Giant Trance X4 upgrades to beef it up a bit?

felix.london

Got a set of 2.35" Bonty XR4 Team Issue for my Flows but tyre choice is obviously very personal and heavily dependant on where (and when in the UK) you're riding.

Presume you wont have any clearance issues with a big 2.4" tyre on your frame? Never even seen a Trance in the flesh so am clueless - thought it was more of a longer travel XC bike?

Pike sounds like a good call. Seen a few that look in very good nick on Pinkbike, going for about £200 odd or get a new Revelation?

97th choice

Can you get the older pikes with a tapered steerer?

Grovsie29

I don't know what that means choice? The new revelation like Felix said also looks good. Id would be nice to save some weight on the fork, as the rims and shock are gonna drop some and pedals.

The trance is a longer travel XC bike felix.

Ill be riding Cannock chase mostly, though ill be doing some LLandegla and Coed Y brenin and FOD, and Afan maybe, the usual places. Ill have to do some research on tyres.

What size tyre do those mavic rims take? maybe a stupid question? my current tyres are 2.1"

felix.london

Guess you wont know til you try but you might be looking at a new set of tyres too! (2.1" on a Flow seems a bit daft)

I think the Mavic's would be a more sensible (I hate that word!) rim; Lighter and narrower.

Depending on the headtube on the Trance (tapered?) and your current forks you may need a new headset to accommodate your new forks

Grovsie29

I want new tyres............

Going for the Mavic XM719 rims from here, what other options on that site would I need? http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=501

I assume the first adapter depends on that forks I get? I really do think ill get a Rockshox pike 454 dual air fork. What about the rear one? Also what about the Steerer length on the fork?

Headset is 1 1/8 from what I can see on the net

Really need people who have upgraded there trances, must be loads.....

felix.london

Grovsie29 wrote:

I want new tyres............

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1329856/

210mm steerer will be fine. Ask the seller but reckon they'll have a 20mm axel.

What's your current rear wheel got axel wise?..you'll need the same as that for the new wheel

bamba

Right then, my 2010 trance x4,
150mm RS sektor coil uturn,20mm maxle,
DT swiss 5.1 & hopepro2 on front with a maxxis ignitor 2.35
Still original rear wheel wtb (for now next on the list) with a 2.35 maxxis minion,
2x9 with bash a chain device,
lock on grips an some dmr v8 look alike pedals.
Used around dark peak area, cannock a few times and my local route which has a good mixture of stuff,
My bike probably not everyones cup of tea,or the lightest,but it serves me well,i can throw it round the chase well or down the roughest dark peak can offer with no issues so far.
Next on the to do list,a good 2nd hand rear wheel/hub and may be a shorter stem/wider bars.
Tyres ,what one person says is good for them , in your neck of the woods over different ground, you may find them no good for you.My local route has a mix of road,farm track,mud,grass,rock and usually some eternal puddles the size of a pond,find a tyre that suits that lot,


20130430_104126 by bambaX4, on Flickr

Grovsie29

Thanks felix. Iam not sure what the current rear wheel axel is? Can't seem to find out from a google either.

Thanks bamba, nice bike.

Whats the steerer length on that fork?

Close to ordering the shock and wheels/hubs, just need to buy a 2nd hand pike...............and find a good tyre for the Mavic XM719 rims.

bamba

cant remember the length, il try to measure it over the weekend.I had the fork new,and left it a bit longer than it needs,hence the spacers on top.
re the rear shock,never heard any one say anything bad about the giant air shock,just dosnt have the pro pedal feature on like the fox item,never noticed it to be a problem though.

Grovsie29

You don't know what size the rear axle is do you bamba? ive got 3 options 10mm thru axle, 12mm thru axle and 142/12. lol.

yeah it's got the 3 spacers I suppose, the 2nd hand one im after is 210mm, like felix said should be fine, might be able to buy a new one.

Yeah it seems to perform ok, my main gripe like I said, is the fact I need to pump more air in, if I wana go and play on stile cop and do some fair sized jumps. The monarch has different settings doesn't it? It also has a lockout so uphills can be made easier? Maybe ill buy that last, just might be able to get a good deal on a new monarch RT3 and pike fork................

felix.london

Photo's would help!

The bike in the picture has standard QR (rear axle)

You can either get the Standard QR Adapter (simple, light) or the 10mm Thru-Axle Adapter (heavier, possibly stiffer)

If you get the 10mm Thru Axle Adapter (like I know you will!) you'll need a 10mm Thru Axle too;

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=32&products_id=287

Grovsie29

Ill measure it tomorrow, hehehe. I see now, it's just an adapter with the wheelset, and not an actual axle. Cheers.

felix.london

you don't need to measure it. The Trance def has standard QR dropouts.

