Giant Talon - which model?

flight147z

Hi All

I am looking to buy my first mountain bike for about 15 years on my employer’s cycle to work scheme. At the moment I already do a lot of road cycling. I want to get a mountain bike for commuting in the wet and for doing some off road riding, including trails on occasion. I have considered getting a gravel bike or similar but I think I would prefer a hardtail mountain bike so that there is a big difference between the two bikes that I have.

I expect the bike will be used 50/50 on road and off road.

I have done some research and I think the bike that I want to buy is the Giant Talon with 27.5” wheels. This is mostly due to the brand, the aesthetics of the bike and the perceived value for money. My voucher is accepted at Tredz which is where I expect I will buy from.

I am torn between the Talon 1 and the Talon 2. From what I can see the main differences are that the Talon 1 has a better (air) fork and 2x10 gearing rather than 2x9. Other than that the two bikes seem largely identical. The Talon 1 is around 0.6kg lighter. The Talon 1 costs £200 more than the Talon 2, before tax savings.

I wanted to hear opinions on which one I should go for. Given most of my cycling will continue to be done on my road bike I am leaning towards the Talon 2.

Thanks for your help

JBA

For your intended use I’d go for the Talon 1 29er.
The air forks and Deore gearing are worth the extra £200.

mattyfez

Talon 1 for sure. For the same reasons mentioned above.
Although you are paying for the giant name a bit.. I'd expect Epixon forks rather than Raidon on a bike that price.

The weight saving on the "1" is probably all in the fork, air spring with magnisium alloy lowers as opposed to cheap coil spring with aluminium alloy lowers.

Suntours cheaper coil forks a partly why the company has a bad rep, they are crap. Thier air forks are good though. I upgraded from Xcm to epixon and the difference is huge, the xct and Xcm models are basically junk, you'd be better off with a rigid fork and a fatter tyre.

flight147z

JBA wrote:

For your intended use I’d go for the Talon 1 29er.
The air forks and Deore gearing are worth the extra £200.

Assume that is because 29" are "faster" on road?

The reasons I am leaning towards a 27.5" is weight and also practicality - I don't have a lot of space for storage and I drive a z4 and want to be able to get my bike in the back (my road bike goes in)

How does the size of a 29" MTB compare to a road bike?

mattyfez wrote:

Talon 1 for sure. For the same reasons mentioned above.
Although you are paying for the giant name a bit.. I'd expect Epixon forks rather than Raidon on a bike that price.

The weight saving on the "1" is probably all in the fork, air spring with magnisium alloy lowers as opposed to cheap coil spring with aluminium alloy lowers.

Suntours cheaper coil forks a partly why the company has a bad rep, they are crap. Thier air forks are good though. I upgraded from Xcm to epixon and the difference is huge, the xct and Xcm models are basically junk, you'd be better off with a rigid fork and a fatter tyre.

I don't mind paying for a brand - my first bike was a Planet X and my current bike is a Canyon - moving between the two has highlighted the benefit of sticking with the big brands

To me £800 is quite a lot for a first MTB, but if the value is there perhaps it is the right way to go

JBA

700c is 29". However, the tyres on an MTB have a larger volume so you have to account for that.

flight147z

JBA wrote:

700c is 29". However, the tyres on an MTB have a larger volume so you have to account for that.

Looking at the Geo the wheelbase on this is longer than my road bike so even a 27.5" is going to be larger than my road bike

Midnight

"To me £800 is quite a lot for a first MTB, but if the value is there perhaps it is the right way to go"

£800 is a lot in anyone's book, get it right first time

The Rookie

MTB's are intrinsically bulkier than road bikes, wider rims, and tyres, often wider axles, wider bars and a longer frame. Don't count on it going in a Z4 (we bought our Z4 from a guy who was fed up trying to get his bike in it!).