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Review: 2015 Giant Trance 2


Iwan Kemp

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To be honest , so far I've had no probs with the stock NN.. running them tubeless, they sealed well . Maybe the Hans will have better grip but so far I haven felt the need. Where else can I drop some weight ? 1x 10? carbon bars ?

 

umm I honestly went a bit completely ape with my trance and did full XTR 2x10 30/42 crank and XX 11/36 Cassette with KMC X10SL Gold Chain, TRX1 (alloy) wheels from the Advanced which is lighter, Raceface Next Carbon Riser, XT Brakes, Carbon OD2 headset spacers, titanium screws everywhere and ally screws everywhere else, KCNC bits where I could and a light gel Cro-Mo Saddle. Even the stem now weighs 120g for 70mm giant one because of the Ti Screws.

 

I then added : Hans Dampf front and rear - tubeless with 100ml Stan's and Giant Dropper.

 

Weight is now 12.5 with everything. The wheelset is pretty light at 1.65kg so no real weight saving available without sacrificing strength. The calculated weight difference to a 1x11 or 1x10 setup will be only about 100g and I don't like the gearing anyway...

 

Point is that even with skinny tyres (which defeat the purpose of a trail bike) Save 500g???

no Dropper  - Save 400g - fitting a light seatpost like a Thomson or similar

other bits and bobs - maybe 100g

and light XC wheels - save 200g - maybe

you will have a close to 11kg 140mm travel XC bike that's very confused about what it is supposed to be.

 

Honestly not all weight saving is worth the bucks.

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you will have a close to 11kg 140mm travel XC bike that's very confused about what it is supposed to be.

 Sounds like a 2006 Reign...  :whistling:

 

In all honesty I wouldn't upgrade anything on this bike for weight. I would add a dropper, HD front, snakeskin something rear and a Revelation or Pike and bomb the trails. (My feeling is if you go Pike it would be good to balance that with a DBInline out back or maybe a Monarch Debonair and then it becomes expensive).

 

1 Upgrade only: Tires. Can still drop your saddle manually (remember the days?!), but when you flat out on the trail it's a bummer. Even worse if you rip the sidewall.

 

2 Upgrades only: Tires and dropper

 

As it stands there it's a whole lot of bike with great kit.

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umm I honestly went a bit completely ape with my trance and did full XTR 2x10 30/42 crank and XX 11/36 Cassette with KMC X10SL Gold Chain, TRX1 (alloy) wheels from the Advanced which is lighter, Raceface Next Carbon Riser, XT Brakes, Carbon OD2 headset spacers, titanium screws everywhere and ally screws everywhere else, KCNC bits where I could and a light gel Cro-Mo Saddle. Even the stem now weighs 120g for 70mm giant one because of the Ti Screws.

 

I then added : Hans Dampf front and rear - tubeless with 100ml Stan's and Giant Dropper.

 

Weight is now 12.5 with everything. The wheelset is pretty light at 1.65kg so no real weight saving available without sacrificing strength. The calculated weight difference to a 1x11 or 1x10 setup will be only about 100g and I don't like the gearing anyway...

 

Point is that even with skinny tyres (which defeat the purpose of a trail bike) Save 500g???

no Dropper  - Save 400g - fitting a light seatpost like a Thomson or similar

other bits and bobs - maybe 100g

and light XC wheels - save 200g - maybe

you will have a close to 11kg 140mm travel XC bike that's very confused about what it is supposed to be.

 

Honestly not all weight saving is worth the bucks.

Some good points there !! You must have spent a small fortune on those component upgrades. I did the big ones first. Pike before it even left the store, then wheelset. Recently the ice tec rotors. Stock breaks still.. may go xt at some point. Settled on a giant dropper. Being fitted in the morning. But I suppose you're right, bike like a trance we not overly concerned about weight. Because it's Damn capable !!
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Good review... no mention of the performance of the wheelset though.

Some thoughts added.

 

"The Trance's head angle has been slackened from 69.5 to 67 degrees ....."

I don't get it, the 2014 also had a 67 degree HA

Worded differently to (hopefully) make more sense.

 

______________________________________________

 

Tell your friends The Hub delivers!  ;)

Edited by Iwan Kemp
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It does. If by blending you mean rip the trails.

 

 

hi Guy

 

I have a trance 26er myself- google "will it blend" watch some vids and you'll see what i mean :)

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Some good points there !! You must have spent a small fortune on those component upgrades. I did the big ones first. Pike before it even left the store, then wheelset. Recently the ice tec rotors. Stock breaks still.. may go xt at some point. Settled on a giant dropper. Being fitted in the morning. But I suppose you're right, bike like a trance we not overly concerned about weight. Because it's Damn capable !!

 

I had most of the parts carried down from 3 different bikes that I had before but yes if I had to buy it all now it would not be worth it. The classifieds here help matters somewhat.

 

Anyway, upgrades should be tires and dropper.

 

You can then look at stuff like wider bars + shorter stem maybe, your personal saddle choice,

 

Most important thing is that the mods should be to suit your requirement/size/skill etc. and if you don't like droppers then don't even get that... :thumbup:

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Took a friend of mine's Trance for a quick spin (one lap only) of the B Spot at Bloemendal.

It was my first time ever on a FS, he is slightly shorter than me, so the setup was not ideal.

Even though the bike felt a bit "wallowy" under me, compared to my HT 29'er, it was buttery smooth over the rougher sections.

To me it felt like a slow lap (my tired legs also did not help either) but upon downloading my stats, it turned into a PB lap by almost three seconds. 

So to say that I'm impressed is putting it mildly.

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Took a friend of mine's Trance for a quick spin (one lap only) of the B Spot at Bloemendal.

It was my first time ever on a FS, he is slightly shorter than me, so the setup was not ideal.

Even though the bike felt a bit "wallowy" under me, compared to my HT 29'er, it was buttery smooth over the rougher sections.

To me it felt like a slow lap (my tired legs also did not help either) but upon downloading my stats, it turned into a PB lap by almost three seconds. 

So to say that I'm impressed is putting it mildly.

HAHAHAHA!!! We TOLD you! Trail bikes should be mandatory equipment. They're soooo much more capable than the other bikes out there. XC? Slap on a lightweight wheelset & tire combo and you're there. All Mountain? Bring it on... Family cruise - any day.

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HAHAHAHA!!! We TOLD you! Trail bikes should be mandatory equipment. They're soooo much more capable than the other bikes out there. XC? Slap on a lightweight wheelset & tire combo and you're there. All Mountain? Bring it on... Family cruise - any day.

..... and even commute! You should see what mine (2014) does to pavements, potholes and shortcuts over rough ground. Then, after work, I go home via the mountain. All the same, the bike eats it up like sweets laced with sugar! 

Edited by DJR
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..... and even commute! You should see what mine (2014) does to pavements, potholes and shortcuts over rough ground. Then, after work, I go home via the mountain. All the same, the bike eats it up like sweets laced with sugar! 

 

:thumbup:

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  • 3 weeks later...

To all current Trance owners: what did you ride before the Trance?

Nog a trance - trance x3 2010 26er. Another killer bike

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