Giant Trance 29er 2

Warp

Likes Dirt
Frame - Giant Trance 29er 2, Medium
Rear shock - Fox DPS Performance
Front shock/fork - Fox 34 Float Rhythm, GRIP2 Damper, 15x110 Kabolt axle, OverDrive steerer, 130mm travel
Handlebars - Giant Contact trail rise, 35mm, 780mm
Stem - Giant Contact SL, 35mm, 8 degree
Headset - FSA
Grips - Ergon GE1 Slim
Saddle - PRO Turnix, Ti rails, 210gr
Seatpost - Giant Contact Switch dropper, 30.9mm, Wolftooth lever.
Front brake - SRAM Guide T hydraulic disc, 180mm
Rear brake - SRAM Guide T hydraulic disc, 180mm
Cranks - Truvativ Descendant Eagle, Dub, 30T
Chainguide - MRP
Chain - Shimano Ultegra
Pedals - Shimano XT PD-M8020
Front derailleur - Nil
Rear derailleur - Shimano XT RD-M8000
Front shifter - Nil
Rear shifter - Shimano XTR SL-M9000
Cassette - Shimano XT CS-M8000, 11-42
Front hub - Giant Performance Disc, 28H
Rear hub - Giant Performance Disc, 28H
Front rim - Giant XCT, tubeless
Rear rim - Giant XCT, tubeless
Spokes - Stainless steel, 14g
Nipples - Brass?
Tyres - F: Maxxis Minion DHF 29x2.35, R: Maxxis Ikon 29x2.35
Tubes - Stans Sealant
Total weight - 13.75kg
20181209_184957_resized_2.jpg
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Why are trances always medium?

Trying to find a used one and only ever see medium lol. Sadness.

Nice bike! Is that the current year?
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
Why are trances always medium?

Trying to find a used one and only ever see medium lol. Sadness.

Nice bike! Is that the current year?
Thanks!
Yeah, this is the 2019 29'er.
Giant kept the Trance in 27.5 too, just to confuse the heck out of us. That one has longer travel (140/150 IIRC)
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Lookin good mate! Does the dropper have the under bar lever remote? Saw that was a thing on the new ones now.

How’s the ride?
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Thanks!
Yeah, this is the 2019 29'er.
Giant kept the Trance in 27.5 too, just to confuse the heck out of us. That one has longer travel (140/150 IIRC)
Did you try the 27.5 and any notable differences (aside fom the usual 27.5 is more flickable and 29er can plow through more stuff?)
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
Lookin good mate! Does the dropper have the under bar lever remote? Saw that was a thing on the new ones now.

How’s the ride?
Mine came with the 2x lever (the one that actuates from top of the bar).
I had a Wolftooth on my Fox Transfer and used it as I prefer it by far.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
Did you try the 27.5 and any notable differences (aside fom the usual 27.5 is more flickable and 29er can plow through more stuff?)
No, I did not try the 27.5. I had the 2014 27.5, though. Funny thing, this one feels more agile than that one but the geometry has changed a lot since then.

It rides sweet. Certainly different than my Scout, but first ride and times are equal. Normally, I'm slower on the first ride on a new bike (I'm slow all the time, though) but the clock says I was just as fast on the wagon wheels as I was on my Scout.
It's easy to point the nose of this thing. Yeah, it can plow. It's a long bike and you'll feel it on the very twisty turns. My trails are not gnar, but tend to be rough and as long as you have the legs, this thing can go up like a diver's fart.

I was clearing stuff giving me grief on the Scout, I was not slower on twisty terrain and overall I was just as fast on the first ride as I was on the Scout.

This thing needs some wheels (Nextie/350's on the way). It feels like a freightrain when accelerating o changing pace. I don't feel it's the suspension that felt great with little fuss, but rather the 2.1-2.2kg of wheels on this thing.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
That's a nice colour!

Will you keep the scout?
Maybe it's just having ridden Nicolai's, but looks really short. Surprised to hear it's a long feeling bike.

I am so confused why Giant went to a Trunnion mount on the rocker with these bikes though. They're hardly pressed for space between the rocker and the top tube.
I'm not keeping the Scout. I can only have two MTB's and 1 road bike. Self imposed rule.
I am keeping the Transition TransAm, though. Built with all the goodies left from the Scout.

