Giant Trance 650B - Bike Review by Justin Victor

Giant Trance 27.5 (small)

140mm suspension travel, with the use of a 4 bar maestro linkage system.

Fox R 140mm with 15mm QR (tapered) 3 way setting (climb/trail/downhill).

Fox float rear shock.

SLX 2x10 shadow derailer with MRP Chainguide.

Giant wheels/handlebar/stem etc

Shwalbe nobby nic tyres.

Giant dropper post (This is my only upgrade on this bike and it's a necessity).

Rating: 8/10 (set up for Enduro) 

Pros: 

It handles like a downhill bike, it grips the ground around turns and flows like it was made for dirt jumping. The suspension ate everything I threw at it and couldn't get myself to go anywhere near its limit, felt like it was always willing to lean more, drop bigger drops, gap further jumps... I chickened out way before the bike did. Dropper post is a must!

Cons: 

Its not an XC bike, its heavy and takes an effort to get up hills. short kicks are fine (XCO), but after a bit of a longer climb, you start to notice the slight bob of the suspension. (setup for ENDURO). Small frame means no space for a big bottle and a side cage is the only way for a small 500ml bottle escape the frame, which means hydration packs are needed for longer rides.

The guys and girls that buy a bike like this will realize that it will be more comfortable over the half marathons if set up correctly. It is an amazing bike to get onto and go out and explore new trails on. If I was only allowed 1 bike I'd chose this one, it really impressed me with how easy it was to set up, the dropper post made me more comfortable going into technical sections and jumps and most importantly, I can honestly ride this bike all day and not get bored, which is what trail riding is all about.

The Test

Venues: 

Mankele XCO track.

York Enduro/DH course Sabie.

So that pretty much put this bike through its paces. 

Mankele: rocky, wooden jumps, pretty tight sections. 

The first day I got hold of the new steed I literally pumped the shocks up to my desired pressures, set the saddle height, and took our Junior Team to Mankele for a technical training session on the XCO track. This is the first time I'd ridden the 650B wheel size and after the first couple of turns I realised that this bike can corner! I opted for a smaller size and the bike is nice and compact, it is a bit on the weighty side but once on top of the climb I got to test out the dropper post (a necessary tool for an endure bike, allowing the rider to move over the bike more freely without the concern of a saddle that’s too high, throwing you onto your face in the single track or worse... in front of a group of girls.) 

Mankele is nice to test a bike because it's pretty rough riding there with all the rocks, man-made wooden drops and gaps, which makes it an ideal testing area. The bike did better than I could've hoped; the suspension locks out and the bike doesn't 'bob' as much as it looks like it should, having 140mm Fox fork and 140mm rear wheel travel, but having said that, you do have to carry this extra weight up the steep long climbs which can be a bit tiring coming off a sub 10KG hard tail. I am really lucky to have Juniors to ride with to make sure I also push on the descent and see what I'm capable of. After having a lot of fun on the new wooden gap, our young gun Martin Ooshuizen decided that he didn't like the local plant life, and proceeded to try uproot a whole tree using only his head! It was then time to leave the XCO course.

Sabie York Adventure Trails: a li'l bit of MTB Heaven: fast flowing single track, roots, rocks, JUMPS!!!

The very next day I convinced my old man to come and ride the Sabie trails and I knew immediately that this is where the Giant Trance would be at home. Jakes met us at the bottom of the course and we needed to ride all the way up to the top of the downhill, an easy feat that I've done numerous times... But the Giant weighs about 14.5 kg and takes a bit of getting used to on the ups (the set up is very relaxed, well how I've set it up) so I can smash some single track and be more comfortable in the air. So, needless to say, I had a tough time keeping Jakes' pace going up the hill. After 30 min of nonstop climbing we had reached the summit of what felt like Everest. It must be mentioned that I will do 95% of my MTB training on this bike because it's a bit heavier, it builds confidence and it's so incredibly fun to ride!!!

The true test. York Enduro track. 1st Run, I didn't hold back on this one.

This course has it all: berms almost all the way down, some fast pedaling sections, jagged rocks, slippery roots and most importantly 2 big table tops at the bottom (my personal favorite place to ride). 

I can honestly say that this bike performed better than the downhill bikes we rode 10 years ago. it accelerates out of turns like fat kids to an ice cream truck! 

I cant wait for the York Enduro to see what my actual time down this course was. Having done a proper setup the night before, I was way more comfortable and feeling confident. I did all the rock jumps without hesitation (that's trust in equipment) the 140mm travel soaked up EVERYTHING! I rode the bottom section of the track where the 2 table top jumps are for over an hour just having fun and playing around (forgoting that I was in full Lycra... goodbye enduro street cred...). At the end of the session I was truly disappointed to have to pack up and go home. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this review. I hope you enjoyed it. 

Yours truly

Justin Victor