By Robin Weaver

Published: Thursday, 28 October 2021 at 12:00 am

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It was just over a year ago that Giant launched the new Trance X 29er, which was followed shortly by the pricier carbon-framed Giant Trance X Advanced 29.

While both the alloy and carbon Trance X 29 models were aimed at being the ultimate do-it-all trail bikes, it seems, according to Giant’s marketing material at least, that the new Trance X is here to shake things up a bit.

The new bike rolls on 27.5in wheels, offers more travel than its 29er counterparts and boasts the kind of numbers you’d expect to see on the geometry chart of a full-blown enduro racer.

Although the numbers might suggest otherwise, Giant still classes the new Trance X as a trail bike, stating: “It’s not a race bike, but it can help you ride faster. It’s not a pure DH or enduro bike, but it can give you the confidence to charge harder. It’s smooth, it’s quick, and most of all, it’s fun.”

That certainly gives you some indication of what Giant had in mind when creating the new Trance X.

Five things you need to know about the new Giant Trance X

• 27.5in wheels only (Giant still offers a 29er version)
• 145mm of rear-wheel travel is matched to a 160mm travel fork up front
• Built around an all-new ALUXX SL aluminium frame
• A flip-chip allows you to adjust the geometry, altering the head and seat tube angle by around 0.7 degrees (this varies slightly across the sizes) and the bottom bracket by 10mm
• In the low setting, the head angle is a super-slack 63.8 degrees, which is pretty extreme for a “trail” bike

2022 Giant Trance X adjustable geometry details

The adjustable geometry was the big news last time around when Giant launched the Trance X 29 and it’s definitely worth a mention here, too.

Thanks to flip chips located in the rocker link/seatstay pivot, you can easily tweak the new Trance X’s geometry.

Flipping these oval inserts allows you to adjust the head and seat tube angles by 0.7 degrees (or 0.8 degrees on the size small) as well as raise or lower the bottom bracket by a significant 10mm.

What’s really noteworthy though, is just how relaxed Giant has made the head angle. In the low setting, Giant claims the new Trance X sits at a super-slack 63.8 degrees (or 63.7 degrees on the size small), which is close to downhill bike territory.

This can be changed to 64.5 degrees in the high setting if you’re looking for a slightly more agile feel up front.

Compared to the big-wheeler version, the new Trance X’s seat tube angle isn’t quite as steep at 76.3 degrees in the low setting (on the size small it’s 77.2 degrees ) but can be steepened to 77 degrees in the high setting.

Giant is offering four frame sizes (small to extra-large) with reach measurements varying from 427 to 497mm in the low setting or 435 to 505mm in the high setting.

For reference, a medium frame has a reach of 447mm (low setting), which is roughly in line with many other brands out there.

Ryan Cleek Photo

Unlike a lot of bikes that have launched more recently, the Trance X’s rear centre/effective chainstay length remains at 430mm across all frame sizes.

This could potentially mean that while small or medium riders may feel well-centred between the wheels, taller riders on large or extra-large frames may feel too far over the back wheel, especially when climbing sat down.

Giving a clear nod to the Trance X intentions, a 160mm-travel fork with a 37mm offset sits up front ready to do battle.

	S		M		L		XL
	Low	High	Low	High	Low	High	Low	High
Seat angle (degrees)	77.2	78	76.3	77	76.3	77	76.3	77
Head angle (degrees)	63.7	64.5	63.8	64.5	63.8	64.5	63.8	64.5
Chainstay (mm)	433	430	433	430	433	430	433	430
Seat tube (mm)	420	420	430	430	465	465	496	496
Top tube (mm)	562	560	595	593	622	620	649	647
Head tube (mm)	95	95	105	105	115	115	125	125
Fork offset (mm)	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	37
Trail (mm)	138	132	138	132	138	132	138	132
Bottom bracket drop (mm)	30	20	30	20	30	20	30	20
Wheelbase (mm)	1179	1177	1203	1202	1233	1231	1262	1260
Standover (mm)	709	718	714	723	740	750	762	772
Stack (mm)	596	590	605	599	614	608	623	617
Reach (mm)	427	435	447	455	472	480	497	505
Handlebar width (mm)	800	800	800	800	800	800	800	800
Stem length (mm)	40	40	40	40	50	50	50	50
Crank length (mm)	165	165	170	170	170	170	170	170

2022 Giant Trance X frame and suspension details

The new Trance X is currently only offered in Giant’s ALUXX SL aluminium – a 6061 alloy – which Giant claims provides “best in class stiffness-to-weight ratio”.

