New Giant Stance promises smoothness of multi-link suspension without the maintenance

Updated short-travel trail bike gets 140mm fork for less £2,000

By Nick Clark

Published: Thursday, 02 November 2023 at 16:00 PM

Giant has released its new Stance mountain bike, now featuring increased suspension travel and more aggressive geometry.

The new trail bike continues to use Giant’s Flexpoint flex-stay suspension system, which has been upped from 120mm to 125mm, with the fork increasing from 130mm to 140mm of travel.

The new range starts at £1,999 for the Stance 2, which is available in 29in and 27.5in wheel sizes, while the Stance 1 29 is priced at £2,399.

Giant has yet to confirm international pricing.

More travel and inherited hardware

Giant Stance 29 2023
The Stance is Giant’s short-travel trail bike.
Giant

The Stance is Giant’s entry-level full-suspension mountain bike platform, sitting below the Trance.

The new Stance is made from Giant’s ALUXX aluminium, which it says offers high levels of stiffness and durability, while remaining lightweight.

Giant Stance 29 2023 with FlexPoint suspension system
The rocker link has also had a redesign, making it look more sleek than the previous bike.
Giant

Its updated frame sees an increase in travel, up 5mm to 125mm, and still uses Giant’s FlexPoint flex-stay suspension system.

Flex-stay suspension is seen most commonly on smaller-travel cross-country bikes, because the system requires fewer pivots, making the frame lighter and more responsive due to the extra rigidity.

Giant says the FlexPoint system reduces the amount of maintenance needed, while maintaining the smoothness of multi-link suspension linkage.

Giant Stance 29 2023 with Shimano Cues U6000
The addition of thru-axles should provide increased rigidity in the rear end.
Giant

The bike now features a thru-axle drop-out on the rear, which should make it compatible with the best mountain bike wheels, should you wish to upgrade.

The Stance has also inherited new cable and house ports from Maestro suspension-equipped bikes such as the Giant Reign. These enter the frame on the down tube.

Giant Stance 29 2023
Mounts under the top tube enable carrying cages to be fitted to the Stance’s frame.
Giant

Under the top tube, there is now a mount to secure accessories too, such as a spare inner tube. There’s also a new chainstay protector, which should keep noise from chain slap to a minimum.

All bikes in the Stance range use Giant’s own Crest 34 SL RCL fork, which has 34mm-wide stanchions and is said to have customised negative coil springs for dedicated small-bump support.

The fork also features a dedicated mudguard mount, which should be useful if you’re riding in rainy climates.

The Stance gets Giant’s new Contact Switch AT dropper, which offers 30mm of tool-free travel adjustment and features a rotatable actuator, which can be flipped 180 degrees to reduce the bend on the dropper cable.

Longer, slacker, better?

Giant Stance 29 2023
The new Stance features more aggressive rubber than the bike it replaces.
Giant

The geometry on the Stance has been slackened dramatically, with head angles on both the 29in and 27.5in frames reducing by 2 degrees to 65.5 degrees.

A slacker head angle should make the bike feel more stable, especially on steeper trails, because the wheel will be pushed further away from the centre of the bike than a bike with a steeper head angle.

The reach measurement has increased by 16mm to 470mm on a 29in size-large bike, and chainstay lengths have increased by 2mm to 440mm.

S M LXL
Seat tube length (mm)400 425 450 475
Seatpost insertion (mm)217242268293
Seat tube angle (degrees)76.50 76.50 76.50 76.50
Top tube length (mm)563 595 622 654
Head tube length (mm)100 110 120 125
Head tube angle (degrees) 65.50 65.50 65.50 65.50
Fork rake (mm)44 44 44 44
Trail (mm)124 124 124 124
Wheelbase (mm)1,164 1,198 1,227 1,260
Chain stay length (mm)440 440 440 440
Bottom bracket drop (mm)40 40 40 40
Stack (mm)614 623 632 636
Reach (mm)415 445 470 500
Standover height (mm)735 734 753 758
Handlebar width (mm)780 780 780 780
Stem length (mm)40 40 50 50
Crank length (mm)165170170 170

Giant Stance spec and pricing information

Giant Stance 2

Giant Stance 29 2 2023
The Stance 2 uses Shimano’s Cues U6000 groupset.
Giant
  • Fork: Giant Crest 34 SL RCL, 140mm
  • Shock: Suntour Raidon R
  • Drivetrain: Shimano Cues U6000
  • Brakes: Shimano BR-MT200
  • Wheels: Giant AM alloy
  • Tyres: Maxxis Minion DHF EXO 2.5 (f), Maxxis Dissector EXO 2.4 (r)
  • Price: £1,999