNW idea are what the two builds share. Read the Eagle 90 figures when you are buying this specification new.

Pick the Transition Relay PNW Alloy when the descents are why you go, and you still want a say in the climb. Charge the battery at home, fit it for the hills, and take it out when you would rather just pedal. Owning one means help when you want it, and a bike you can still ride once the pack is sitting in the kitchen.