Hey I’m new to the whole Mountain Biking sport and I have the bug for Downhill as I have recently come back from a trip to Morzine and it was amazing!

So I decided after my trip I’d get myself a decent bike and recently bought a Trance X4 2011 and it has all the original parts i.e. front shocks, rear shock and I wanted to know what are the best parts to replace them and what I should replace and why?

Like I say I’m completely new to this so any advice is greatly appreciated
Many thanks

I have a 2012 version, practically the same. There is not much original left on mine.

If you like going down it will comfortably take 140mm forks however I replaced with 120 Fox and they are fine too. I’ve ridden alps, lakes, wales and the peak on it and its fine , a lot lighter than the 9mm Rock Shox whatever they were.
The avids got ditched for shimano deore
the drivetrain I kept 9 speed but went for XT
Wheels are Hope Evo II on Stans flow EX
Next thing is to replace the rear shock and replace the bearings.

This is good to know what all the bits weigh…(if you are bothered)

http://forums.mtbr.com/giant/2011-trance-x4-breakdown-weights-build-up-681438.html

Russian, I have a 2011 US sourced frame that I bought in late 2011 or 2012. Mine came with the fox shock, but that was basically it.

As per the Doc’s advice, I would get onto MTBR ans searxh out their Giant owner’s forum and related threads. There are lots of pics and build advice on Trance X bikes.

Having read the advice online, I went for a Revelation fork, that adjusts from 120-150mm. I did have a sektor dpc (coil fork), which asjusted in the same way, but upgraded after a year and a bit. I think Giant sold the bikes with either a 120 or 140 fork for a while, depending on spec, so either would work fine. Online lots of people seem to have put on a longer fork as well, 150 does seem quite common. There are lots of discounts online of Fox/rock shox in both white and black, so you can colour match to make it look pimped. (I hasten to add that I don’t look pimp on mine, as I have grey hair and am not very quick.

My wheels are flows as above, which seem fat rimmed, but are supposed to be good. I am not good enough to tell, but they look good, so that’s me sold.

When building mine up I went modest on the drive train and brakes, so mostly deore with a bit of xt. Components like brakes/gears wear out, so I would just replace as they get shagged out. I would spend money on decent tyres/wheels/fork, assuming the grips/seat you have are comfortable.

Good choice of bike by the way, I think they are very versatile and have been pleased with mine.

I’d recommend a 160mm Marzocchi 55rc3 ti if you can get a decent used one. Send the rear shock for a PUSH tune service, get some dual ply tyres such as a pair of DHF minions or a front Muddy Mary. If your brakes aren’t powerful get some deore M615 and 203mm rotors.

That’s the main things that spring to mind. Make sure your stem is short, 50mm or so, and that your bars are wide 🙂

This might sound harsh but your never going to turn a Trance into a DH bike, if you want something for DH buy a DH bike.

Fitting 160 forks, a 50mm stem and dual ply tyres will severely limit its ability to do anything other than go downhill.

Changing stems is a PITA with the connect overdrive stuff I think.

But agree, the Trance is not a downhill bike but can go downhill quite well. The only issue I have with mine is if you don’t have your weight back on a jump it likes to noise dive a lot. I’ve learnt how to ride it but it still catches me out when I’m tired and can’t be bothered to shift my weight. For that reason alone, it’s not a pure DH bike.

Great advice yeah i understand its not a DH bike but it did impress me on the trails in Morzine and does do alot better than a hardtail (learnt the hard way) and to be honest most of the time I will be doing more xt than DH due to the fact there arent any places closer to me for DH but more xt

@gribble thanks very much for the site will have a butchers
and to everyone else thanks for the help and ill have a look at everything you said and again thanks for taking the time to help me out

Fitting 160 forks, a 50mm stem and dual ply tyres will severely limit its ability to do anything other than go downhill.

That’s rather dramatic! It’s exactly what I use on my all day bike (though I use 180mm forks) and that sees me through all day epics, mega climbs, fast singletrack and full dh. It’s an amazing fun bike to ride.

