MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Morning all, looking for some advice on which bike you would choose. I have narrowed down my next bike to either a Nukeproof Reactor 290 Alloy, or a Giant Trance X 2 29er. This would be for trail riding, bikepark uplift days and general shorter XC rides.
The sticking point is my height puts me right on the boundary of both bikes large/XL, and I can't view them. I'm 6:2ft (189cm), 82kgs, with a 32inch inside leg. Currently riding a Ragley Big Al XL hardtail (note the Ragley frtames are pretty short).
Option 1: Nukeproof Reactor 290 - £2,278
Pros = Great looking fun bike, with a 150mm Lyrik and good overall spec.
= Good price reduction.
Downside = Heavy and some reviews said quite "draggy" on the up hills.
= Sizing! Nukeproof and CRC both said get a "large", this feels wrong as the reach is pretty small at 475. Currently riding a Ragley Big Al in XL, with a reach of 480 (feels good by a little coimpact at times).
Option 2: 2021 Giant Trance X 29er 2: Total bargain @ £1650!
Pros = Very well specked bike, Fox 36 & Shimano SLX
= Good reviews and described as "playful"
Cons = Soooo boring looking! cheap wheels that are very heavy
= Size chart puts me on an X, with a really long reach of 510. Could the XL be a bit big ?
There is the option to buy the Trance and buy some light Hunt wheels with the difference, this would loose around 800gms off the bike weight.
Price and spec I'd buy the Giant, and I love my Reactor!
The Nukeproof is a better colour
The reach on the Giant is closer to what you should be on I think. I'm on 486 reach at 5'10 and it feels good, so I would imagine the reach on the NP would be on the short side. Quite a long seatube when you size up on the reactor though.
Nukeproof looks cooler.
Have you looked at the Bird Aether 9/9c? Both around £2500, large would be a good fit and not a big long seatube..
Personally I won't by anything from Giant after their very poor showing on here dealing with a warranty issue.
Agree with oceanskipper here, don't care how cheap it is I wouldn't touch their warranty and bike with a barge pole.
Funny that Giant comes up with a "really long reach" cos every Giant I've sat on has felt short and cramped. The figures are a reasonable guide, but you gotta sit on em.
I'm same height and inside leg as you.
I'm XL all the way. Got two 500mm reach bikes and could even go a tad bigger. I'd have no bother with 510mm say. Only downside I've found is XL's trend to have a 500mm seat tube as well. I could do with 480mm as I have to slightly shim down my droppers.
I know everyone's different but hope that helps your decision in some way.
Giant looks the better deal but warranty would stop me buying a new bike from them.
XL on either if your current bike feels a bit tight. I spent years convinced large fitted me but after I changed to XL I realised I'd been riding the wrong size for years.
With so many ace deals about I wouldn't be buying anything I wasn't 100% convinced about.
I saw one of those Reactors in a shop the other day and it looked lush in that colour.
The Giant is a Giant so wouldn't even by on my list.
Two bikes - one with questionable reliability and the other with questionable warranty. I might be looking elsewhere.
The last Giant Trance I saw in the real world was a great looking bike.
Thanks for the opinions folks. I have no issues buying a Giant, not worried about the warranty issue. The NP does look sooo much nicer though
Can't help on choiuce between those two. If you're OK with Giant (I'm not after their shite documented on here), that's a great deal. I prefer the Nukeproof and not simply because it's not a Giant, but the price of the Giant is hard to ignore.
Sizing, definitely XL bikes at your height. I'm 2cm shorter than you and riding bikes with 510-530mm reach. Even with a 500mm length seattube on my previous bike I could juuuust fit a 200mm dropper, but my current bikes are 475 and 480mm seattubes.
Buy the one you like the look of the most, and it'll ride better/you'll ride more often as a result.
For me that would be the Reactor, I expect it's only a faster set of tyres away from stopping it feeling heavy/draggy.
I'm with oceanskipper and golfchick & co -I wouldn't touch a giant. I haven't heard of issues with the reactors, but the megas have been very problematic. If it has to be one of those 2 I'd go for the reactor.
Unless.... you can find a Norco optic. My optic is ace. I'm the same height, inside leg and weight as you. I have an XL optic (510 reach) I love it, but would probably like to change it for a large. I think it depends mostly on your abilities/confidence in the technical sections and your body position on the bike (do you stay centred/hang off the back/move up front when needed etc)
I think I could gain more from the shorter seattube on a L and the resultant longer dropper/lower saddle than I'd loose from the shorter wheelbase.
I'm selling my 515 reach enduro bike and going to 480 for this exact reason , and I think the extra weight of an enduro bike makes the previous paragraph more relevant - The bike more stable because it's heavier.
Everyone's different though, and at the end of the day you'll fit on either size. Go for xl if you want it to be more stable, and L if you want it to be more manouvreable and poppy.
Norco optic XL
How tall are you?
Youngest_oab (6'3") is buying at the moment and choice in XL is Trance X, Optic or Polygon Sisku T8. This is in NZ and there is less choice.
No idea how to quote in replies matt_outandabout, I should take the time to learn really.
I'm 6'2", 32" inside leg. It's a great bike, so much fun on easier/mellower trails and still capable on the techier stuff too, albeit at a bit slower pace than on a longer travel/slacker/grippier bike.