Before you pull the trigger on the Mavic's you might wanna read this;

http://dirt.mpora.com/dirt-100/2013-dirt-100-superstar-wheels.html

Grovsie29

Lol dam you. I was all set on the mavic's, and now im going back to the flows. They are wider, and can therefore take more tyres can they not and tubeless? so maybe there a better idea?

Grovsie29

delete

Grovsie29

97th choice wrote:

Can you get the older pikes with a tapered steerer?

Looks like you can't? LOL. Monkey SC is doing me a good deal on the forks, so I still want them, what do I need to fit the forks into a tapered steerer frame?

Grovsie29

Also hopefully the last dam question lol, good tyres to go with the flow rims? Would prefer all rounders, but definatly what a little less rolling res than my current one's.

Think ive sorted the headtube issue with this: http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/m ... ducer.html

symanoy

I've got a 2011 Trance X2, had a 2009 X2 before that. 140mm fork upgrade definitely worth it, I've got fox forks but they're expensive! Pike's are great forks, you'll want to get your LBS to fit the headset cups though, very easy to mess up without the proper, and very expensive, tools. But fork is a good upgrade.
bar and stem will make a massive difference i run 70mm stem with 740mm bars and it works great for me.
Wheels again are a great upgrade, I would stick with XM719, plenty strong enough, not enough tyre clearance on the back of the Trance for big tyres anyway. 719's can be run tubeless with a kit, and cheaper.

I wouldn't bother with the shock personally, will make less difference that the other upgrades.

Tyres don't really 'go with' rims. rims have a recommended size tyre e.g. 1.8-2.3 or something. You want tyres to match your riding not your rim. I'm currently about to try a Maxxis Minion front, Ardent rear, as a fairly aggressive combo, but you won't know what you like till you try it.

Grovsie29

Good point about the tyres, I forgot that the Trance can't take wide tyres anyways. Back to the Mavics it is then lol.

No idea what you mean by "LBS to fit the headset cups" mate hehe. Im assuming it will fit just with that spacer thingie I linked to?

Want to go for the shock as id like the option of a lockout, and the fact you can turn the dial to stiffen it up or slacken it, that will help me depending on what iam doing. If it's pants I can always sell it.

Cheers for everyone's help. Yeah im gonna order some 740mm bars, ive already got a 65mm stem fitted.

symanoy

sorry didn't look at it properly, looks simple though!

What shock you looking at? some form of lockout/damping can be nice.

Grovsie29

Ive just done a search and someone mentions you have to be careful with giant because they can have a Overdrive taper. Well mine says overdrive on it. What on earth is it? Will the forks not fit with the reducer anyways?

Seriously why the hell is everything so complicated? lol.

Shock- Rockshox Monarch RT3.

symanoy

There's Overdrive and Overdrive 2.
2011 Has overdrive which is standard tapeted 1.5-1 1/8
overdrive 2 is 1.5-1.25 I think

If you've upgraded your stem then its almost definitely an overdrive

Grovsie29

Ah, in that case I should be fine then, cheers. Yeah I did wonder I read stems wouldn't fit, and obviously ive fitted one to mine already.

Why do Giant do this? just seems to make things more complicated and less compatible.

concorde

Could try putting a steak on it if you want to beef it up a bit...

felix.london

symanoy wrote:

Tyres don't really 'go with' rims. rims have a recommended size tyre e.g. 1.8-2.3 or something. You want tyres to match your riding not your rim

this ^

Think you might be missing the point here;

Grovsie29 wrote:

Good point about the tyres, I forgot that the Trance can't take wide tyres anyways

btw, front tyre clearance is dictated by the fork not the frame i.e you won't have any issues if you're whacking a Pike on there. It's also common for riders to have a 'beefier' tyre up front than out back

bamba

Grovsie29 wrote:

Thanks bamba, nice bike.

Whats the steerer length on that fork?

Steerer length on my 2010 model, 1"1/8 dia, 200mm with no spacers.

Grovsie29

Thanks Bamba.

I think at the mo, im just gonna bung my Kenda Nevagals on the Maxis rims Felix, I really have no idea what other tyres to go for.

symanoy

Kenda Nevagals aren't bad tyres. They'll do the job for most UK riding. Ride them some more and work out what you like and don't like about them. Things like rolling resistance, cornering traction, climbing traction etc.

Another key thing I find, is it doesn't matter what tyres your running if you don't trust them you won't ride your best! If you believe in a tyre you'll ride it hard and push it because you believe you can. If you have a great tyre but you don't trust it you won't feel the benefit.

Grovsie29

I like the grip and cornering, I just think the rolling resistance is really bad.

Ill keep em a while longer, and see what there like on the new wheels.

symanoy

Bear in mind that you can't have great grip and low rolling resistance, DH tyres have tons of grip but aren't very fast rolling, XC race tyres roll super fast but far less grip.

You have to compromise somewhere. Hence it is common to run a bigger grippier tyre up front and a narrower faster rolling tyre out back to try and get the best of both worlds