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Had a look at The Trance X3 today and thought it was quite a decent all rounder. This one: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/trance.x3/4868/39076/
Had a little test ride round the car park and up a lane and have a furthur demo booked in for next week to see how it rides on a local loop.
While I'm waiting for that I just wondered if anyone has any constructive real life feedback to offer on them rather than mag hype? maybe alternative bikes I should be considering too?
Cheers
Will
I got an X4 on the bike to work, its not light but rides very nicely. Doesnt seem to slow me down uphill, and is great fun on the downhills. It was recommended by a mate who knows about full sus bikes, and i'm certainly glad I listened to his advice.
3 days in the Brecon Beacons on it this weekend - cant wait!
The X3 looks great - and has a much better fork, shock and wheels than mine. However, for a grand retail and half that on B2W i'm not complaining.
TranceX (I have a 2008 X2)
I have only ridden a few FS bikes so maybe not the best opinion. But I have ridden this one for 18 months, included some changes. A few pointers:
1. sizing
I'm 5' 11" and the large felt too large. However I have found the medium sometimes feeling a weeny bit small, esp. once I fitted wide bars and a smaller stem to make descending steeps less scary, the effective TT being relatively short. For this reason alone you should test ride. I have solved this problem now (see fork)
2. frame and geometry
Very much XC/trail bike, not a slacker. Like many owners, I have fitted a longer fork which moves it more to trail/AM territory. The actual frame design is virtually identical to the standard Reign, just with thinner tubes. The BB is noticeably low at the recommended sag which is extremely nice when cornering but a slight nuisance when pedalling in rocks. The saddle will drop only about 4" once you've sawed the post down; this is because of the rocker pivot piercing the seat tube. The anodizing is great and one of my main motivations for buying - I'm always disappointed with paint.
3. suspension action
Brilliant. Set to 25% sag, there is really no need for the pro pedal. At 30% sag the pro-pedal helps a bit. Of course you don't get the instant feel of a HT, it isn't keen on standing climbing, few FS bikes seem to be. But if you sit into the suspension it climbs rough trails very fast and efficiently, and with great grip. This really comes to the fore on rough traverses where you can sit and attack the pedals in a bigger ring while others back off. Downhill is just plush. Can't fault it.
4. forks
The F120 QR had great damping, is very light (too light) and a bit wibbly at speed. The up front lightness caused me problems climbing, while the wibblyness is worrying when you plough into chaos (as the rear suspension encourages you to). The QR15 on that model may feel better. On mine I have fitted a longer, beefier, coil fork, though perhaps with worse damping. But the effect is overall positive, planting the front better and allowing me to move the saddle back making climbing more comfortable, while downhill is slacker.
It's a really good bike, and outstanding when you factor in the price.
Thanks for that guys. 40mpg-I could also get the X4 on bike to work(it was the bike I actually went to look at) but I would probably want to change a few thingas and I dont know if that would be wise on the scheme...
buzz thats for your points-pretty much all of them went through my head.
Size-I am 6ft 1 so probably heading for the large-will try a couple of different stems on it during the demo and see how it feels.
Frame/Geometry-low BB might be a problem I suppose and I actually have limited but just about enough standover clearance on the Large!
Suspension-really impressed with the short road climb I did-more so than any of the other full sussers I have been on.
Forks-I have some 140mm Revs I could put on there.....