I'm about to buy my first full sus bike (actually the first MTB I will 'own') and I was very keen on the Canyon Nerve, then I read the review of the SLX in the current Singletrack and thought 'if the can't make sure the bike for a mag test is flawless, how much attention will they give mine?"
Almost certainly a groundless fear but it still tainted the thought of a Nerve and £1600 is certainly enough that I don't want to waste it.
Friday I was sent details of a shop that sells Giant with a very interesting free accessory scheme and the Giant Trance 29er 2 seems to fit the bill as a go and get muddy toy to go alongside the commuting hybrid.
So…
… anyone got anything bad to say about their Trance?
As Northwind says, it's like having a ginger child. Ugly bike.
Don't know anyone who's ridden one, but I recall that they got consistently good reviews. Discontinued model now I understand?
Has the advantage of a shop you can go back to. Make sure it fits you and you probably won't be disappointed.
There only seem to be a couple of 29s in the Trance range now, still there for 2014 though.
Nobeerinthefridge - Member
As Northwind says, it's like having a ginger child. Ugly bike.
How rude! I have a Ginger child though would never buy a Giant FS bike 🙁
I've had my Trance 0 for almost a year now and I really like it. So much so I rarely ride my other 2 mountain bikes now, although they're both 26ers. The only slight drawback I've experienced is that tight uphill switchbacks can occasionally cause a dab if it's really dry and dusty. It's fast, comfortable, and descends really well. I demoed it before I'd really checked out the looks much. There's not many frames about now though without swoopy tubes, and while I wasn't initially a fan, I think it looks better in the flesh and that it grows on you.
Not a fan of swoopy tubes either, but when you're on it, you can't see the tubes. And I'd even say that when someone's on one, you don't notice the swoopy tubes half as much with legs and things in the way.
Ride one, and see what it feels like. Also check out Paul's cycles for great deals on last season Giants.
Have you had a look at the new 650b trances?They look really nice,far prettier than the 29er in my opinion.But if its a 29 you want then I don't suppose the looks are going to sway you.
I've had my 2010 26" trance for 3 and a half years,used it all year round a couple of times a week in cannocks gritty grinding paste like ground and its been great,still on original linkage bearings!so my experience with a giant has been very good.
Much better looking in the flesh IMO. I really enjoyed demoing last year.
What's with the ginger comment? Proper gets my goat that!
I like the look of the Trance , as others have said , see if you can get a ride on one. I doubt you'll be dissapointed and some deals about.
stevelolly - Member
What's with the ginger comment? Proper gets my goat that!
I like the look of the Trance , as others have said , see if you can get a ride on one. I doubt you'll be dissapointed and some deals about.
Christ, there's some touchy buggers on here at times. Touchy enough to send an email about threads. 😯
I really love mine, I have had numerous full suspension bikes in that past, none of which have even come close to the TX29.
In the flesh it isnt that ugly either, suppose if you are that shallow you'll not be considering something as mainstream as a Giant anyway.
Only negative is PF bottom bracket 👿
I was asking sort of similar questions the other day...
The Trance X 29er is on my shortlist of bikes to get.
[img] 
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Ok it's not the best looking 29er on the market, but for the spec it certainly is the best value, by quite a long way.
I bought mine as a frameset and consider it worth the cash at full price If you need a small or medium you can pick one up for an unbelievable £650 here:
[url= http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/giant-trance-x-29er-fr-mountain-bike-frame-id73964.html ]http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/giant-trance-x-29er-fr-mountain-bike-frame-id73964.html[/url]
I used to own a 26" Trance and had a quick demo ride on the 29er. In keeping with most of my experiences of 29ers I thought the Trance X29 felt like a Trance. OK, maybe it rolled over stuff a little bit better and turned a little bit slower, but the operative phrase here is "a little bit". Ride them back to back and you can tell, but if it's your bike you just take it out and ride it. The difference wasn't enough to make me want to change, nor would it have been if I had the 29er and was testing the 26" version.
Overall I think the Trance makes a great first full-suss. I think the instructor hit the nail on the head when I did a skills course and he referred to my Trance as a vanilla bike. It doesn't really do anything outstanding, but it wont hold you back either. You can ride anything from tame XC to pretty technical trails. So, it's ideal for somebody who either wants to do a bit of everything or doesn't really know what they want to do yet.
Ugly ugly bike wouldn't have one solely based on how vile it is to look at
I don't understand how anybody can pronounce that a bike is ugly. Its looks may not appeal to you, but there is very little that is more subjective than aesthetics. Just take a trip round an art gallery. I bet you won't like everything in there, but every item will be admired by somebody. To 99% of the population the Trance looks as attractive as any other mountain bike.
Mind you, I like the look of a Five, so what do I know 🙂
Well, OP you've sure come to the right place for people to say bad things about it!
Just take a trip round an art gallery. I bet you won't like [s]everything[/s]anything in there,
FTFY 😉
Not quite sure how they have done it but it looks squashed as though it has run into the back of a stationary car. The down tube and front triangle is not aesthetically pleasing IMO. I do like a bit of swoop but it just doesn’t do it for me.
I bet it would be fine to ride and no doubt I'd enjoy it but it does look a bit fugly
Ridden with a couple of folk with them, they both rate them and can actually ride. Having said that, one has a size M and there is just something aesthetically wrong about it (IMO), the L and XL look better.
I've had one almost a year, have done everything from local woods, uk trail centres and a week in the Alps.
Great bike, fast fun and jumpy.
First few rides I did crash a lot until I learnt to get my weight forward a bit more to get it to bite into turns. I don't think this was any specific fault of the geometry/wheel size/paint job, more that I was going faster than I had before on my previous Stumpy so it took more commitment, muscleing and leaning into a turn
Gingerism doesn't rank up there with the racism or sexism because it doesn't really generally result in discrimination, but it's not harmless either.
It's pejorative and offensive to many, you've all seen the bullying. British culture flippantly and thoughtlessly seems to think it's funny to suggest people with red hair are ugly or undesirable, particularly the media in pandering to it as one of the last acceptable cheap laughs. Meanwhile us gingers often have to think twice about whether to react or not, given how "it's just a joke" so we'd be overreacting of course if we do.
Sorry OP for going off topic.
Ginger women are hot 😉
Not so keen on 29ers though.