It's as if the guys over at TBC were thinking, "Say, what is the exact bike we could build for Retardo Montalban? We know he's a fan of the TR450, but he doesn't quite need World Cup level geometry and travel, yet still wants an aggressive, no bullshit DH frame that will still take an 180mm single crown..." And voila, they deliver this. Or will, anyway. Final geometry is still being tweaked, but I like what I see so far. See below for press release blather, and see my shorts for how excited I am for this bike.
The new TR250 prototype is our new mini DH platform. We took everything we loved about the TR450 and put it into a tighter more responsive frame designed to rip bike parks, jump trails and DH courses where less travel can improve your time. What this amounts to is a more "playful" feeling DH bike.
The TR250 has adjustable travel between 160 and 180mm and designed to match up to the single crown fork of your choice in those travel settings. We maintain the adjustable geometry found in the TR450 for head angle and BB height but also add chainstay length/wheelbase adjustment via the dropout. We wanted to have a shorter rear end option to make the bike perform better for jump trails while still giving a longer wheelbase option for high speed racing scenarios. The TR250 frame is .7 lbs lighter than the current TR450 and will come stock with a Fox DHX RC4. Frame also features a 12x150 rear end with a 83mm BB. Full product launch will be at Eurobike with full geo and pricing to follow. Availability should be around late January/February 2011.