Probably is just personal preference or my lack of skills. I can feel how I have to use more body English into very tight corners compared to the Scout... we are talking really tight bends that give grief to the Scout as well. But mind you, the 2014 Trance 27.5 felt really awful compared to both the Scout and the Trance 29 in tight corners. Like driving a road train.

I do think there's a limit of how long a bike should be... but that's just me. Long bikes make sense to me in flowy, steep terrain where stability is king. I can't see how wheelbase and turning ratios can be detached, so agility may take a hit once you go long.

If I have to summarize my first impressions is that the wheels definitively feel like a 29'er (with pros and cons) but the chassis doesn't. It handles really well. It will never be as poppy as the Scout, but it's just as agile and more stable. More capable too or so I feel.
 

dancaseyimages

Mountain bike pornographer
Very nice bike, I have actually been eyeing these off in the Pushy's sales.
Loving the blue, looks clean and neat with everything in the one colour.
Is it a bike you would get with the idea of knowing you have to upgrade a few key components or one that you could have stock for a while? Mainly while the biking piggy bank fills back up.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
Very nice bike, I have actually been eyeing these off in the Pushy's sales.
Loving the blue, looks clean and neat with everything in the one colour.
Is it a bike you would get with the idea of knowing you have to upgrade a few key components or one that you could have stock for a while? Mainly while the biking piggy bank fills back up.
It all depends on how pedantic the person is.
In my case, I'm really pedantic so I had to to a few things right off the bat:

- The cassette is an insult to modern bike design. 615grs. It's like adding another tyre to your rear wheel. Unless you REALLY need the 50t and really are strapped for cash, you can slap a Shimano or SRAM 11sp drivetrain and save 200grs right there. Sounds little, but it ain't.
- Wheels - This wheelset has like 24t of engagement, not really bad but not good. The wheels look bombproof but you're riding 2.1-2.2kg of just wheels. They rather be for that weight. A decent wheelset can drop another 300grs with ease and go to wider rims while you're at it.
- Control parts - they're on the heavy side, but functional.

In a nutshell, the Trance 29er 1 is probably a better deal at 5,400. You get GX drivetrain (the cassette weight is competitive), carbon wheels and slightly better suspension and all the control parts are "SL" which drops weight a bit for no loss of strength virtually.

Now, I decided on the Trance 2 because I don't care much for slightly better suspension as the one that comes stock is really sweet to start with, I knew I could get lighter wheels for under 1K if need be but I decided to go carbon and I'm still under what I would have paid for the Trance 1, I had an almost brand new 11sp XT drivetrain I could use (NX Eagle uses a Shimano freehub).

Being realistic, this is lot of bike for the money. If anything, a bit heavy off the shelf (14.1kg with XT pedals) but perfectly functional.

The fork is really good. Nothing like the crap CTD forks of old. The Rhythm may be budget but it does the job. The shock just works. Brakes, I can't comment but time will tell. Different feel than the XT's but they stop you.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
Nice looking bike there Warp. I reckon it will be a great peddler with the lower rear suspension.
Thanks!

Yeah, it pedals nicely. She reminds me of my Anthem SX. Like the Anthem SX grew up some legs and hit the gym.
It's not a whippet, more like a horse.
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
appreciate the write up, sounds like a ripper bike. Pretty much how I imagined it to be tbh, a good solid fast trail bike.

The scout is like a big DJ bike. If you ain't about that kinda stuff I can see how it'd get abit old.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
appreciate the write up, sounds like a ripper bike. Pretty much how I imagined it to be tbh, a good solid fast trail bike.

The scout is like a big DJ bike. If you ain't about that kinda stuff I can see how it'd get abit old.
The Trance surprised me by being just as fast as the Scout weighing more (at the moment) on the first ride.
Again, may be new bike syndrome but so far it's not slowing me down.
 

waldog

Likes Bikes and Dirt
- Wheels - This wheelset has like 24t of engagement, not really bad but not good. The wheels look bombproof but you're riding 2.1-2.2kg of just wheels. They rather be for that weight. A decent wheelset can drop another 300grs with ease and go to wider rims while you're at it.
Going for the big ol grave dig here...

Are you still liking the rig?

Wheels, 2.1-2.2kgs, definitely sounds on the money to me, but did you actually weigh them?

I'm just about to pull the trigger on an end of season deal.
 
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