First rides
GIANT TRANCE X ADVANCED PRO 29 0
£7,999 / 29in / giant-bicycles.com
The name’s been recycled but there’s nothing old school about this do-it-all trail machine
I still remember testing the original Trance X 29. It was a 127mm-travel ripper that packed a mighty punch and came in an affordable package. Yes, the alloy frame looked all bent out of shape from too many rounds in the hydroforming ring, but the Trance X 29 really walked the 29er walk, and along with groundbreaking bikes like the Specialized Camber Evo and Kona Process 111, it gave us a brief glimpse into the potential of 29in wheels beyond traditional XC applications. I say brief, because in 2013 Giant surprised everyone when it announced that it was going all-in on 27.5in wheels, and almost overnight the Trance X 29 disappeared from the range.
It was a bold move on Giant’s part, and with hindsight being 20/20, it backed the wrong horse. It’s slowly been rectifying that though, first releasing the Trance 29 two years ago, quickly followed by the Reign 29 a year later. Still, it’s somewhat ironic that almost a decade after the original launch, the Trance X 29 is making a comeback.
It’s a very different beast to the regular Trance 29
What gives it the X-factor? Well, it’s not simply a regular Trance 29 with a longer-travel fork, wider bar and shorter stem. No, the Trance X gets a dedicated frame with 135mm travel and bespoke geometry, and it’s now available in Advanced carbon and aluminium options. Yes, it looks just like the regular Trance 29, but dig into the numbers and it’s clear that the Trance X 29 is a very different beast; the reach measurement alone is almost 25mm longer on the size large. The geometry is also adjustable, with asymmetric chips in the carbon rocker link offering high and low settings. In the low position, the head angle on the Trance X 29 is a degree slacker than the standard Trance, but the seat angle is almost 3° steeper, giving it a hill-crushingly effective seat angle of 77.3°. And while frame travel has increased by 20mm, the length of the rear end has not, so Giant can still boast a relatively short 435mm chainstay while retaining clearance for a 2.5in tyre.
To match the increase in rear-wheel travel, the Trance X 29 gets a 150mm-travel fork. On the Trance X Advanced Pro 29 0 it’s the latest Fox 36 Factory fork. And not just any Fox 36 Factory fork, this one features Live Valve – Fox’s electronically controlled suspension that automatically adjusts the damping as the terrain changes.
Set sag in the normal way, dial in the rebound damping and then let Live Valve do the rest. Sensors on the fork and frame feed real-time information to the control unit that sits under the top tube which dictates the suspension response automatically. You have five threshold options to choose from, or you can switch it off, and Live Valve can even detect the pitch of the bike to tailor the suspension response specifically to climbing or descending. All in, it’s pretty darn smart and a great feature if you don’t want to be constantly toggling between suspension settings. Yes, it pumps the price up considerably, and while the Giant Trance X Advanced Pro 29 0 certainly isn’t cheap, it’s definitely one of the most affordable production bikes to have this technology.
The Trance X Advanced is a modern trail bike in every respect
HOW IT RIDES
In addition to the usual suspension set-up, I spent way too much time going through
