Review: Giant Trance SX 27.5

RRP NZD$4799

A few weeks ago I entered the Giant 2W Enduro down in Rotorua, and after asking around at my sponsor's store R&R Sport Auckland I was lucky enough to get hold of a bike for the weekend, as I didn't fancy riding hard down hills for hours on my super stiff hard tail. Enter the Trance SX; a 160/140 mm traveled downhill destroyer that was my steed for the weekend.

Image courtesy of Giant Bicycles

The Spec
Dressed out in a faintly sparkling golden paint job that has to be seen to fully appreciate, the Trance SX is decked out to the nines with everything you could want out of the box; there is nothing you would immediately think was substandard or worth replacing. A largely Deore spec drivetrain gets an SLX Shadow Plus derailleur and Zee crank as noteworthy upgrades, and comes set up as 1x10 with an MRP Chain guide holding the chain on through the rough stuff. I did have a little bit of trouble setting the correct number of spacers to get the chain guide perfect, but once set up it performed perfectly for the duration of the test.

The in house Giant branded components punched far above their surprisingly reasonable weight, with the P-TRX1 wheels the highlight of the package. Light feeling, stiff, and capable of being set up tubeless should you so desire. The DT Swiss based hubs were responsive and offered a nice smooth feel, but missed out on the jackhammer sound that other options possess, something some riders may or may not miss. Combine this with the Shadow plus derraileur though, and you have one stealthy ride. It was also nice to see Giant supplying a 60 mm stem with 730 mm wide bars, plenty wide enough for this tester and offering plenty of control. The new generation Contact Switch dropper post now has internal routing and performed on par with the rest of the components, with its internal cable routing going a long way to preserve the clean look of the bike.

The real highlights, though, were the tyre and suspension choices. Schwalbe's Hans Dampf and Rock Razor tyres made a perfect match for all round trail bliss, in a healthy 2.35 width for better traction. They were both in the "Evo" compound too, which means they can be set up tubeless with minimal preparation; a nice match for the wheels.

The Fox suspension came loaded with goodies; TALAS, CTD, 15QR and other acronyms graced the lowers of the 160mm fork that had 34 stanchions for extra stiffness. It did miss out on the top end FIT damper and Kashima coat though, making do with the open bath Evolution damper that was still smooth and controlled throughout the test period. The TALAS did come in handy during some of the steeper transition stages, although for the most part I just left the fork in its longest setting.

The Ride
From the get go, I was impressed with the Giant. It passed the car park wheelie test with aplomb, feeling very neutral and balanced beneath me. Getting up to speed was easier than expected given the weight (it is a solid bike designed to be ridden hard), with the middle sized wheels rolling quickly and efficiently. I was surprised to find myself passing riders of similar ability and fitness on some of the climbs; many of them on shorter travel rigs of varying wheel sizes. I attribute this partially to the great tyre selection, with the Rock Razor on the rear looking stupidly fast rolling whilst still having meaty side nobs for getting rowdy in the corners. This has piqued my curiosity regarding the 'tweener size and I will be following its development closely.

Once the trail started pointing downhill, the Trance SX really came into its own. It remained composed through the bumpiest trails I could offer it and took it all in its stride. Yes, it may lack a little bit of the zing that its predecessor the Reign had, but in return it sticks like plasters to leg hair in the corners and really encourages the rider to dip the bars a little lower in each turn; really pushing the limits of traction.

Smooth would be the best way to describe the Trance SX in the rough stuff. Although there is only 140mm travel in the rear, it doesn't feel unbalanced with the front and soaked up whatever I could throw at it. Giant's maestro system really is a great design, remaining neutral when pedaling but opening up when things get fast. It was nice to see the inclusion of a 142mm rear axle to stiffen things up even more as well. For all but the steepest climbs I left the CTD shock in the descend setting and just let it rip. After all, it is rare to see a VPP System on anything other than a boutique brand such as Santa Cruz or Ibis, so for Giant to include it across their entire range is a real treat.

I will admit though, that I did miss the liveliness of the Reign a little bit. Sure, the Trance SX feels like it can take just about everything and never knocks a hair out of place, but it does so at the price that you never feel truly unsafe. Much like a roller coaster, it is thrilling and exhilarating, but no matter how fast it goes you feel as if you are never truly in danger, lest someone in the engineering department go and do something stupid. If your aim is to go faster than should be humanly possible, then this is not a problem, but if you like having your heart in your mouth and leaving your clothes a kilo heavier after each ride with fear induced sweat, then the shorter traveled Trance might be more up your alley (more on that another time).

