Transition Patrol Alloy Custom Red RockShox Edition

Stargazer. Electric Red. Built To Get Rowdy.

The Transition Patrol has never been the sensible enduro bike.

It’s the one that makes you spot a side hit halfway through a run, pull for things you definitely didn’t need to pull for, and turn an ordinary trail into something worth doing again.

This custom build starts with a size Large Patrol alloy frame in Gloss Stargazer and adds a proper gravity-focused specification: a 170mm Electric Red RockShox ZEB Ultimate, Vivid Ultimate air shock, Hope Fortus 30 Pro 5 wheels, SRAM Eagle 90 Transmission, Shimano XTR M9220 brakes and Schwalbe Gravity Pro Radial tyres.

High-end where it counts. Tough where it needs to be. No delicate bits added just to improve the showroom weight.

Patrol Alloy: Built For The Fun Line

The Patrol combines a 29in front wheel with a 27.5in rear, giving you the rollover and front-wheel confidence of a bigger wheel without losing the ability to move the back of the bike around.

The alloy frame suits the Patrol perfectly. It’s strong, direct and ready for the sort of riding where the bike is going to pick up a few marks. You can throw it into a van, stack up bike park laps and commit to questionable lines without treating it like a museum piece.

This isn’t the budget version of a carbon dream bike.

It’s an alloy Patrol built properly.

170 / 160mm Travel: More Front-End Margin

The Patrol normally runs a 160mm fork. This build gets a 170mm ZEB Ultimate.

That extra 10mm gives the front of the bike a little more height and a little more room when the trail gets steep. There’s more support for heavy compressions, more margin when a landing doesn’t go exactly to plan, and a calmer feel when you’re charging through rough sections.

The 160mm GiddyUp rear end keeps the bike lively rather than turning it into a mini downhill bike. There’s still enough support to pump through terrain, generate speed and pull the bike around beneath you.

Big enough for proper terrain. Still fun before you reach race pace.

Electric Red ZEB Ultimate: Subtle Wasn’t The Brief

The 170mm RockShox ZEB Ultimate gives the Patrol a front end you can properly lean on.

Its 38mm chassis brings the stiffness needed for steep tracks, hard braking and rough landings, while the Charger 3.2 damper and LinearXL air spring balance sensitivity with useful mid-stroke support.

It tracks the smaller chatter without folding into its travel every time you load the bike through a turn or compression. When you hit something harder, adjustable bottom-out control helps keep the end of the stroke calm and predictable.

And then there’s the Electric Red finish.

Against the Moonshadow frame, it’s not exactly trying to hide.

Vivid Ultimate Air: Coil-Like Grip, Air-Spring Adjustment

The Vivid Ultimate is a natural match for the Patrol’s GiddyUp suspension.

It gives the rear wheel a supple, connected feel across roots, rocks and braking bumps, but retains the mid-stroke support needed to push against the bike. It stays active when you need grip without making the back end feel lazy or vague.

You also keep the adjustment of an air shock. Pressure and air volume can be tuned around rider weight, terrain and how much support you like, without needing to buy and swap coil springs.

Add proper compression adjustment and hydraulic bottom-out control, and you’ve got a rear shock that can be set up for everything from soft, rough natural tracks to repeated bike park laps.

GiddyUp Suspension: Grip Without Losing The Pop

Transition’s GiddyUp suspension is one of the reasons the Patrol works so well across different types of terrain.

There’s enough sensitivity to track rough ground, but still a solid platform to push against when you’re pumping a compression, loading the bike into a turn or trying to make the backside of a jump.

With nearly 24% progression, the suspension builds support as it moves through the travel rather than blowing straight through it. Run it firmer and the Patrol feels quick and reactive. Add a little more sag and it becomes calmer and more planted.

Either way, it still feels like a bike you ride rather than something that simply carries you downhill.

Hope Fortus 30 Pro 5 Wheels: Tough On Purpose

The Hope Fortus 30 wheelset is here to take hits, not win a spreadsheet competition.

The welded aluminium rims use a triple-cavity construction with a 30mm internal width, giving the 2.5in Schwalbe tyres plenty of support. The 29in front and 27.5in rear retain the Patrol’s intended mixed-wheel setup.

Both wheels are built around Hope Pro 5 hubs, with 108 engagement points and standard J-bend spokes. They’re dependable, serviceable and made for enduro, downhill and hard-use builds.

They may collect a few battle scars.

That’s considerably better than spending every descent worrying about your expensive carbon rims.

SRAM Eagle 90 Transmission: Mechanical, Strong And Sensible

SRAM Eagle 90 brings the direct-mount strength and loaded-shifting performance of Transmission without adding another battery to the bike.

