[R]eviewed // Giant Trance X Advanced 1

Giant offer a wide collection of dual suspension trail bikes and just in case readers aren’t in the know already, can you start by explaining what the ‘X’ in model’s name distinguish about these bikes compared to the standard Trance models? 

I’d like to think that it stands for Xtreme but in reality the X signifies that the bike is intended to get rowdy and encourage its rider to really have a lot of fun out there on the trails! The Trance X is the more gravity focused half of the Trance range of bikes, slightly longer travel and more aggressive geometry from top to tail, while still retaining the characteristics of a core trail bike the X turns up the fun dial and encourages you to push harder. It is a super capable and fun all rounder! That is very well suited to Aussie trails, as much as we hate to admit it, the vast majority of our trail networks don’t really require more than a 150/160mm travel bike, the more recent updates to the Trance X range really makes it a bike that makes it hard to look past if you’re looking at a bike to do a little bit of everything on.

You’ve had the opportunity to review several new Giant offerings in recent years including the Reign Advanced and the Trance Advanced and one of the comments that you made about each of those bikes was about their frame lines and sculptured intersections where the various frame tubes meet. In your opinion does this latest ‘gen Trance X Advanced follow in that theme? 

Giant have been using their patented Maestro linkage system for many years and there is only so much they can do to the silhouette of their design to shake things up from year to year. For some time now though, Giant have been doing a fantastic job of emphasising the junctions of their frame tubes and the way that the lines flow down the line of the frame to give a more refined and high end feel to their modern frames. Giant are one of the few companies that own their carbon frame manufacturing facility, this gives them more freedom from a design and financial position to put some extra effort into these areas. I have been a big fan of the aesthetics of these recent few redesigns that have been working their way through the models of late!

Absolutely. Alright, so hit us with the key numbers and features of this particular bike?  

Sure, to begin with the Trance X has been designed around 29inch wheels, the Maestro driven linkage system saw the rear travel grow to 140mm for 2024, accompanied by a 150mm travel fork. There is a huge amount of frame adjustment incorporated into the new bike, my medium test bike in the middle setting for each adjustment sees a reach of 460mm, with 4mm of adjustment each side of that, a chain stay length of 439mm which only changes 1mm either way within adjustments, head tube angle of 64.8 degrees which only alters by less than 0.5 of a degree either way of that within adjustments and a seat tube angle of 77.2 degrees which changes less than 0.5 of a degree to hit the key geo numbers. All in all, there is nothing too crazy about any of these numbers, as you would expect from a company like Giant they play it quite safe, but also stick true to very tried and tested geometry that makes for a super versatile and fun ride, regardless of the trails or rider.

There’s a heap of geometry and reach adjustment built into this bike as well in order to allow the rider to tailor the bike’s set-up to suit the individual’s preference, eh? 

It is considered the norm now to have considerable geo adjustment incorporated into trail, enduro and DH bikes alike, so the new Trance X range is no exception. Giant have done a great job of executing their adjustment options, while they have had a flip chip in their upper Maestro link for many years, the Trance X has 3 possible locations to choose from, naturally there is high – mid – low. With a strong and sturdy pivot bolt threading into a reversable insert for the high and low settings, or the natural insert for the mid, it is a very user friendly system, that doesn’t involve removing any other components from the bike. All you need is one allen key and a few minutes and you’re away, changing the feel of the bike from a slacker, lower, more stable feeling at higher speeds in the low position right up to an agile and super fast reacting weapon in the high, while the middle offers a good combination of both.

On top of the flip chip, Giant have designed the Trance X around an adjustable reach, accomplished via interchangeable headset cups. Once again we see 3 positions, offering 5mm either side of the middle setting. The combination of these, plus the option of running a smaller rear wheel allows a huge spectrum of possible bike setups.

Each model in the Trance X line-up comes spec’d with 29” wheels front and rear however Giant claim that the bike is also ‘mullet’ compatible right out of the box. How have Giant managed to achieve that?  

Giant are advertising the bike as being mullet compatible, by running the flip chip in the upper Maestro rocker link in the high position you can swap the supplied 29 inch rear wheel with a 27.5 inch rear wheel. While this is a possibility that they advertise, the suspension will still be optimised for the larger rear wheel, this option will be very appealing to some though, especially given the aggressive and playful nature of the rest of the bike overall.