As an X4 it’s a fairly heavy build as a trail bike, anyway.
I’m completely with the fork and wheel / tyre swap.
I’m certain you will still want it to climb, now and again and for this reason I’d be inclined to go no more than about 140mm with your fork and no shorter than maybe 60mm with the stem and an appropriate wide bar to suit you, perhaps 740 to 760.
I say this because on my ( model before yours) trance, I’ve gone 140 fork and 70mm stem. Much more extreme with either and I’d be really struggling to keep the front wheel tracking on steep ups, it’s elbows bent and chest on the stem almost as it is .
Something like a Revelation fork as opposed to the one in the bike now will lose you almost a kilo, a Hope / Stans tubeless set up with 2.35 tyres, maybe HIgh Rollers, will give you grip and save massively on rotational weight.
My g/f has recently bought an x4 and similar changes will be made to hers, as much as anything to reduce its lardiness and give her a more tuneable fork, she can ride it fine, but lacks weight and big power , so lighter strong wheels will help too.

Basically stripped my bro in laws for him. First thing is ditch the fork…that 9mm fork weighs nearly 3000g!!

His now has 120 floats, 1×10 SLX drivetrain, deore brakes, tubeless crossride wheels, short stem/wide bars and spesh purgs…and I’ve managed to strip 4lb-5lb off it.

Getting a new rear shock is a PITA as they are a weird size tho.

I had a 2011 Trance X3. Upgrading to 140mm forks makes it a superb all rounder. I wouldn”t go any higher as you risk compromising the geometry. The frames were certainly only warrantied up to 140mm forks. I had a set of Flow rims and XT brakes and then a shorter stem and wider bars (whatever suits you but 50-70mm stem and around 750mm bars was good for me). Don’t go to extreme with upgrades as you’ll risk ruining a great bike.
Edit I had a Fox 32 Float 140mm fork with FIT damper and it was excellent.

Hope that’s of some help 🙂

Brilliant advice! This is my fear upgrading parts and then completely messing up the bike and I don’t want to do that
I am going to go with 120mm forks because its the same size as whats already on the bike
70mm stem – Does the same saying go for this “buy cheap buy twice”?
Its already has a 1-10 setup
Brakes I’m thinking about leaving for a while they do the job for now
Thinking about Rear sus but not quiet sure

Once again brilliant advice and im shopping around already for the upgrades you’ve told me about
Appreciate the help 😀

Why get forks at 120mm if you want to downhillify the bike? Honestly, 150mm will ride great and give you confidence. Stems – cheap ones are as good as expensive ones.

Please don’t fit high rollers! Draggy slippery tyres. Minions are much better, more direct. Get the biggest ones you can fit 🙂

I’ve got a carbon Trance X. I fitted 140 Fox forks, 720mm bars, a 70mm stem, Flow EXs on Hope Pro 2 Evos running tubeless and went 1X10. Even with a dropper post it only weighs 27lbs. It still climbs really well, but is able on the descents, too. I love it and ride it at Swinley or the Alps. In both contexts it copes brilliantly.

Agree with Glasgow on the forks. 140/150 mm are not that much more than a decent 120 mm model, so I would get a longer travel model.

I do have High Roller’s on my bike and they are draggy as hell – HR2 front, HR original rear. 😯 Helps makes me fitter and god knows I need the help.

I have a 2010 X1 with 150mm floats and I use that as my everyday bike,Enduro events and hack bike. Run Mavic 823 rims on Hope hubs,2.35 Minioun on front and a Ardent 2.25 out back,SLX brakes,Joplin 4 post,9sp cassette with a Superstar 32 N/W chainring and it has never let me down,but I do have a Glory for my downhill days.

Giants are bloody great aren’t they! 🙂 I also have a Glory as well as the reign x, it’s a magic carpet

andymc06 – Member

I had a 2011 Trance X3. Upgrading to 140mm forks makes it a superb all rounder. I wouldn”t go any higher as you risk compromising the geometry. The frames were certainly only warrantied up to 140mm forks. I had a set of Flow rims and XT brakes and then a shorter stem and wider bars (whatever suits you but 50-70mm stem and around 750mm bars was good for me). Don’t go to extreme with upgrades as you’ll risk ruining a great bike.
Edit I had a Fox 32 Float 140mm fork with FIT damper and it was excellent.

Hope that’s of some help

This^

Here’s one I built earlier…140 float FIT RLCs and 0 degree 85mm stem, I reckon you could go to 150mm on the fork but any more and you’ll be struggling to keep the front low enough.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/bCvCPv]Giant Trance X3 2009[/url]