Giant Trance 29er

downunderdallas

downunderdallas

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Reckon you guys might be a bit harsh on the pricing top end Adv 0 bikes are usually right up there. Not saying I'd pay $9K for a Giant, but it's only incrementally more expensive than previous years and does come full carbon frame and DVO squish. With a reasonable LBS discount the Adv 1 could be ok value. All the reviewers (who presumably got a free trip to Italy - so totally unbiased) seem to be talking up the 115mm of travel. It's probably all I really need but a bit like buying a car with less horsepower it's tough to go back.
 
Warp

Warp

Likes Dirt
Welp... has anyone ridden one?

I for one have an issue with manufacturers (ALL of them) shipping out bikes with shit wheels.
At Giant, you have to spend 9K to get proper DT internals.
At 5K most bikes ship with wheelsets that:
a) Weigh 2kg (unacceptable in this second decade of the XXI century)
b) the hubs have like 4 points of engagement.

I can ride a bike with decent suspension, change bars, drivetrain and other parts you will change anyways. But crap wheels and bad brakes put me off.
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Some of us like Giants... I'd not drop 10K on a wagon wheel, but the alloy version looks nice and is getting good reviews. I'm not tall enough to feel comfortable on 29 though...

I paid 4.8K for a 2018 Trance Advanced 1 and I love it. At the 5.9K full retail, the Spectral would have been bought instead. But no one pays full retail for store bought bikes...

For 4.8K, the spec is good I think. It has 1640 gram wheels btw.

And I like the way Giants ride. YMMV.
 
Warp

Warp

Likes Dirt
Haakon said:
Some of us like Giants... I'd not drop 10K on a wagon wheel, but the alloy version looks nice and is getting good reviews. I'm not tall enough to feel comfortable on 29 though...

I paid 4.8K for a 2018 Trance Advanced 1 and I love it. At the 5.9K full retail, the Spectral would have been bought instead. But no one pays full retail for store bought bikes...

For 4.8K, the spec is good I think. It has 1640 gram wheels btw.

And I like the way Giants ride. YMMV.
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I do like Giants...

I've had 2 Warps, 1 Anthem, 1 Trance and 1 Defy.
I'm not married to them though, I've had also Titus, Nicolai, Canyon and a couple other 853 steel bikes of manufacturers.

I'm liking either the Trance 29er 2 or the 1 in alloy.
The 24 pick up points on the freehub is about the only "complain" I may have on the 1 and the 2's wheels and NX cassette are rather heavy but being a Shimano hub I can put my XT drivetrain on it and putting a high end wheelset you end up with a spec similar to the 1.

Edit... I guess I'm just ranting and feeling the sting now as I have to go for a complete bike and I can't carry over some nice parts (wheels, fork) from my older builds, so I have to settle for a lower spec and build up over time or shell out big money now for a better spec off the line.
 
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Ultra Lord

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
OR carbon scout off xero........ everythin will swap over nicely. You onow it’ll ride wonderfully



I would like to see a real world review of the trance though. And I love the orange one.
Lookin at bikes for the old man atm, it’s a strong contender.
 
Warp

Warp

Likes Dirt
Ultra Lord said:
OR carbon scout off xero........ everythin will swap over nicely. You onow it’ll ride wonderfully
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You tease... :)

Ultra Lord said:
I would like to see a real world review of the trance though. And I love the orange one.
Lookin at bikes for the old man atm, it’s a strong contender.
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The orange looks sweet indeed. Yeah, more reviews needed but Flow seemed to be very excited about it. In particular that orange one.
Not chump change though.
 
caad9

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
For what it's worth, the guys in my LBS have one as a demo. Apparently it is a lot of fun to ride on our local trails..

I think it's a very niche market they are targeting, it would be a hard sell to convince the average punter that this 115m bike will go as hard as the 130-140mm competition
 
Ultra Lord

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
caad9 said:
For what it's worth, the guys in my LBS have one as a demo. Apparently it is a lot of fun to ride on our local trails..

