Have found a well priced/specced Trance SX 2016 for the GF.

I think it looks to fit the bill of what she is looking for….

140mm for trail hacking/climbing, but with the option of whizzing the Talas fork out to 160mm for the bigger alpine descents.

The standard Trance seems to get good reviews. Guess the SX isn’t that far removed.

Any real world opinions out there? Want to share your thoughts?

no love for the Trance?

really? no love there?

goignt ogo with the GF and sit on a Trance tomorrow assuming the shop has both a small and medium in stock and take it from there.

Are you seeing zippykona? Be warned, she might have taken things into her own hands…

i have no idea what taht cryptic message means… but it sounds menacing.

It was either 2016 or 2017 they made them a longer and slacker I think. But as you are trying it in person not an issue.

No experince of that year, but OH has a Trance 2014 and loves it. It’s a bit small for me but I’ve (obviousy!) had a go and I’d have no hesitation in recommending it.

No experience of that year, but OH has a Trance 2014

2016 is same geo etc as 2014. SX is just the same as normal bike but with a longer fork.

I had a 2014 alu with 150mm Pikes on it, great bike, very versatile, very light. Pedaled well, descended well.

I struggled to get the Monarch Plus (MM tune as recommended by RS)on the rear to perform as I wanted, and it was the only weak point on the bike. It just always felt overdamped for me, small bump was never very good, I’m reasonably light.

As an experiment I put a cheap £20 10 year old boggo basic Fox coil (200×157) on the rear and the difference was insane. The bike then descended incredibly well, but didn’t bottom out.

@ scc999 & kiksy…. How tall is your wife / yourself respectively?

It would be a 2016 model that we would buy… That comes with Fox Performance bouncy stuff….

Oh, and she weighs 62kg all up, not 67kg! Oops.

I have a 2015 Trance SX and love it. Brilliant spec for the money. Giant dropper is gash so I replaced it with the brand x ascend, the wheels on paper are average and where they saved money but saying that I’ve had no issue with them and the 60mm stem is a bit long.

All in its a great bike so don’t see why the 2016 wouldn’t be.

Looking at the giant website only difference between 2015 and 16 is swapped out rockshox suspension for fox spec wise and the geo is identical

@ scc999 & kiksy…. How tall is your wife / yourself respectively?

Oh, and she weighs 62kg all up, not 67kg! Oops.

I am 173cm (5’7) and weigh 65kg.

My frame was a small. It was maybe a little small, however I demod the medium and thought it was too big.

Taking a look at the spec it comes with:

Giant P-AM2 Wheelset

Mine came with the narrower S-XC wheels they were very strong. Still going on another bike and I rode them at low pressures, rode them through rock gardens with a flat in a race and generally abused them but they stayed true.

My friend had the AM’s on his Reign and similar story. Heavy but reliable.

Cheers ogden and kiksy….

Ogden, what size frame and how tall are you?

Cheers.

I’m 5 10″ and ride a medium frame

Right…. Have now seen both the small and medium Trance 2017 in the flesh and had a ride around the block.

Think she’ll go for a medium 2016 Trance SX…
The thinking being that the 2017 small wasn’t much bigger than her old bike and is already 1cm longer than the 2016.
The 2016 Medium sits between the 2017 small and medium. The 2017 medium is 1cm longer than the medium 2016, but has a 60mm stem.

So…. A 2016 Medium with a 35/40mm stem should do the job just fine.

She was slightly tempted by the 2017’s, but both came with 2by and no travel adjust forks and no piggy back on the shock. And I doubt that the trunnion shock/frame is that much more special/am improvement over the older models.

I’ve got a 2017 trance 2 and its great.Climbs brilliantly, even with the suspension open, really stable at speed and well balanced for me. I had the stem swapped out for a shorter one but other than that nothing needed changing. I think the standard 2017 trance is more like the 2016 SX so probably not much overall difference apary from having the new “standards” of boost, metric shock etc.

I’ve got a 2015 Trance 2 and it’s an excellent bike, now I’ve replaced the shite Fox suspension it came with. The Evo forks and shock were terrible and were duly replace with RS RCT3 Revs and a Fox X2, which have transformed the bike.

I think the standard 2017 trance is more like the 2016 SX

2017 comes with 150mm forks and 67ha.

The SX comes with 160mm forks which slackens the head angle to 66, but then affects seat angle too.

I’ve got a 2015 Trance 2 and it’s an excellent bike, now I’ve replaced the shite Fox suspension it came with. The Evo forks and shock were terrible and were duly replace with RS RCT3 Revs and a Fox X2, which have transformed the bike./quote]

I imagine an x2 would be excellent on a Trance.

If you’re anywhere near Dorset your welcome to borrow my cheap coil to test it out. Honestly it’s night and day on the rear suspension performance. Best £20 I ever spent.

Does the trance have a silly sized stem? 1 1/4″?

Have bought the bike, but only just read up on the Overdrive nonsense…..

Not any more. I think they abandoned that 3-4 years ago. My Trance is 2.5 years old and has a standard tapered head tube.

Phew!

Thanks!