All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Fuck yeah man! My buddy has the same bike and loves it. If I was getting a hardtail it would be this one

 

I hear ya, I still like Shimano better but 75% of my stuff is SRAM. I do however, HATE, the guide brakes. Squishy poop.

Yeah man, that's no bueno. Take em to your local suspension tuner, sounds like the air cartridge might have taken a dump. At least they're cheap.

Yeah buddy!!! That's going to be a blast, and I suspect you'll be reaching for it more that your fat bike. On the flow SLC stuff, it's a sweet bike. That would also be a blast on the Fruita trails.

I've owned a few, and still have a Glory in the stable. However, the new 29 trance is unlike any other Giant I've ridden. It's a freakin awesome bike man. Fast as hell, crazy fun, and super confidence inspiring despite the short travel. You'll love it.

 

Dude the old Command posts are the shit. Bombproof three position spring loaded dropper. I have kept mine through 3-4 bikes now. Can't break it

Sram brakes have come a long way though. Y'all remember the old Elixir or Juicy brakes?

 

I can still hear the turkey gobble of the juicy brakes in my nightmares.

 

My elixirs on my DH bike have been rock solid. Maybe I just have good luck with brakes?

The guides on my stache are a solid meh. Not as confidence inspiring as my Guide RSCs on my Bronson.

 

Damn, all of your responses with high praise for the Giant Trance. That was actually a little unexpected, so now I'm stoked as hell for tonight's ride!

Thanks for the feedback. I'll be sure to provide my own after the ride.

Game on!

PS: Anyone want to buy my Ibis Mojo3 XT build for under $3k? (originally $6k)

 

Am I the only person who prefers SRAM drivetrain here? lol. I didnt like my guide brakes though, and replaced them with magura MT5s... but I LOVE eagle coming from XT 1x11

 

I have a packet of beef jerky that's only partially eaten, and a gamecube with 2 games. Would you take a trade?

 

I might be able to dig up my old pokemon cards from grade 5

 

I honestly have no real opinions of brand most times. I just like stuff that works well. Never had an issue with brand of drive train, fork, etc. But mechanical disk brakes (esp bb5s) can eat my ass. Friggin worthless.

 

If you have a Charizard holo card, you def got me beat.

 

I like the snappy feel of Sram drivetrain but I think the ergonomics of the shimano shifter are better. I also like that the XT 1x11 comes in 11-46 where I’m stuck with 42 on the sram 1x11...I think that means I need to upgrade to eagle.

I will probably keep sram on my stache and shimano on my Remedy.

Brakes are different though, I haven’t ridden sram brakes since avid elixirs on my old 2011 fuel. Those things had the worst brake fade.

 

Full disclosure: I'm not a XC rider. I have owned a 2014 Giant Trance Advanced SX and I currently ride a 2018 Rocky Mountain Altitude c70.

I have ridden both bikes and I will give you my thoughts. I was not fond of the Ibis Mojo3 because I felt the geometry was extremely outdated for a 2016 bike. I felt it put me in an excellent climbing position but that didn't do me any favors heading downhill. It was an extremely well spec'd bike but there is no way I could ever get through the travel on that bike due to what I felt was an uncomfortable position jumping. If you are going through the travel on the Ibis you will probably hate the Trance 29er with only 115mm of rear travel. I would also never test ride any mountain bike on flow trails because you will not get the trail feedback you need to make a true assessment. I like the new trance 29er for XC rides but it just does not suit my flavor of trails or riding style. If you find yourself just pounding the pedals to get miles in then I'm sure the Trance will more than make you happy. However, if you still want to get a little rowdy on the trails with a 29er I recommend the RM Instinct BC edition, or the Yeti SB130 or SB150. Those are both amazing 29er bikes that will blow your mind on any trail. I live in a huge biking area in Colorado and we get the luxury of being a stop on most demo tours but if you cannot figure out a way to demo some of these bikes just fork over the cash and go to outerbike. Too many good options out there these days so you are going to have a hard time buying a bad bike.

 

I still have Gripshift...

Though mated to Formula R1 brakes.

 

I definitely have preference. To me the shifting on sram feels more precise, you get that at the expense of multi shift down shifts. Sram seems a little more finickey to set up but once you got it, its locked in. I also definitely prefer the fox forks to my old rockshox. The MT5s I just put on my jeffsy are stupid good, I put 203mm rotors on too and its like too much brake for a trail bike almost lol

Funny story. I traded a Charizard holo card back in the day for a N64 game. It was called Conkers bad fur day. Still probably the best video game i have ever played

 

I actually rode my first yeti the past weekend. They get hated on but damn the geometry felt good. It was carbon and my YT is aluminum and you could tell a difference. For the money though, I love my YT

I actually thought about giving grip shift a try. My first bike was grip shift lol

 

You planning on riding Crabtree or Falls Lake? I'd recommend Falls if you want some technical trail feedback...

 

It’s more of a feel and consistency thing. I like the shifting feel of Shimano better and all the SRAM I’ve owned/ridden lately (11 and 12 speed) have been problematic to maintain consistent and smooth shifting for me.

It could be bad luck or I’m just picky. But if given the option to choose or when upgrades occur, it’s Shimano all day for me in both drive and brakes.

Admittedly there are better brakes out there as others have mentioned. I just can’t get past the quality and performance the XT brakes deliver at their price point.

 

No need. Shimano 12speed cassette is 10-51.