Hi all,

after a six or seven year hiatus, my spreading gut has prompted me to get back on the bike. I don’t get on with running and I miss getting out on the bike. My old Giant XTC is in need of a LOT of tlc, and my creaky skeleton would benefit from a full susser.

The Giant Trance has caught my eye, this one in particular or maybe down a model or two to save some £££

I’ll be using it for pratting about in the woods/moors and the occasional trip to Dalby with my mates etc, but I’d rather have something decent. I appreciate the trance is probably overkill, but pay cheap pay twice rings true:) The XTC did really well for a few years without any extra £ invested, (only expiring to being sat in a damp cellar for years) which has pushed me towards Giant.

So, anyone have a particularly good/bad experience of these? Or suggest a suitable alternative?

Cheers

Og
p.s. i might end back out with the North leeds lot – you never know:)

I had a look at that model but decided I would be overbiked and bought an Anthem SX instead.

Great bike, usual caveats of getting the right size apply. Renton on here couldn’t get comfy on his but I’m on a medium at 5ft 9ins and its fine.

Build quality is superb, it looks incredibly tough with large diameter tubing and huge welds….and then you lift it up and the lack of weight is mind boggling….easily the best frame I’ve seen from that point of view, confidence inspiring and with the bonus of being light weight when fully built up if you choose your other components wisely.

The platform is 140mm of rear travel but the front can take forks of 160mm in the SX version, in standard 140mm mode it makes for a great trail bike that has plenty in reserve if the trail gets rowdy, the frame is the same throughout the range.
The DW/Maestro type suspension offers a stable pedalling platform with very little bob, likewise it seems to suffer less with braking feedback than other designs I’ve ridden.

Giant have ditched their experiment with the 1-1/4 – 1-1/5 headset/headtube standard and the bike now uses a normal tapered design.
The back end can swap between 135×10 QR and 142×12 bolt through, the dropouts should come with the bike….bottom bracket is pressfit which divides opinion.

There are loads of reviews on the web, some get lost in the nonsensical ‘the bars were too narrow’ or ‘I prefer a shorter stem’ hair splitting but the sensible ones concentrate on the frame, how it rides etc and overall the bikes seems to get positive reviews.

I’ve got the 2014 trance 2,I really like riding it, have had every trek/Specialized 26er, and needed a change!!
Admittedly the only original bits on mine are the frame and forks, but that’s down to personal taste and budget, there was a secondhand one on pink bike for under a grand last week, I’m about 5’9 and mines a medium, and I’m in the middle of building a 650b hardtail too, cheers

As mentioned above I had one and for some reason I couldn’t really get on with it even after changing a few parts.

Size wise I am 6 foot and giant say I should be on a large which is what I had, however it felt small to me and a lot of people on here said it looked small on me to.

The giant maestro system used to be quite efficient but for the new 650b frame the have altered the lower pivot placement and it makes it more prone to a bit of Bob. It did climb extremely well though despite this.

Depending on your weight the rear shock may need a tune as it blows it’s travel far to easily.

Don’t take it as I didn’t like the bike as it was quite the opposite. I tried very hard to make it fit me by changing things but after a 14 Mile loop of Glenlivet left me in pain I decided to cut my losses. In hindsight I should of got an xl.

Thanks everyone – good reading there:)

Interesting about size, I’m 5’10” and am halfway between a large and medium really, but historically I’ve always had more fun on the smaller frames. When I rode Zaskars (I know a while back) a 16 fared me better than an 18. I had a 20″ karakoram (1994tastic) which was too big.

I sat on both a medium and large in the shop today and felt better with the medium tbf.

My days of never ending upgrades are a bit in the past to be fair, and the decent level of overall kit on Giant plus the good rep for the frames are difficult to argue against. I agree with comments above, generally reviews have to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially if criticism of bars/stem etc are high on the agenda.

Oh and my LBS has a very good 0% deal:)

Cheers all

Great bikes. A friend has one of the low spec models, and with the exception of the sektor fork (stantions are corroding), it’s absolutely brilliant. Just buy the cheapest one which comes with a pike and you’ll be set buddy.
Edit; don’t go lower than the 2 unless you budget for fork replacement, the sectors are not very good. And don’t buy the medium without trying a large.