Interestingly Giant have increased the bike’s travel over the previous Trance X, does it feel like it makes much of a difference and what have they been able to achieve by doing that?

To be honest, the added 5mm of travel over the previous generation of Trance X models is only a small part of how the attitude of the bike has changed, along with the geometry changes and adjustability is what has made the updated models feel like a completely different beast. It has made what was already a super versatile range of bikes into a real quiver killer, particularly for the Aussie market and what the majority of our trail networks actually need to master them.

Alrighty, let’s get into how you found the bike to perform. Overall how would you describe the new Trance X’s character out on the trails? 

When I first jumped onto the Trance X I had it set up in its middle options of adjustment and felt comfortable from the get go. It is a very predictable and fun bike; it doesn’t react in any way that you’re not expecting out on the trail and gives you good feedback of what the bike is doing underneath you. As I played around more and more with the adjustment options I was able to get a grip on just how versatile of a bike the Trance X was. Having semi recently reviewed the standard Trance I was just expecting a little more travel and cushion for the bigger hits, but it truly is a completely different beast, as much as I would hate for there to be “another” category of bike, but in the lower/slacker setup it does feel like a mini-duro bike, it is amazing how much punishment it will go through and keep asking for more.

Meanwhile, you can still happily play around on a set of dirt jumps or get out for a huge day of pedalling and not feel like you’re missing out on anything, there really isn’t a situation other than the gnarliest of trails where the Trance X feels like it is out of place.

What would you say are its strengths and weaknesses?  

The biggest strength of the Trance X range is its versatility, with so much adjustment and the bump up in travel while still retaining its lightweight overall, there is a huge horizon of capabilities that the bike offers. Unless you had something super specific that you were chasing, it is a great 1 bike option if that’s the route you’re going down, not only that but with a bunch of different spec/price points to choose from, the alloy range included there is a bike to cater to just about anyone.

Given the travel increase that the Trance X has received, plus the absence of geo and reach adjustment, would you say this model now blurs the lines into the realm of the big baller Enduro specific Reign model that you’ve ridden in the past?

For the majority of riding centres across Australia I’d say you would be pretty hard pressed to find a time where you really needed a Reign over a Trance X, that’s not to say it’s not fun having a longer travel bike, but when push comes to shove you could definitely get away with the shorter travel in a lot of instances and be better off with the more efficient and more agile characteristics of the Trance X.

Obviously the model that you’ve been testing features an Advanced, or in other words carbon fiber frame, and when you checkout the entire Trance X line-up it’s interesting to note that Giant also offer an alloy frame version that boasts identical geometry and features to the bike that you’ve been riding, and the complete starting price for the alloy bike is $5499 – in this economy surely you’d have to be pretty impressed with the value of that package?   

Absolutely, Giant have always prided themselves on having excellent value for money options and their alloy versions of the Trance X models would be no exception. With identical geometry and features at such a bang for buck price would make for an excellent option, retaining the majority of the fun having elements of the bike overall, only really compromising on some of the refinement that comes hand in hand with using higher end components and frame materials for overall construction.

And finally, what type of rider and riding experience would you say the Trance X is going to really suit?

The new Trance X range will suit the rider who likes to dabble in a little bit of everything, a rider who enjoys big day adventures covering plenty of km’s, as well as bombing techy trails and pushing their limits when trails get tough. As I mentioned it may not be the most exciting bike on paper or to the eye, but if you can see beyond that it has great features and options to make it incredibly versatile. I can’t think of a rider or a situation that the Trance X wouldn’t induce a smile on someone’s face. As always the overall quality of the package and the chosen specs all go hand in hand to make for a bike that just makes sense out on the trails.

Reviewer // Blake Nielsen   Photos // Matt Staggs

Spec

Frame // Advanced-Grade Carbon throughout

Travel // 150mm front, 140mm rear

Wheelsize // 29” (mullet compatible out of the box though)

Spec // Fox 36 Performance Elite fork, Fox Float X Performance Elite shock, SRAM GX Eagle AXS drivetrain, Shimano Deore XT brakes, Giant Contact Switch AT dropper post, Giant TRX carbon Wheels, premium Maxxis tyres.

Sizes // Small – XL

Price // Carbon models start at $7499, model reviewed $9499

Browse // www.giant-bicycles.com