2015 Giant Trance 27.5 SX

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I previously owned a Banshee Spitfire V1 and when the time came to replace it, I was looking for a similar bike, with a bit more rear suspension. I was pretty set on the new Spitfire, until I saw the Trance SX at the local shop.

The components are exactly what I was looking for, 1x11 drivetrain, aggressive suspension, and a balanced geometry.

I didn't want a hardcore Enduro bike like the Reign, because I do a lot of DH riding and wanted more of a difference between the bikes and I also have tons of trails around here, but they are very steep and full of roots and rocks, so I prefer a bike that gives some feedback and that allows me to pick it up and do all of the weird hops and hucks around here.

Uphill:

The first thing I noticed, was that it doesn't pedal that efficiently on flat ground, but once you go uphill the rocking stops and it feels nice and planted and gives lots of traction. If you've got a long, flat transfer ahead, the compression settings of the Monarch+ shock solve that problem very effectively. The dual position fork is a nice feature on really steep climbs, as the front wheel tends to lose traction. You notice that they just slammed a bigger fork into the standard Trance frame, because the seat angle feels a bit slack as well. This is probably the only thing I'ld change about the bike, but it's not that annoying. I stopped lowering the fork regularly for climbs pretty soon, because I forgot to extend it at the top 9 of 10 times but I still get up most climbs just fine. It's a nice feature if you climb a trail instead of a fire road, though.

Downhill:

On the downhill the Trance SX is a beast, it's sooo confidence inspiring on the local technical trails and feels like a lot more than 140mm. I've ridden a few high-end 140mm trailbikes and the trance is nothing like them. Yes, the pedalling isn't as effective but it's miles ahead on the descends. I spend 2 weeks in the swiss alps (Davos/Klosters) and did a lot of runs with some European Enduro talents on hardcore Enduro bikes and never felt undergunned on the rough alpine trails, I actually got a lot of compliments for keeping up, but I'm sure I wasn't riding over my head, the bike is just that capable. I ended up doing a few Enduro races including the SSES in Leogang and had my best result ever on some seriously rough alpine and blown out bikepark stages.

I felt very comfortable on the bike from the first moment on, you really feel like you're sitting 'in' the bike, not 'on' it. At 183cm tall I chose a size L frame and I'm pretty happy with it, maybe I'll go a bit bigger on my next frame, but it feels roomy enough for me.

Components:

The Sram X1 drivetrain has been superb so far, I think it delivers X01/XX1 performance for a lot less money. I'm also pretty happy about the suspension, I even like the dual position Pike. I'm pretty weird with my fork setup, though, I never run any tokens in my fork anyway and it's pretty soft. I weigh about 65kg and tend to really hang of the back, so that might explain why.

The Guide R brakes were pretty good, they don't feel as precise as the more expensive Guide option, but I didn't have any unusual problems on 20-30min downhills in the alps, they got hot, but not too hot. I replaced them with some Guide RSC's in the mean time, but that's just because I got a great deal on them and prefer the feeling, the actual power of the Guide R was good.

The wheelset is pretty heavy, but it held up a lot better than I thought, originally I planned on replacing it pretty soon. I killed the rims in the alps because they are pretty soft, but they were rideable till the end, even tubeless, but had like 10 dents each. The hubs are in good shape and I got them laced up with some DT Swiss rims.

My only real quarrel is with the Giant seatpost. I was able to change it to a 125mm model before I bought the bike, but it's extremely high maintenance and has so much play right now, I'm just waiting for it to fail (after one season of riding it).

I gave the bike pretty high rating, because I'm really in love with the Maestro suspension. I've ridden the Felt Decree, Rotwild R.X2 FS, Specialized Stumpjumper and few other Enduro and trailbikes and nothing comes close to it in my mind. If you're looking for a XC/Trailbike the Trance SX is not for you, but if you're like me and want a lively but capable Enduro bike, look no further.

If the seatpost were any better and maybe the pedalling on flat ground, I would've given in 5 Stars.