I have a 2014 Trance 2, and it’s a nice bike. For trail riding I’d say it’s good, but once you start tackling hard more technical stuff or some downhill stuff, you’ll fine the basic fox 32 evo on the front will not cope at all. I replaced mine with a RS Pike at 160mm and it made a massive difference. The rear Fox CTD evo shock is pretty rubbish too in really rough stuff and you’ll find you have to run it at a much higher pressure to stop it blowing through it’s travel all the time.

Sizing is a very personal thing, and when I got my medium I thought it was spot on, but I feel now that a large would have been better as I like a more reach than I currently have (I’m about 5′ 10″). For a comparison the 2015 Giant Reign in medium has the same or more reach than the large trance does.

So other than the suspension I couldn’t complain about anything else, the shimano SLX stuff is pretty much bomb proof and even the wheels seem to be holding up well (just keep an eye on spoke tension), also the rims will allow you to go tubeless, just change the rim tape for something good.

I’ve had two giants. A trance and a reign
loved both. The reign shock was specced far too plush, and the bike really improved once I had the shock PUSHed. Giant build kits are generally excellent. The only critisism I can level at them is the number of bearings. They do ride excellently, but bearing kits are no all that cheap when you do need to do them. Should get two years out of a set though.

Had a 26″ one and it was awesome. If I go full suss again, a Trance would probably be my first port of call.

Teen1 has a 26″ trance in medium. I’m 179cm and it fits me fine. It’s also too much bike for this Single Speed hard tail rider ;-). What he does on it, however, is amazing.

I have a 26″ Trance X (limited edition).
It climbs well and descends well. Very pleased with it.

I’ve got a medium 650b Trance built up with 150 Pikes. I’m 5′ 10″ with a 31″ inside leg and the fit is fine. I run a 55mm stem and 740 bars. As my dropper is not layback the saddle fiore/ aft position took a bit of tweeking, but I’m there now. The bike climbs and descends really well and I’m loving it!

don’t go lower than the 2 unless you budget for fork replacement, the sectors are not very good.

This is simply not true. Going into my 3rd Summer on a set of DPC Sektors, and they have not put a foot wrong.
Cracking budget fork.

Sorry for slight derail. As you were…

Have a look on paulscycles…

half price on there…

with that budget you can get a Cannondale carbon trigger 2…

admittedly in 26″ flavour but the headtube is future proofed.

I have a medium Trance SX (I’m 6ft and it fits fine IMO), fork/shock on mine is a bit of a let down but have changed the shock and the fork is next on the list. Rides well in both 140 & 160 travel settings though.

This is simply not true.

Take your chances if you like, personally I wouldn’t (and they’re divey). The pike is a different league.

re: bearings

Giant seem to price their bearing kits and frame bolt kits in a very affordable manner, compared to many brands I’ve worked on in this past, including Specialized who dramatically increased their prices a few seasons back

probably the worst for parts pricing are the boutique brands, the prices for Santa Cruz, Rocky Mtn, etc. were stupidly expensive last time I looked

surprised at the highish numbers who are finding the fork/shock lacking 😥

I have the little brother version of the Trance, in the 120/100mm Anthem SX, in 27.5 guise and so far I’ve found the Fox stuff pretty decent..

Have been very impressed with mine, a true do it all bike (mine is 27lbs), so far this year have raced an enduro on it, taken it to uplift days (FOD/BPW) and have ridden xc on it. I leave the shock in the open mode for a large proportion of the time, as the suspension is pretty efficient and there is little bob (RS Monarch).

I’m running a Pike on the front which is the perfect match, especially when pointing down. The rear shock is pretty good, although being 15stone in kit, I’m at the limits of the available adjustment on the rebound so will either get it booked into TF or fit a Monarch Plus once they arrive at TF.

I was a bit concerned about the pressfit bb at the beginning, expecting it to creak, but the hope one I have fitted has been silent.

FYI, I went for the large (6ft, 32″ inside leg) and run a 50mm stem.