However, Giant does use a forged composite carbon fibre upper rocker link, which it claims to be lighter, stiffer and stronger than the aluminium equivalent.

At the rear, Giant’s tried and trusted Maestro twin-link suspension platform delivers 145mm of rear-wheel travel – that’s just 1mm less than the Reign 29, Giant’s enduro bike.

Giant

That said, the Reign SX, which also sports 27.5in wheels, offers up 160mm of travel (and comes with a 180mm travel fork), so the new Trance X isn’t exactly treading on toes just yet.

Giant says that the Maestro system is able to produce a neat vertical rear-axle path (most single pivot bikes arc forwards for the most part while high-pivot bikes arc rearwards for a portion of the bike’s travel) and a linear spring curve.

Giant claims this makes the Trance X’s suspension sensitive enough to absorb any impact big or small, no matter how repetitive, without “packing up”.

Giant

Managing the 145mm of rear-wheel travel and soaking up the bumps is a 185×55mm trunnion-mounted rear shock.

There’s plenty of integrated, rubberised frame protection on the underbelly of the Trance X to help protect the frame against rock strikes and trail debris, and on the chainstay to ward off irritating chainslap and keep the bike nice and quiet.

Not everyone will be a fan of the press-fit bottom bracket, though.

What are the Giant Trance X’s closest competitors?

In a world where we’re seeing more and more brands shift to either bigger 29in wheels at the front and rear, or even offer a mixture of both, known as a mullet setup (with a 29in wheel up front and a 27.5in wheel at the rear), it seems we’re seeing fewer and fewer bikes with two 27.5in wheels.

That’s not to say the Trance X will enter the market without any competition. In fact, bikes of this ilk currently out there are seriously good and the fight for the top spot will be fiercely contended.

First off, there’s the Transition Scout, which we had a short spell with last year. It may have a little less travel than the new Trance X, but its geometry and character on the trail won us over instantly.

Then, of course, there’s the Santa Cruz 5010. Again, while the 5010 only boasts 130mm of rear-wheel travel, its playful nature and solid build make it a real riot on the trail.

We’ll keep you posted on just how well the new Trance X stacks up against these two heavy hitters in the coming months.

2022 Giant Trance X range overview and spec details

The new Giany Trance X range consists of three different builds, all of which use the same ALUXX SL aluminium frame, complete with geometry adjusting flip-chips.

Scan the spec sheet in detail and you’ll notice some nice touches from Giant as you move up the frame sizes.

Ryan Cleek Photo

Giant offers different length grips depending on what size Trance X you opt for (120mm on the small and medium, 130mm on the large and extra-large) as well as different length stems (40mm on the small and medium, 50mm large and extra-large).

Giant doesn’t spec its own dropper post, though, instead opting to use the TranzX dropper which can be altered to change how much drop is available.

Cleverly, Giant also offers different posts across the different frame sizes (the post used on the small can be changed from 120 to 150mm of travel, the medium offers 140 to 170mm of travel and the post on the large and extra-large can be altered between 170 to 200mm of drop), which should allow riders to better tailor the bike to their specific needs.

Ryan Cleek Photo

All Trance X models use the same wide Maxxis tyres, front and rear.

Up front sits a Maxxis Assegai 3C MaxxTerra EXO 27.5×2.6in, while at the back there’s a Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C MaxxTerra EXO 27.5×2.6in tyre, both of which will be set up tubeless by Giant.

Here’s how the 2022 Giant Trance X range looks:

Giant Trance X 1

Giant

• Frame: ALUXX SL aluminium, 145mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Performance Elite
• Fork: Fox 36 Performance Elite GRIP2, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM GX Eagle
• Brakes: SRAM Code
• Price: £3,999

Giant Trance X 2

Giant

• Frame: ALUXX SL aluminium, 145mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Performance
• Fork: Fox Float 36 Rhythm GRIP, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM NX Eagle
• Brakes: Shimano Deore BR-MT520
• Price: £3,099

Giant Trance X 3

Giant

• Frame: ALUXX SL aluminium, 145mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Performance
• Fork: RockShox Yari RC Motion Control, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano Deore
• Brakes: Shimano BR-MT420
• Price: £2,799

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