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Giant Trance SX - To buy or not to buy?

Mo(n)arch

Turbo Monkey
Dec 27, 2010
4,441
1,422
Italy/south Tyrol
Yes, It's one of that threads again.
I am seriously looking into getting a do-it-all-beside-downhill bike and these things get raving reviews on vitalmtb, nsmb and a few german sites.
So, does any monkey have some time on this bike? Thoughts?
Also, sizewise: As a DHer, I define my right bikechoice with reach and stack. Unfortunately Giant doesn't offer this measures. I am 190cm (a hair less than 6'3") and not sure if the L or the XL would suit me better.
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head
Well I have a 2011 reign medium and I'm 5'11" it's a great bike I beat the crap out of it. Totally love the bike

Not really the info you were looking for but my experience with giant bikes I'll say buy it
 

Sandro

Terrified of Cucumbers
Nov 12, 2006
3,224
2,537
The old world
Reach for the medium frame is 438 mm, stack is 595mm, maybe you can extrapolate from that. I'm coming from a medium ReignX and this thing feels quite a bit longer, so if you're right between sizes i might opt for the L. I am 180cm tall myself, and since switching to a 50mm Chromag up front it feels perfect.

I have about three weeks on mine (Alu version), and at the risk of sounding like everybody who just bought a bike and is trying to keep any sign of buyer's remorse at bay, i'm absolutely loving it. For what you describe - a downhiller's do-it-all-bike - it's right on the money (as are quite a few other current bikes).

The maestro works really well, but it's nowhere near as plush as my coil sprung ReignX, which is to be expected. Nonetheless, I timed myself and I'm actually faster on the downhills, but then again i'm not in the alps. On everything else, it's no contest and surprisingly quick. The quasi lock out of the Fox CTD in the back comes in handy on long fireroad climbs, but overall the rear shock is definitely an area with room for improvement since i miss more options for fine-tuning the compression. With the maestro having plenty of anti squat in the beginning stroke, i never use the trail setting and just keep it in descend except on prolonged climbs.

I was really hesitant to purchase the bike due to the Overdrive2 nonsense up front, since i had spent too much time online over the winter and was sure that the Fox would murder me by blowing through it's travel and require immediate replacement, but fortunately the 34 is not a bad fork at all (even in Evolution guise) and I'll just ride it until it fails or throw and Avalanche kit in there. I will only need a new upper headset, but if you decide to swap forks immediately, expect your resale value to suffer.

All that aside though, the bike is DIALED. I haven't ridden the regular trance, but this version (160/140) seems to bring out the bikes best attributes and it feels much more capable with the fork extended. The geometry is probably the bet part in a really well rounded package, I felt right at home even with the longish stock stem, and after a few weeks I'm riding faster than I ever did. It's very composed and confidence inspiring at speed but far more poppy and responsive than what I was on before. I can't comment on the merits of the larger wheels, since it's such a different beast to my previous bike and faster in any respect.

After wrangling with myself for several months about this purchase I couldn't be happier with the bike (except maybe a custom tune for the shock) and can wholeheartedly recommend it.
 

cjcrashesalot

Monkey
May 15, 2005
345
13
WA
I've been on the Trance Advanced SX for about 4 months now and would echo most of what Sandro said. My previous trail/do-it-all bike was a Reign X that I loved, so this Trance had some big shoes to fill. The component spec is a bit different between the Advanced SX and regular SX, but you can extrapolate between the two. Here are some thoughts and a couple of quick hits and misses from my perspective:

Sizing: It is definitely longer than previous Giant frames for a given size. I'm 5'10" and the medium with a 50mm stem is about as long as I can tolerate.

Spec: At least on the Advanced, you couldn't really ask for a better spec for the price. My only gripes were the long stem, narrow bars, tires, and just 4" for the dropper post. Once those were fixed, the bike came alive.

Hits:
-Makes excellent use of the suspension travel. I lost 30mm from the Reign X, yet this bike feels equally as smooth in the rough and much more efficient elsewhere. The Advanced does have the Float X instead of the regular Float though, and the factory series fork instead of the evo series.
-Very stiff and responsive frame. You can really hold a hard line in corners without the bike feeling noodly, and it doesn't take much energy to change lines or pop off obstacles.
-Geometry is pretty dialed. I actually leave mine in the 140 mode up front most of the time and it still handles gnarly terrain well. Only really feel the need to bump up to 160 in very steep or high speed sections, but I do noticed improved cornering in 140 mode.

Misses:
- The rear suspension feels a bit more linear than I'd like, as it bottoms pretty consistently on hard hits. It feels great 90% of the time, but a little more ramp would be welcome. This is probably partially due to the large volume air can on the Float X, though every Giant I've owned was more linear than progressive.
-Had to send the 34 Talas Factory back for warranty already due to a harsh clunk that developed. Fox fixed it quickly and it feels great now, but still not a fun occurrence for an $1100 fork.
- The stock tires aren't great. The rear Rock Razor is very fast rolling and corners well, but the lack of climbing and braking traction was a deal breaker for me. The front Hans Dampf is just not a good tire for the dry, loose over hardpack terrain where I live. I put a Magic Mary up front and swapped the Hans to the rear, things are hooking up much better now.

Let me know if you have any more questions.
 
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beachbum

Chimp
Feb 19, 2007
90
0
coastal nc
as for sizing, I'm 6'4" and have an XL SX, I have also ridden a large. The xl is a good fit for me, but I could ride a large without any problem.