Full disclosure: this was a two-hour test drive, with no time to display or adjust the setup in any meaningful way. Just first impressions.
My, we’ve come a long way. The Giant Trance X Advanced Pro SE I tested carries almost as much technology as it is possible to manufacture; add a wireless dropper and you have the complete set. Along with the SRAM Eagle AXS shifting, we had RockShox Flight Attendant in both the shock and also the forks. Throwing a leg over feels a bit like donning the Iron Man suit.
Key Specifications Giant Trance X SE
- Rider Profile: 6”1″ and 220lb with gear. Trance X Advanced Pro SE 29″ large head size
- Suspension travel: 150/135 mm front/rear
- Frame Highlights: Full carbon with a two-position flip chip to adjust head tube angle, seat tube angle and BB height
- Geometry highlights (high/low): HTA: 65.5°/66.2°, Reach: 485/487 mm, STA: 754/762 mm, Chainstays: 436/434mm, Wheelbase: 1.239/1236mm Tested with flip chip in high position.
- Price: $8,000 (on sale for $4,500)
- Buy from giantbicycles.com
From a technology perspective, this is the latest and most blinged-out Trance Maxxis Minion DHF pulls in front and a Dissector pulls back. It is difficult to say how much it weighs, as Giant is a little coy on this subject for all its bikes, and it seemed impertinent to ask to weigh the cabin. But bringing all that technology on the suspension should slightly offset the carbon frame and Giant’s ownership. coal wheel.
If you like numbers, and want to analyze every possible aspect of a bike’s performance to score in it, or make adjustments for different races, this is your dream bike. There is a huge amount of custom tuning available in a very reasonable package, and the cost of buying a similar frame and set of wheels, then adding the electronics yourself, easily exceeds the $4,500 price tag before even getting close to a drivetrain or brakes or anything else. All the bling, all in one place, for an amazing price.
How does he ride?
Giant bikes always have an inherent bulky quality to me, across the range, and the Trance X is no different. It’s not a weight thing, more a design thing. Big tubes, and geometry that plants you a little and through the center of the cockpit, so you feel the width of the bars and your weight in the saddle. My first thought as I pedaled off the lot was that this is a bruiser of a bike. The muscular addition of the Flight Assistant adds to that feeling as well. The whole thing has sort of a MTB tactical vest vibe.
But that pumped-up feeling doesn’t translate to running. The Giant X climbs quite easily, with a centered cockpit feel that encourages a steady, mile-friendly style of climbing. Unless you’re a particularly gifted technical climber, this is an advantage in Sedona; too spirited attack can leave the heart rate in seconds, so it is better to slow down, take a deep breath, keep the cranks moving and let the bike do its thing. The Trance has my back.
It’s not as nimble as some comparable bikes in its suspension – the front end isn’t as willing to let me change my mind as I’d like – but it feels very firmly attached to the track, and I didn’t not had Any of the crashes or over-ambitious climbing fails that I experienced in similar runs earlier in the weekend. I avoided trying to monkey around with the Flight Attendant settings in the app and it’s just about right, but that stability could be due to the fork automatically stiffening in climbing conditions. And if you like sci-fi movies, you’ll love the little clicks and hums of the motors in the suspension technology.
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That feeling of safety and protection is only amplified when you remove the serious stuff. The flight attendant seems to be doing its job, because the Trance eats up the little bumps, plows over jagged rock edges as if they were inflatable and absorbs my unfortunate drops with alarming ease. That bruiser feeling I talked about earlier? This is a bike that wants to square up to rough hilly terrain and take it, no questions asked.
This is where the limitations of a quick test run become really obvious, because my sense is that if you took the time to work with the flip chip to select your geometry, and to dial in several parameters for the flight assistant to suit different types of trails, you could make this bike into, like, three bikes: the nimble trail goat it looks like, an impact-proof park bomber that could take big hits, and a taut XC greyhound for those flatter and faster days. . The Swiss Army bike, if you will.
Another unexpected thought: despite the fact that it is all advanced and professional and as much, and the potential complexities involved in owning and operating such a digital bicycle, nevertheless, it struck me that this Trance X SE would make a very nice first serious suss, or a great upgrade for anyone transitioning from XC riding to trail or enduro.
Pros and cons of Giant Trance
Pros
- Unbelievable value
- A tech geek’s dream
- Superb suspension package
cons
- Complex to dial in
- It needs a lot of batteries – a total of 7 in Flight Attendant and AXS
- Lots of own brand components
Basically
If there’s a heart-rate-obsessed, gram-shaving, app-checking roadie in your life who secretly yearns for a bigger adventure, this is the bike for them.