I think it's a very niche market they are targeting, it would be a hard sell to convince the average punter that this 115m bike will go as hard as the 130-140mm competition
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I reckon it’s a xc’ers trail bike, not a dh’ers. If that makes sense. Efficient, built around undulating and climbing trails rather than the winch up and then freefall kinda trail bikes.
Honestly it’d probably be quicker overall than alot of 130/140mm bikes on alot of aussie trails. The flat pedally sections are where you make up alot of time compared to the smaller descents we tend to have.

More options are a good thing. Overall travel numbers can be misleading too. My scout doesn’t ride like your average 125mm bike. It deffinately doesn’t “feel like it has more travel than it does” but it isn’t a cruisey bop-along ride kinda thing, feels heaps better when you put some effort into the descents.
 
caad9

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ultra Lord said:
I reckon it’s a xc’ers trail bike, not a dh’ers. If that makes sense. Efficient, built around undulating and climbing trails rather than the winch up and then freefall kinda trail bikes.
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I understand what you mean and fully agree, but if you're an XC rider doing this type of riding, you're more than likely going to ride your XC bike, right?
 
S

SummitFever

Eats Squid
Ultra Lord said:
...Honestly it’d probably be quicker overall than alot of 130/140mm bikes on alot of aussie trails. The flat pedally sections are where you make up alot of time compared to the smaller descents we tend to have...
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Couldn't agree more. I'm struggling to go faster on the descents with my Spitty with 140/160mm compared to my older Trance 29er in 125/130mm. For me, the Spitty needs some really steep and rough stuff before it comes alive. The problem is, around Canberra, the descents make up about 10% of the total riding time of which 2% of that favours a bike with longer travel than 5". For the other 98% of the ride its markedly slower than something more "XC".
 
Ultra Lord

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
caad9 said:
I understand what you mean and fully agree, but if you're an XC rider doing this type of riding, you're more than likely going to ride your XC bike, right?
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Maybe you wanna hit the descents abit harder than a 100mm xc whippet can handle. It’s all a compromise.

Honestly I can see me riding something like this and enjoying it. My local trails are flattish bit very rough, I was always bending wheels on my xc bike. Tougher build on a smaller travel bike is awesome
 
Warp

Warp

Likes Dirt
Ultra Lord said:
Maybe you wanna hit the descents abit harder than a 100mm xc whippet can handle. It’s all a compromise.

Honestly I can see me riding something like this and enjoying it. My local trails are flattish bit very rough, I was always bending wheels on my xc bike. Tougher build on a smaller travel bike is awesome
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Or you're vertically challenged like me. When the things start pointing down, I really struggle to be brutally honest. I can climb decently (when in form) but I'm a poor descender / technical guy.

My take is that I need a bike to save my arse on the downs (whatever we call "descents" in Darwin) and will not slow me down a lot going up.

So far it's working. Save for some places with serious pedaling, the Scout has been my fastest bike.
 
mtb1611

mtb1611

Seymour
I've got a 2013 Trance X 29er and I love it. Was thinking of upgrading around 6 months ago but quite frankly bike prices are ridiculous nowadays. So I whacked on an XT 1 x10 setup and saved myself $5k.

I've never brought into the 'this angle/that angle/pedal feedback' biz, I've always been a set-and-forget type and couldn't be arsed with reversible linkages and so on. If I enjoy the feel of the ride, that's all I need.
 
tasty.dirt74

tasty.dirt74

Likes Bikes and Dirt
This was on my short list, along with Norco, rocky mountain, specialized and even polygon.. Ended up going with a stumpjumper as it was frame only, right wheel size, frame size and s works..

Tried to do frame only for the trance, but was going to be even more than the s works stumpy frame !!

The travel did throw me, as its minimal, but still slack HA. The top of the line is the spec I want, but at $9g, ......pass.... Anyway, good luck to Giant. The trance has a soft spot in my heart as it was the first "decent" dually I bought back in 2006(?), but not anymore. Too expensive for what it is unfortunately.
 
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