Trance 07 vs 08

How much better is the 08 frame than the 07 frame?
Seen a deal where you can get the 07 trance 3 bike, (Fox Float R, RockShox Tora 289 100mm travel Preload and Rebound Adjustable, Juicy 3 brakes) for £100 more than an 08 frame with Fox RP2 shock?

Help which do I buy?

08 was when they lost some weight and got rid of the shock basket.
me personally would go for the 08 (it’s what i have already) but i guess most people would go for the 07. depends if you have some good forks to go on it already that are better than the tora’s

I’ve got waiting to be put on a trance frame,
07 130mm dual air revelations
XM719/hope pro II
avid juicy 3’s
easton EA70 bars
X7 rear mech.

So bits wise i’m fairly sorted its just the frame I need.
I realise that was the year they changed but if i sell all the bits off the 07 will the price difference be worth it.
Is the RP2 shock going to be very helpful on super steep road climbs (on one of my loops)

Unless you really hammed the pedals and dig in at the bottom of the stroke, you will find very little ‘bob’ from the maestro suspension system.

Have you seen this?

08 Trance frames 524. No large left

http://s233299868.e-shop.info/shop/article_Giant%2BTrance%2B2008.003/Giant-Trance-2008.html

Both good apparently. The 08 frame is lighter because they got rid of the hole in the downtube. The RP2 is fine- I rarely use the platform damping except on fireroad/road climbs – maestro doesn’t pedal bob, but the platform damping does combat body bob when honking.

I’ve seen an 08 trance frame with rp2 shock in x-small/small (i want small) for £489+10 postage…
the full trance 3 only available in small is £589 I think.

Still not sure which offers best value for money (after selling the bits from the 07 trance).

How important is weight to you?

If you have good kit already to put on the frame, the ’08 will build into a pretty light bike quite easily.

The ’07 will always be heavier.

Weight would be fairly important on this build I think and I’ve just realised just how exposed the shock is on the 07 model?!? isn’t that a problem for stones flying up etc?

i have a new 06 trance 2, got it for £850 delivered marked down from around £1800! I’ve upgraded the wheels, brakes and forks but because i sold all the other bits new the price difference wasn’t too bad so i now have a top spec bike for not a lot of money.
I went for the older one because i like to ride everything, xc to light dh etc, all the reviews said the older frame was heavier but….stronger as it’s more over built and giant will warranty it with a 140mm fork! I’ve seen pics of people racing 4x and dh on the older trance frames so they can handle some abuse!
If xc is more your thing and you want a lighter weight bike then go for the newer one. Pauls cycles are doing the frame for under£500! http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s26p1594

The newer one is an awesome trail bike and the maestro suspension works fantastically!

oh and giant do a carbon shock guard to protect the shock on the older models. Your local giant dealer can order one in for you. I had no problem not running one though as have a lot of other people. However i think the 07 bikes come with one as standard.

yeah was thinking of heading towards a 4x track with it a fair bit… and I’d be running 130mm forks…

Found out that the weight in the frame would be balanced by my recent purchase of wellgo mg1 ti pedals…

pauls is where i’ve seen the frame and full bike. hard decision!

I’ve just realised just how exposed the shock is on the 07 model?!? isn’t that a problem for stones flying up etc?

No, there’s a guard covering the bottom of it

I went for the ’08 myself, and I’d say it was well worth the (not much) extra cash in this case – so long as you have bits to put on it.

I think if the weight difference is 250g I can offset that with the pedals I’ve just bought.

I’m going to want it to be able to handle itself on 4x as well as rough xc and I’ve broken a frame before from pushing it too far to the older and possibly stronger may be best there.

And if I buy the frame, a new headset, seat post and clamp it’ll cost £590
Buying the full bike and sell the parts I don’t need (keeping the headset/post/clamp) I think it’ll cost around the £300 mark.

Think my mind is pretty made up.