The Bottom Line
The Trance SX is a remarkably capable bike. It takes everything in its stride and keeps looking up at you as if to say "you happy yet? I can go faster if you want." For the price, it is a bargain on two wheels and I can understand Giant's commitment to the 650b/27.5 wheel size. The 26er may not be dead, but as far as I can tell the 27.5 is certainly going to rule the roost when it comes to mid travel bikes for the majority of people.

A wonderful bike that will make a lot of riders very happy indeed.

Baptism by Fire: The Whaka 50

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you something you haven't had from me in about 5 months... A race report! *whistles* *claps* *cheers*.

Having been off racing for 5 months to eat paella, speak in Spanish, ride camels, climb halfway up Mt Fuji, meet some amazing new people and learn some elementary Japanese, I am officially back.

I have always had a love/hate affair with long distance races. The cramps, the climbs, the long week of recovery after the race... They all take a special kind of person to come back for more. BUT, the sense of achievement, the awesome crew behind these events (cheers NDuro family!) and getting to ride my bike for  hours on end are all big pluses. So, with some hesitation from my coach, I entered the 50km Whaka 50 as my debut race back to recover from overeating on wonderful foreign food.

There is one other aspect about distance races I failed to mentioned. Most of the "local" races are in Rotorua, which means up at 5 am for a 3 hour drive down. When we arrived in Rotorua this meant my parents were in desperate need for Coffee to last the rest of the day without nodding off and went off into Zippy's for said beverage; after all, we had over an hour before race start and I wouldn't need all of that time to warm up... Well, Murphy's law took effect and after a 25 minute long 10 minute wait they came gaping back out the cafe, coffee's in hand, with 40 minutes to spare before race start... We were going to be cutting it close.

It felt almost surreal lining up at the start, Camelbak on, glasses set to rose tint (everything looks better through rose tinted glasses), and the first hit of caffeine from my stash of gels flowing through my system. I had no idea how I would do, no idea whether I would even finish and no idea of what exactly lay ahead despite being about as much of a veteran of marathon distance as a 16 year old can be. (Earlier this year, back when I was actually fit, I was crowned the National U17 MTB Marathon champ...) So when the starter horn went, I stuck with the pack and got into it. Race on.

20 minutes into the race and it became apparent that it was not going to be my day to win. The front U19 riders set a blistering pace off into the trails that I didn't try to match; my aim was to finish, not to bonk with 15 km to go and wind up unable to walk for a week. I got my first reminder that this was an NDuro when we hit Bush road climb and the legs began to burn. Unfortunately, we just don't have hills of the same caliber here in Auckland, and the legs suffered because of it. There was one little bit of a competition between me and another rider that lasted for most of the race that confused me slightly. I was on a Giant carbon hard tail, my trust XTC, and he was on a carbon Anthem 29r, a full sus. However, he was climbing faster than me, and I was creaming him on the descents; a complete role reversal of what you'd expect looking at our choice of equipment.

This continued right up until Hot X Buns, where I finally got the gap and pulled away. I also met up with fellow Auckland rider Jared Scollay at this point. He had somehow ended up behind me despite being in front of me for most of the race. Unfortunately the Whaka and other NDuro races are notorious for falling victim to course tamperers, and one of us must have fallen victim too. We are still not sure which one of us it actually was though. Regardless, we hammered down through Hot X Buns and into Be Rude Not 2, sore backs and tight triceps galore.

It is in every single race, and it always seems worse than it actually is. Lion trail tends to be the trail of choice for any cramp to kick in, and it nearly got me this time round. A healthy splash of electrolytes later and it was held at bay, but it was a close thing. The last 10 kilometers were pretty painful, as my lack of long distance race experience in recent times began to show, but I thundered across the finish line in top gear, not in last place, having finished my first race in months.

However, all was not well. One of my friends, Kim Wright, had not crossed the line yet despite having been ahead of me most of the race. Half an hour passed, and he didn't finish. Dad went and rode the last section of the course backwards to check if Kim had crashed, while Mom and I stayed with his Dad keeping an eye out in case he came in. One hour later, and still no sign. An ambulance had headed out on course, but we doubted it was for him. Even more time passed.

Then, we received a call from the marshals out on course; the Ambulance was for Kim.

