First Look: 2015 Giant Glory Advanced 27.5

Giant rolled out the first 27.5 incarnation of its Glory DH bike last year, and as we speculated at the time, has now followed up with the carbon version. Based on the exact same geometry as its aluminum counterpart, the Glory Advanced frame features a carbon front triangle and now tips the scale at 3008-grams without the shock, 240-grams lighter than the alu version and Giant's lightest DH frame to date. It pumps out 200-mm of suspension travel in the rear via Giant's Maestro system, a multi-link platform designed to be efficient under power while remaining active over rough terrain. The bike will be offered with two different build kits.

“This is a project that we’ve been working on for over two years now,” said Giant Global Off-Road Category Manager Kevin Dana. “We went into the project with clearly defined goals and some specific demands from the pros who race these bikes week in and week out. What we came up with is a bike that is one of the lightest on the pro circuit without sacrificing frame strength, pedaling stiffness or ride quality.”

Marcelo Gutierrez, a 5-time downhill national champion in his native Colombia, top-10 World Cup DH finisher and accessorily one of the world's fastest urban DH racers was heavily involved in developing the 27.5-inch wheeled DH bikes.“Making the move to 27.5 wheels totally opened up the capabilities of the Glory,” Gutierrez said. “And now we’re taking another huge step forward with this new composite frame. It’s lightweight, stiff, super smooth and has the perfect geometry to make the most of this wheel size. It’s everything I need on the aggressive tracks and terrain that I race on.”

2015 Giant Glory Advanced Build Kits

The new carbon Glory will be offered with two different build kits, a top-of-the-line "0" version featuring BoXXer Team, RockShox Vivid RC2, a SRAM X01DH drivetrain and SRAM's Guide brakes, and a mid-level "1" version based on the BoXXer RC, SRAM X7/X9 drivetrain and a number of Giant's own in-house parts to complete the build. US pricing is set at $8,500 for the Glory Advanced 27.5 0, and $5,325 for the Glory Advanced 27.5 1. International pricing TBC.

2015 Giant Glory Advanced Geometry

The Glory Advanced shares the geometry with its aluminum little brother, which basically means long, low and slack. Our initial impressions of the alu Glory 27.5 pointed to a bike that works best when ridden fast, hardly a surprise when you look at the numbers.

The 2015 Glory Advanced will start shipping to a select number of countries shortly, with global availability scheduled for summer. For more information, head on over to www.giant-bicycles.com.