2013 Giant trance x3

mali01

Now that the bad weather has set in ive found it hard to motivate myself to get out and get muddy.

What better time to clean everything and treat the bike to some better parts.

First thing that went was the standard fork I found the Rockshox xc32 far to firm for me, so i sourced a 120mm medium rate spring and fitted that (made hardly any difference at all) The Xc32 damping was also extremely noisy.
So CRC quickly got typed into google and the search began for something that would suit the Trance and more importantly something i could afford.

The Rockshox Sektor gold Rl soloair 140mm caught my eye and was ordered.



This thing has made it a completely different bike! Nice and plush without diving through its travel when applying the brakes. Lighter and stiffer than the standard fork, so saved some weight and steering feels more direct.

Obviously with the fork being 15mm through axle the original wheel wouldnt fit so the search began for an affordable wheel set. I really wanted to go tubeless and wanted hope hoops stans flow but i just couldnt swallow the cost after buying the fork, so a pair of Mavic Crossrides were ordered and fitted.



I'll be honest and say i can feel no difference between these and the stock wheels. maybe a little stiffer and i weighed them and saved 380gms over the stock wheelset. But like i said my amateur skill can feel no difference. apart from the rear hub being noisier (like an angry cricket)

I was extremely happy with my choices and while i was caring and caressing the Trance with some warm soapy water i realised that the big ring had never been used.... Off it came and a nice shiny Hope bashguard was bolted into its place.



Next up will be fitting some SLX shifters and rear mech that will replace the stock Alivio/Deore that i have in the spares box, a shorter stem and a slightly wider bar.

rockmonkeysc

Very nice. I had a Trance with 140mm Rockshox Pikes. Best xc bike I have had.
Have you changed the standard narrow bars and long stem.

mali01

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Very nice. I had a Trance with 140mm Rockshox Pikes. Best xc bike I have had.
Have you changed the standard narrow bars and long stem.

Not yet RockmonkeySC A 70mm stem and 720mm bars are on the cards though.

rockmonkeysc

Thats the same as I went for. It makes a good improvement to the handling.

declan1

Great wheelset - got those for myself a little while ago and they've improved the bike massively.

tarbot18

Nice looking bike but mtfu and get out and ride it !
You live in britain if you wait for nice weather you ll end up a bloater , i had one of the best rides of the year at penmachno on friday in torrential rain .

97th choice

Very nice, I'd swap the performance line nobby nics pretty quick and keep them for dry days and trail centres.

Kowalski675

Nice bike, and they look great in that colourscheme. I reckon I probably would've bought one if Pauls had them at £899 when I bought my Boardman, then upgraded the fork like you've done.

mali01

97th choice wrote:

Very nice, I'd swap the performance line nobby nics pretty quick and keep them for dry days and trail centres.

Any ideas on a decent winter tyre? What are those Conti Rubber Queens like, I hear they are a big tyre, would the 2.2s fit the Trance x?

mali01

Kowalski675 wrote:

Nice bike, and they look great in that colourscheme. I reckon I probably would've bought one if Pauls had them at £899 when I bought my Boardman, then upgraded the fork like you've done.

Yep, this one came from Pauls cycles. Bloody good price!

Kowalski675

mali01 wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

Nice bike, and they look great in that colourscheme. I reckon I probably would've bought one if Pauls had them at £899 when I bought my Boardman, then upgraded the fork like you've done.

Yep, this one came from Pauls cycles. Bloody good price!

Yeah, good bike for that price. The compnent spec on mine's higher, but the Giant's frame's better.

rockmonkeysc

mali01 wrote:

97th choice wrote:

Very nice, I'd swap the performance line nobby nics pretty quick and keep them for dry days and trail centres.

Any ideas on a decent winter tyre? What are those Conti Rubber Queens like, I hear they are a big tyre, would the 2.2s fit the Trance x?

Rubber Queens with black chilli compound are the best all round tyres I have used. They fit my Anthem with plenty of clearance so they should be fine on a Trance.

mali01

Looks like me and the wife are going to Gisburn this weekend so i kindly swapped the 2.1 ground control tyres from my Rockhopper on to my Wifes bike and have ordered myself some 2.2 Rubber queens for the Trance.

Kowalski675

I like Gisburn.

mali01

Kowalski675 wrote:

I like Gisburn.

Everytime we have been we have been blessed with the Northwests finest weather.......... Copious amounts of heavy rain

Kowalski675

mali01 wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

I like Gisburn.

