A few places are punting out the trance 1 at £1800, my only reservation being the revelation.
My other option is a Mega TR CCDB frame from CRC for £600 and building it up but will I be able to get anywhere near the spec or am I better of getting the trance and just piking it up?
Final option just pick up something like a Mega AM for £1700

Depends what you want it for I suppose, the Trance is a versatile bike, in stock form it’s a 140mm trail bike or the SX version comes with a 160mm fork and slacker HA.

I bought frame only about a year ago and have done both. Initially I used a 140mm Rev I had from a previous 45650b build, then I went to a 160mm X-Fusion to create my own SX version.

Both worked well, the 32mm Rev is not the flexy POS that a Fox-32 is….in fact it wasn’t that many years ago that the 150mm Rev was still making the Dirt-100, obviously it’s been superseded by a host of forks with 34mm, 35mm and 36mm stanchions but that doesn’t mean it became a bad fork overnight.

I now run mine on the front of my Ragley Piglet, it’s actually a great fork, I’d buy the bike and worry about a fork with longer/thicker stanchions later.

Bird aeris as an alternative? Not ridden one but they seem to review well.

If the Trance 1 is what you’re after then it’s a decent deal (IF the carbon wheels are any good, I have no idea myself).

But it comes with a Rev, 2×10-speed SLX and a Giant dropper – all of which I’d probably want to upgrade.

So if I were after a 140mm trail bike I’d probably get a Canyon Spectral.

Or this badboy with a few upgrades, if you’re the right size…
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/74916/Kona_Process_134_275Inch_2015_Bike_B15134PRLG

Or do I get the TR CCDB frame, a Pike, XT 1×11, reverb stealth, Hope Enduro wheels from CRC for pretty much exactly the same price, and use my spare parts to finish it off. Only thing id need is tyres and a headset.

That sounds a far better build, and CCDB is a bonus.

Agreed, but consider going up a size – I know I’d have needed the large AM at 5ft 8in.

Im 6’2 it recommends the XL for 6’3> and theres no XL CCDBs left

I’ve got a mate with a Large who’s 6’2″, same as myself, I’ve jumped on it a few times, and it is really short feeling.

At 6’2″ definitely don’t get a large. I’m a shade under 6′ and on the XL TR

I had the same dilema and ended up going with the trance 1 over the trance sx. From what I can see on the intraweb the wheels are 900 quid on their own, the seatpost may not be a reverb but it works great, and the revs were more suited to the riding I do than the pike.

That said I did change it to 1×11 xt at a cost of a further 160 quid or so.

I have one. Great bike. Was going to put my reverb on but didn’t bother after using the standard dropper.

Only changed to a shorter stem and wider bar. Excellent bike for great price.

Was going to put my reverb on but didn’t bother after using the standard dropper.

Same here, the Giant own brand dropper is vastly underated, havent had the need to bleed it or swap mine for anything else yet…12 months of use so far.

Hard to size up when you’re 6ft 3in I guess.

I’d consider the Bird Aeris based on sizing alone. Pretty comparable to a Trance in weight and purpose anyway.

I’ve just bought a Trance1 from Winstanley and it’s ace.

Turned up in a couple of days – fitted the bars, added pedals and went for a ride.

The wheels are round – hubs are made by DT I believe and the rims look good. Fitted tubeless tyres with minimal faff. I can’t say any more than that but certainly I am happy enough with them (I can build wheels too so I know a crap wheel when I see one).

It’s the little things on the Trance I like – lock on grips, comfy saddle. Only complaint is that getting a bottle into the cage is a faff.

I’m getting my LBS to see if giant have any left or if they’re all out already. The trance sizing deffo looks better.

5’10” here and on a large tr. Still nicely “chuckable”

Giant are completely sold out of 2015 Trances. Im running the 2016 1 and its bloody brilliant.