Is this the year of the sub £2k bike? New Giant models coming soon!

When the Norco Fluid FS1 came through our doors we were all impressed – lots of full suspension bike for under £2,000. It was swiftly followed by a Calibre Sentry, and a Jamis Dakar. Joining the fray from Giant is yet another – the Stance – and we’re wondering if this might just be the year that sees the budget end of the full suspension market reap the benefits of all those high end super bikes.

The new Giant Stance comes in 27.5 and 29in flavours, and the UK will see two models of each hitting the shelves soon. Pricing for the UK remains to be confirmed, but in the USA these bikes are already in the wild and hitting the shops, with prices starting at $1,500. The UK models will be exactly the same as the US ones, only with the brakes the ‘right’ way round, so hopefully the pricing won’t be too far off the US ones. Let’s check out the specs.

2020 Giant Stance and Stance 29

The Stance and Stance 29 come only in an alloy frame, and have 120mm of travel rear, 130mm front. Both have head angles of 67.5°, with a 74° seat tube angle on the 27.5in option, and a 75° angle on the 29er. At $1,550, the entry level Stance 29 price has an extra $50 on the equivalent 27.5in Stance model. At the entry level, all wheelsize flavours come with a Raidon 34 fork and Suntour Raidon R shock. Step up to $1,800 in either model and you get a RockShock Monarch R shock and Recon RL Solo Air fork, plus Giant Contact Switch dropper. Quite probably $250-$300 well spent.

SRAM SX Eagle provides the complete groupset on both models and build kits are the same between the two bikes, with the exception of the wheels and tyres (perhaps this is obvious…). There are Giant XCT rims on the Stance 29 and Giant AM rims on the 27.5 – both are tubeless ready. The Stance 29 comes with Maxxis Forekaster 29×2.35 fore and aft, while the Stance comes with Maxxis Rekon 27.5×2.6 up front and Maxxis Ardent Race 27.5×2.6 at the rear. Tyre choices there that probably aren’t ideal all year round in the UK slop, but for a target market that will likely be more trail centre focussed these should prove grippy enough with a decent rolling speed. It’s great to see both tubeless ready rims and tyres coming as stock at this price point.

Liv Intrigue

Also coming soon in alloy will be the Liv Intrigue. Again, these are on the US website with UK availability and pricing awaited. However, they’re a little over the $2,000 mark, with the entry level bike starting at $2,100 having SRAM SX Eagle groupset and RockShox suspension – 140mm rear, 150m up front.

UK Pricing

These bikes are already in stock in the USA, but the UK will have to wait another week or two for confirmed pricing and availability. Fingers crossed the exchange rate doesn’t get in the way.

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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