As facts slowly emerged, it became apparent that Kim wasn't dead. He had headed out on the 100km course near the end of the race by mistake, without adequate food or water, and had fainted roadside from exhaustion and severe dehydration. They put him on a saline drip and rolled him off to Rotorua hospital where he made a full recovery and was discharged later that afternoon. A dramatic end to a great event.

A big thanks to all the crew at NDuro events for putting the Whaka on, and serious Kudos to all the guys doing the 100 km option. Even more so to the guys on single speeds, rigids, and rigid single speeds. You guys are tough/insane!

It is good to be back. See you all out there!

-robin

Product Review: Stan's Crest 29'r Rim and 3.30 Ti Hub.

Stan’s Crest 29’r Custom Build.

RRP: $1330

Many racers nowadays make the mistake of judging a bike purely by its weight. When it comes to a race I have seen far too many riders at the side of the track cursing their $14000 wonder bikes; you cannot win if you cannot cross the finish line. So when it came time to invest in a set of lightweight wheels for my 29’r, I faced the famous phrase of one Keith Bontrager; “Strong, light, cheap. Pick two.”

After some research I found myself narrowing it down to 2 choices;

1     The newly released Easton EC70 29’r Carbon wheels. Strong, light, but over $2000 and unlikely to be in the country for another 4 months.

     A custom build of Stan’s Crest 29’r rims on Stan’s Ti hubs for $1330; a hell of a lot less than the Eastons and Tubeless ready. Light, cheap, but I had no idea towards their strength.

I, being a racer boy on a budget and with a slight sense of naivety, chose light and cheap. I can hear you crying out now but, for the average “race ready” set of wheels, anything less than $1400 is considered a pretty good. This is especially true when you consider there are wheels floating around the $4000 mark on some bikes. Would I be making the same mistake as every other racer with stars in their eyes? I would soon find out.

When they first arrived I was impressed. At 1500g they were over half a kilo lighter than my previous wheels and tubeless ready. My Schwalbe Racing Ralphs mounted first try with a floor pump and held their air perfectly. They held so well in fact I had trouble getting the bead off the rim again to insert sealant. Stan has done his research into designing these rims.

Their debut (aside from a spin around the block) was at a race. From the get go my Giant instantly felt… energized. The AC/DC song Thunderstruck played on the start line might have been an omen as they rode like greased lightning. The wheels were plenty stiff with no wind up or noticeable lateral flex. The Ti hubs engaged wickedly fast sending me flying through switchbacks with ever increasing vigour. The hubs also had a nice, solid click to them that my previous wheels lacked. The trail Ninjas may frown at this but there is nothing like the buzzing of a loud hub to reassure you of your speed (or lack thereof). I dominated the race in a way I hadn't for a long time. So far so good.

Fast forward 5 months and these wheels were about to face their ultimate test; XC Nationals. They had required no truing, no maintenance, and were still running like new up to this point. It was on this day I would find out what the Crests were really made of, aside from 6061 grade Aluminium. Unfortunately, out on the trail, a high speed crash occurred with another rider and in his haste to get going again, he stood on the spokes of the front wheel. The wheel was more taco’d than a food fight in a Mexican restaurant and it seemed that Keith Bontrager was right. I couldn't have strength as well as affordability and light weight.

But then something happened that gave me new found respect for Stan and his team of engineers; the rims held their air. Despite barely fitting through the forks and wobbling like jelly in an earthquake the wheels were holding their air. Tentative at first, I began to ride. And they held. They didn't collapse, they didn't explode in a burst of sealant. They just kept working.

I picked up more speed and began to race again. I blew through Grinder at full speed and they didn’t break. In the final lap of the race I hammered inelegantly down the spoke smashing stairs and rim denting drops of Rotorua’s exit trail in my fastest time of the day, and they still kept working.

Strong, light, cheap. Do I really have to pick 2?

Fast forward again to April where, having had new spokes and rim laced to the front wheel, I competed in the Mountain Bike leg of the Xterra in Rotorua. I was involved in a sprint finish and as I entered the finishing chute, at 30kmhr, a spectator jumped onto the course and I hit him at full speed. The front wheel suffered no damage whatsoever.

So it seems I have found something special. A wheel set that is pretty damn light, terrifyingly tough, comparatively cheap for a set of race wheels, have fast engaging hubs and a great tubeless system. Strong, light, cheap. It seems Mr Bontrager’s words are more like general guidelines. 

Stan, you the man.