What can my bike do?

rockmonkeysc

I have been unsure recently of what my Giant Trance X is capable of doing & if I am pushing it too hard or holding back when I should be giving it some more.
Is this bike designed to be ridden with the wheels firmly on the ground? Can I ride small drops & jumps on it? Should I be slowing for roots & rocks etc or can I just bash on through?
The bike feels light but I have been told that it's pretty tough and can take a lot. Giants sales brochure/website don't really say what it can do. & I can't find anything on youtube etc.

weeksy59

most things is the answer. Trail centres, woods, rocks...

rockmonkeysc

Should I be keeping it on the ground?
If I was riding it too hard would it let me know by bending the wheels first?
The bike seems to encourage me to push harder all the time but it does worry me when I'm passing people on 6" travel bikes like Remedy's & Reigns but they could be just riding like big girls.

wordnumb

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Should I be keeping it on the ground?

Nope. Read up on how to land properly, check your wheels after a hard ride. You won't know what the bike can take until you break it, but you can minimise the stresses it has to cope with by lifting the wheels over stuff and landing smoothly.

MountainMonster

Keep on trucking and up the pace. When I first got my Cube I was a bit scared to say the least of braking it. After all, it's only a hardtail. Now that thing takes some serious downhill abuse with a few drops, and handles them well. Handles everything else as well as a hardtail could in my opinion, and that makes it fun.

Dirtydog11

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have been unsure recently of what my Giant Trance X is capable of doing & if I am pushing it too hard or holding back when I should be giving it some more.

Half the fun for me is finding out, the chances are you'll hit your limit before you find the bikes. Just use common sense and remember its a trail bike and not designed for freeride.

Miggins

Dirtydog11 wrote:

.....the chances are you'll hit your limit before you find the bikes.

Totally agree. I've ridden my hardtail fast over rock gardens, off jumps (max 3 foot, mind), down red routes at high speed, round bike park type stuff and trail centres. The bike can definitely take more punishment than I can. And, like I say, it's a hardtail.

rockmonkeysc

I guess as long as I don't go launching off big jumps & 6" drops to flat landings it will be good & lift the front over big roots.
I am off to Afan in a week or two. I guess it's more than capable of red/black runs.
I think a skills course might be a good investment.

underdog

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I am off to Afan in a week or two. I guess it's more than capable of red/black runs.
.

I ride my Trance x5 around there regular and it's well within what the bike can handle. They're pretty touch bikes, capable of anything until you hit freeride territory.

njee20

Bikes generally are pretty tough! You could ride a cyclocross bike around Afan without fear of it breaking!

It's not some horrifically lightweight race bike! I suspect that 99.9% of people would reach the limit of their skill/balls long before the bike did! I know I've never managed to break a bike, and that's using 'fragile' lightweight XC bikes.

bluechair84

I think trail bikes like that are the true do-it-all bikes. It will start to feel nervous and you will start bottoming out the shocks front and rear when you are reaching the limit of the bike. If you are running the correct pressures and are still bottoming out all the time, then I'd suggest you'd need a bigger bike.

JGS

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I guess as long as I don't go launching off big jumps & 6" drops to flat landings it will be good & lift the front over big roots.
I am off to Afan in a week or two. I guess it's more than capable of red/black runs.
I think a skills course might be a good investment.

I've done 6' drops on a hardtail to flat and while they are quite jarring you'd be amazed at how well the bike can take it. You'd be able to reasonable sized jumps as long as you get a good smooth landing, however if you try and blast a large rock garden that bike might get a bit unstuck, although take carefully and you'd probably be fine.

I think you'll love Afan on that bike, you'll fly up the hills and there isn't too much to get unstuck on with that bike. Ultimately even though you have suspension it's still about using your body to absorb the shock as well.