Giant Trance 4 2015 - Upgrades

vulva65

Hi All,

I've just bought a Giant Trance 4 2015 for a very good price, I was originally looking at a Trance 3 2016 but this was such a good deal that I couldn't turn it down. This is my first full-sus and understand I need the fork and rear shock up to the correct sag which I am planning to do, I do however need to get myself a shock pump, any recommendations on a good value one that will do the job?

It comes as standard spec so any recommendations on what to upgrade over the coming months, I've already changed the front tyre from a rapid rob to a nobby nic, and have changed the stock pedals to DMR Vaults. I've been used to a 660mm bar, whereas the trance has a 730mm and it's going to take some getting used to but planning on sticking with it.

Any advice would be appreciated, cheers guys!

JBA

If you are riding off road then consider a dropper post.

Ride it until things wear out/break and then upgrade.
It's pointless spending money if everything already works to your satisfaction.

cooldad

A shock pump is generally a shock pump. There are a few different ones with dozens of different badges/branding.

vulva65

Okay so after a baptism by fire, I had a full day at BPW this weekend, we had the uplift service so managed to get 9/10 runs in. The bike was feeling lovely and the rear shock was floating over everything, the front fork however was feeling pretty rigid, and my hands took a beating, I plan on taking some air out and hopefully that will make them a little more forgiving?

Also the brakes weren't quite as responsive as I was hoping for, they are the Shimano M355 and they were recently bled and have new pads but just didn't quite cut it, my hands were aching from constantly pulling on the levers. Just wondering if people have had similar problems with the M355? I'm looking at upgrading to either the Shimano XLT M675 or the Shimano XT M8000, any advice or any others to go for that won't break the bank?

Cheers!

The Rookie

Ideally you want a servowave brake (M615 I think is the lowest), or just brake less.

As for teh forks, make sure the stanchions are smooth in the bushes and you don't have too much compression damping.

cooldad

I think M675 might be the lowest with servowave, but not sure. I have M615 (Deore), M675 (SLX) and M785 (XT) on different bikes. Apart from the need for an allen key to adjust the reach on the Deore (which is basically adjust and forget anyway), there's not a whole lot in it for me. Maybe I just don't go very fast. They all work well.

vulva65

Cheers Rookie and Cooldad, i'll take that into account. As for breaking less, I tried this and started hitting trees which I've been told is bad for my health.

Briggo

Aching hands can be because of the position of the brake levers from the bars is too far, I found this and after adjusting them so theyre closer helped a whole lot.

Another thing it can be is because the angle of the brake levers are too high/low. I'd read up on bike setup first.

Again rigid forks can be down to setup, air/rebound/damping adjustments.

As an actual upgrade, I'd recommend changing the cockpit, for some reason Giant like longer stems and narrow bars. I went from a 70mm stem and 730 bars on my Trance to 35mm stem and 780mm bars and it was night and day difference. The stability it adds on the Trance is spot on.

Also tyres, mine had Nobby Nics as standard (trailstar/pacestar) and changed to Maxxis High Roller 2s in exo/tr form, again a huge difference. What compound are your nobbys?