Everytime we have been we have been blessed with the Northwests finest weather.......... Copious amounts of heavy rain

I've been about 5 times, always dry and usually sunny. Trails were wet in places last time (plenty of puddles in dips, and it was pretty boggy down by the new bridge after Hully Gully), but on previous visits they've been bone dry. Wouldn't mind getting over there again before the winter really sets in.

SUPERSUTT

I'm looking for some 140 mm fox forks for my trance but in white if possible

rockmonkeysc

SUPERSUTT wrote:

I'm looking for some 140 mm fox forks for my trance but in white if possible

Why Fox? They are ridiculously overpriced and less reliable tha Rockshox for no performance advantage. A set of Revelations will be stiffer, need less maintenance and are cheaper. I had a set of Pikes on my Trance, they were perfect.
You do loose some climbing ability with a 140mm fork, I found the front can get very light on steep climbs.

mali01

Been busy with this over the xmas period. I apologise for the crappy pics.

Off came the stock super long stem and was replaced with a Truvativ AKA 70mm stem. While looking i came across the perfect colour coded bar for the bike so that was ordered too. At 700mm wide it was 20mm shorter than i wanted but still wider than the stock bar and with those colours it had to be ordered.



I also replaced the stock brakes with some Shimano Deore 615's along with new rotors. These have made a huge difference to the bike and are what i think along with the Sektor fork the best money spent on the bike so far.



Shifters and mechs were changed to Shimano SLX as i alredy had these in the spares box from previous bike.
Eventually i want to go 1x10 with a Raceface Narrow wide chainring.



Tyres were changed to Conti Rubber queens (sale price was far to good to ignore) 2.4 up front and 2.2 rear.
The clipless pedals i was using were taken off after a few slides in the mud resulting in me be unable to get out of them in time and going down with the bike. some DMR V8's have taken their place until things dry up a touch.

sanchez89

looking great buddy. have you got Black Chili Queens or just the standard (shite) compound? the 2.2 iv been running on the front of my bouncer has been outstanding.

mali01

sanchez89 wrote:

looking great buddy. have you got Black Chili Queens or just the standard (shite) compound? the 2.2 iv been running on the front of my bouncer has been outstanding.

Just the shite compound. At £12.99 a go it was hard to say no! Im running around 35psi in them and they feel good. Althoug i have never had the pleasure of riding using the more expensive compound tyres so i have nothing to compare against.

sanchez89

The BC one's are verging on legendary. some much grip on everything. Expensive but worth it, think i ordered mine from one of the German sites, along with the X-king i run on the rear.

If you get chance to buy one in a sale or something i suggest you do, you will thank me for it!

anyway happy riding!

SUPERSUTT

I just got my hands on some fox 32 float fit 150mm which I will reduce to 140mm before I fit them (IN WHITE).
I am now looking for a new front wheel 15mm screw thru.

How much better is having 140mm of travel over 120

mali01

SUPERSUTT wrote:

I just got my hands on some fox 32 float fit 150mm which I will reduce to 140mm before I fit them (IN WHITE).
I am now looking for a new front wheel 15mm screw thru.

How much better is having 140mm of travel over 120

Theres a huge difference mate. But thats comparing to what i thought was a crappy fork (xc32)

Travel feels endless, but the front does wander a tad on uphills

rockmonkeysc

When I had my Trance I went from a Fox F120 to a 140mm Pike and it was a huge difference.

SUPERSUTT

mali01 wrote:

SUPERSUTT wrote:

I just got my hands on some fox 32 float fit 150mm which I will reduce to 140mm before I fit them (IN WHITE).
I am now looking for a new front wheel 15mm screw thru.

How much better is having 140mm of travel over 120

Theres a huge difference mate. But thats comparing to what i thought was a crappy fork (xc32)

Travel feels endless, but the front does wander a tad on uphills

I cant believe the difference in weight and how much smoother the fox forks feel compared to the nasty XC32i doubt I will get much for them when I go to sell them.

the Recons on the Specialized Camber was OK but the fox seem a lot better by far. Just cant wait to get out and try them now

SUPERSUTT

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coblck

Thinking on buying one of these will fitting a longer travel fork not invalidate your warranty ??? nice bike as well.

mali01

coblck wrote:

Thinking on buying one of these will fitting a longer travel fork not invalidate your warranty ??? nice bike as well.

Stick with 140mm and below and your warranty should stay intact as giant specced a 140mm fork on the top end model of the Trance.

Kowalski675

If you had any warranty issue you'd just refit the OE forks before taking it to the shop anyway.

SUPERSUTT

giant have informed me that 140mm is the max for a trance so a trip to my LBS to get forks reduced from 150 to 140 + I think 150mm is to much travel need to keep it balanced, if you need more travel get a reign