Giant Trance.. which one?

james22b2

Hi
After lots of faffing i have decided to go with a Giant Trance - probably the Trance 2 2015 - as it seems a decent all rounder for my first MTB. I have an offer from my LBS for about 1350 GBP with a Giant dropper seat.
The guy in the shop said aluminium was more robust than carbon and I should go with the Trance 2 over the Trance 1 as I could always upgrade parts later.
Unfortunately nobody round where I live seems to have the L size in stock. I tried the M but it felt a bit small.
And of course there are new "2016" models out in about three months but I think I would rather not wait..
Any advice on my choices before I pull the trigger?
The other thing I am concerned with is the weight. The 2 is about 13.8 kg with the dropper, the 1 is 12.8kg and the Advanced 2 is 12.75kg. Not sure if that matters?
Weights are based on the EU Giant websites - UK and US Giant sites don´t list weights.
Thanks!

The Rookie

Carbon is more likely to last than AL, he was talking BS.

That's a good offer, but the first priority must be a bike that fits you!

Lighter weight is always nice, uphill or any time you want to move the bike around its less effort, 12.5Kg is a bit heavy though! (see links below).

rockmonkeysc

Are those weights right? Only 50 grammes between the Trance 1 & the Advanced?
The carbon frame should be a bit stiffer but having ridden the aluminium version I didn't think stiffness was a problem. There is no reason why the aluminium frame will be more robust, if anything the carbon frame is likely to be stronger and more durable.

james22b2

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19651739#p19651739]RockmonkeySC[/url] wrote:

Are those weights right? Only 50 grammes between the Trance 1 & the Advanced?
The carbon frame should be a bit stiffer but having ridden the aluminium version I didn't think stiffness was a problem. There is no reason why the aluminium frame will be more robust, if anything the carbon frame is likely to be stronger and more durable.

Here are the links:

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/es-es/bikes/model/trance.27.5.2.ltd/19159/77194/#specifications
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/es-es/bikes/model/trance.27.5.1/19159/77192/#specifications
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/es-es/bikes/model/trance.advanced.27.5.2/19160/77191/#specifications

The components are very different between the three bikes (Shimano on the aluminium Trance and SRAM on the carbon Trance Advanced 2).

codfather

The components are not vastly different across the three. The groupsets of the Trance 1 and the Advanced 2 are near identical in performance really, save for just being made by different manufacturers (both are mid-range 2x10). Both get the same finishing kit and the same dropper. The Trance 2 loses the dropper and is only a small step down on the groupset spectrum. Really what I'd be looking at is the trade off between frame, wheels and suspension. Aluminium frame + carbon rims on thru axle hubs & Revelation Vs. Carbon frame + aluminium rims on QR hubs and Sektor.
Then the cheaper Trance 2 gets the cheaper wheels and 32 CTD.

These are the things I would be weighing up rather than what groupset they come with as they all fall in a reasonably narrow performance band.

Antm81

To be honest the advanced 2 doesn't seem that good looking at that spec, I wouldn't been keen on the sektor fork even over the fox 32 and is at least 100g if not 200g heavier than the revelation on the trance 1 (Rockshox don't list a weight for 27.5 sektor)

The trance 2 in the link seems to be a slightly different spec to UK. Also I think your weight calculations for the aluminium 2 is a little out as you've added the 600g weight of the dropper to the bike weight but not taken the weight of the original seat post off (probably about 300g+ as the £150 contact SLR is 200g)

It's also worth remembering that it's only the front triangle that's carbon on the advanced, the rest is aluminium still.

james22b2

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19651820#p19651820]Antm81[/url] wrote:

To be honest the advanced 2 doesn't seem that good looking at that spec, I wouldn't been keen on the sektor fork even over the fox 32 and is at least 100g if not 200g heavier than the revelation on the trance 1 (Rockshox don't list a weight for 27.5 sektor)

The trance 2 in the link seems to be a slightly different spec to UK. Also I think your weight calculations for the aluminium 2 is a little out as you've added the 600g weight of the dropper to the bike weight but not taken the weight of the original seat post off (probably about 300g+ as the £150 contact SLR is 200g)

It's also worth remembering that it's only the front triangle that's carbon on the advanced, the rest is aluminium still.

Thanks everyone. Are there low cost ways to get the weight of the Trance 2 down, for example using third party wheel sets?

The Rookie

a 1x conversion will save you around 300g straight off, for a Trance I'd suggest you'd need a narrow wide ring, shorter bolts and an upper guide would still be a good idea.

Tubeless will save you about 100-150g each end, and going to non TLR tyres (they still work tubeless) another 100g each end.

Wheels could save you upto about 600g, but is an expensive way to lose weight!

If you don't want a dropper then a carbon seatpost (Chinese ebay ones work fine) will save about 150g for sub £20.

Foam grips will save about 110g for just £6-10.

Then you are into the little details like alternate brake discs etc

Antm81

Switching to a 1x transmission saved me about 500g. All depends on how you want to ride, I saved a little weight in my wheelset but it was negligible, I wasn't after a lightweight set of wheels though. There's a link in my sig to my 2014 Trance 2 which may give you some ideas, mines not a lightweight build plus a large frame, with dropper and pedals it's about 14kg, rides really well though and doesn't feel heavy.

The Rookie

500 is a big save for a 1x!

Shifter 125-140g, front mech 160-190g, cable 30g, rings 60g (steel), add on a narrow wide ring and a chain guide to go with the lower (30-40g and about 65-100g) and a typical saving is 300-400g.

Antm81

The Trance has a 2x MRP chain tensioner that's no longer needed when switching to 1x and there's no need for an upper guide either, after 6 months and riding everything from XC to DH on it I've not dropped the chain once.

All in including using a superstar N/W and changing the deore rear shifter for SLX I saved 520g.