Giant trance x3 or Trek fuel ex 6?

bobmouse

Cant decide between these bikes. i was going to go with longer travel more gnarr bikes but I'm a trail rider and am never going to do the mega..lol. Tempeted by the fuel ex for sizing reasons I think a 22 may fit me better. Any input would be great.

rockmonkeysc

Trance X is excellent. Great trail bike & takes hard riding better than you would expect.

Stu Coops

Trance X here too but i'm biased as I have one and think it's awesome but I have also had a Trek Fuel EX8 and loved it, both really good bikes but for me the Trance just pips it.

jairaj

Not tried those exact models but tried a ex8 and TranceX2.

I found the Trek to be very stable and composed. I preferred the slacker angles and the wide bar setup, it has a low front end so still climbed well without the front popping up and didn't feel the need to turn on the pro pedal. The bike felt very strong and stiff and it gave you the feeling it would happily ride down a lot of stuff you wouldn't normally take a 120mm bike down.

The TranceX was also a nice bike. It felt very efficient while pedalling, not that the Fuel was inefficient just the TranceX was a bit better. The steeper angles made it nipper round twisty single track but I felt less comfortable going down steep stuff. It felt great on fast flowy easy single track. I also didn't get on well with the cockpit setup the demo bike had. Narrow bars and a high front end. I didn't get on with the reduced leverage from the narrow bars and felt the high front caused the front to start wondering a bit more than I would have liked on steep ups. But that's my personal preference so can't really mark the bike down and possibly a change of stem or bars might solve the situation.

If you're a wheels firmly on the ground kinda rider I'd say possibly the TranceX might suit more otherwise if you like to style it up a bit more while you ride and you think 140/150m bike is too much travel then the Fuel EX is a better choice in my opinion.

rockmonkeysc

Bars & stem on the Trance are a bit of an old style xc set up with the narrow (680mm) bars and long (90mm) stem. Fit a short stem & wide bars & it's much better. Trance is certainly strong enough. Giant's pro riders have used them for everything from slopestyle & 4X racing to XC racing, I might be wrong but I think one of their rider won the Sea Otter dual slalom on a Trance X.

bobmouse

Thanks for the input, whatever I end up with I will be putting wider bars and a shorter stem on anyway the thing that I am most in mind of is the sizing because I'm 6ft 4 the Trek looks like it would fit me better allowing me to shorten up the step a little but still giving me enough room up front. The trance is a really good bike, which is why its a hard choice to make. Both are awesome and I'm sure I would love them both..the Trek has the edge on geomarty and sizing.






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rockmonkeysc

A friend test rode a Trance X2 recently, he found the large too small & he is 6'3" though I'm 6'1" and found it too large. He ended up buying a Norco Sight 2 because the sizing was spot on & it's a great bike.

bobmouse

RockmonkeySC wrote:

A friend test rode a Trance X2 recently, he found the large too small & he is 6'3" though I'm 6'1" and found it too large. He ended up buying a Norco Sight 2 because the sizing was spot on & it's a great bike.

Thats good to know, ta. The Norco sight 2 is a lovely bike but well out if my price range. The Trek looks like a goer, just gonna compare it to the camber...does it ever end?...lol

rockmonkeysc

How about a Sight 3? Better spec than the Trance but a couple hundred pounds more.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... gn=froogle

bobmouse

Would do if I had all the cash upfront. I'm looking at 36 months 0% credit on the Trek...I will look around for a Norco sight 3.

rockmonkeysc

Don't buy the Trek without a test ride. I tried one before buying my Trance X3 and really didn't like it at all. The EX6 doesn't get the DRCV suspension system that the higher spec Fuel EX bikes have.