The derailleur mounts directly around the rear axle, removing the traditional hanger and creating a strong, well-aligned setup. It’s also genuinely rebuildable, so a hard impact doesn’t automatically mean replacing the whole derailleur.

This build uses 170mm cranks, a 32-tooth chainring and a wide-range 10–52-tooth cassette. That gives you enough low gearing for steep winch climbs without leaving the bike spinning out as soon as the trail opens up.

No charging. No pairing. No derailleur battery sitting on the workbench while your mates are already riding.

Just a positive mechanical click and another gear.

Shimano XTR M9220 Brakes: SRAM Gears, Shimano Brakes

Mixed-brand builds upset people who spend too much time looking at spec sheets.

On the trail, they often make complete sense.

The Shimano XTR M9220 four-piston brakes bring proper downhill-capable power with a predictable lever feel. The updated low-viscosity mineral oil helps keep the bite point consistent across changing temperatures and long descents, while the revised caliper and pads reduce unwanted noise.

There’s plenty of outright stopping force, but it’s the control that matters. You can manage speed through a steep turn without everything locking the moment you touch the lever.

SRAM for the gears. Shimano for the brakes.

Correct.

Schwalbe Gravity Pro Radials: Serious Rubber At Both Ends

This bike gets proper gravity tyres, not lightweight trail casings pretending to be tough.

Up front is a 29 x 2.5in Schwalbe Magic Mary Gravity Pro Radial in the Ultra Soft compound. Its aggressive open tread, soft rubber and Radial construction are all focused on front-wheel grip, damping and confidence across loose ground, wet roots and rough turns.

At the rear, a 27.5 x 2.5in Tacky Chan Gravity Pro Radial uses the slightly firmer Soft compound. It still delivers serious cornering and braking grip, but offers a better balance between traction, support and rolling speed at the driven wheel.

Ultra Soft Magic Mary at the front. Soft Tacky Chan at the rear.

Exactly where each compound makes sense.

OneUp V3 Dropper: The Full 210mm

A long-travel bike needs a dropper that actually gets the saddle out of the way.

The 210mm OneUp V3 gives you plenty of clearance when the trail gets steep, when you’re moving around the bike or when you’re trying to get the rear wheel off the ground.

Its short stack and compact overall length help fit more usable drop into the frame, while travel can be reduced by 10 or 20mm if the full 210mm is slightly too much for the rider.

The matching V3 remote keeps the lever action light and positive.

Press it, drop the saddle and forget about it.

Burgtec Ride High Cockpit: The Rat’s Setup

The cockpit is built around a 50mm-rise Burgtec Josh Bryceland Signature Ride High alloy bar.

At 800mm wide, with a 35mm clamp, 9-degree backsweep and 5-degree upsweep, it creates a high, confident front end that suits steep terrain and a rider who likes moving the bike around.

The bar is paired with a short 42.5mm Burgtec Enduro MK3 stem, keeping the steering direct without pulling your weight too far over the front wheel.

Josh Bryceland Signature Bartender Pro grips finish the controls. Their hybrid internal core puts more rubber beneath the outside of your hands, creating something closer to the soft feel of a push-on grip with the security of a lock-on design.

A slightly taller bar, a short stem and soft grips.

Simple choices that make a real difference when the trail gets steep.

Burgtec Cloud DH Saddle: Small, Tough And Out Of The Way

The Burgtec Cloud DH saddle completes the build.

It’s compact, tough and shaped around gravity riding rather than long days spent pedalling from the saddle. Paired with the 210mm OneUp post, it disappears beneath you when you need space to move.

It also keeps the contact points visually tied together with the Burgtec bar, stem and grips.

Not the most important component on the bike.

Until you land on it.

Who Is This Custom Patrol For?

This build is for riders who want a proper enduro bike but don’t want something that only becomes entertaining at race speed.

It has the suspension, tyres, wheels and brakes for steep natural tracks, hard bike park laps and rough enduro stages. But the mixed wheels and active Patrol chassis keep it playful on normal trails too.

It suits the rider who looks for side hits, likes getting the back wheel moving and would rather have a strong mechanical drivetrain than another component to charge.

It’s not especially light.

It’s not trying to be.

The Takeaway

The Transition Patrol has always been one of the most entertaining bikes in its category.

This custom build takes that proven alloy platform and removes the usual complete-bike compromises.

A 170mm Electric Red ZEB Ultimate controls the front. Vivid Ultimate air manages the rear. Hope Fortus 30 Pro 5 wheels take the hits. Eagle 90 handles the gears. XTR M9220 four-pots handle the stopping. Schwalbe Gravity Pro Radials keep it attached to the ground, while the OneUp and Burgtec components sort everything the rider touches.

Moonshadow frame. Red fork. Proper parts.

Built to get ridden, not stared at.