In the animal kingdom, you can recognise the alpha male at first glance. The lion with the most magnificent mane or the stag with the most impressive antlers always fulfil the leading role in the herd. Our two test bikes also stand out visually from the mass of mountain bikes: both the Kona and the Giant shine in rare flip-flop paintwork. The dazzling paint effect on both bikes inevitably attracts attention. For us, the question naturally arises: do these bikes also impress with their riding characteristics, or is the glittery paint job just pure courtship behaviour? In our test, the brand new Giant Trance X and the Kona Process 134 Supreme prove whether they have what it takes to be at the top of their bike category.
There's a lot of movement in the pack of all-mountain bikes at the moment. In our last issue, the brand-new Specialised Stumpjumper and the Stoll T2 for the crown. Despite a much more discreet colour scheme, these two bikes, with mercilessly low weights, also lay claim to the royal throne in their territory. In BIKE 2/2021, we present the new Canyon Spectral another hot contender for the sceptre. Why are so many companies vying for customers' favour with new all-mountain models at the moment?
In the almost forgotten era of 26-inch wheels, enduro bikes were regarded as downhill-hungry all-rounders. Nowadays, however, they are actually only downhill-hungry. As race tracks have become more extreme, use in the bike park has become more common and 29er wheels have become established, the former all-rounders have morphed into pure downhill specialists. The Trek Slash and the Rocky Mountain Altitude in the last enduro test clearly proven: Although both bikes cost well over 5500 euros, they weigh almost 15 kilos including pedals.
Affordable models quickly weigh a pound or two more. Long, high-altitude tours in the Alps or undulating after-work laps in Germany's low mountain ranges are therefore torture for the thighs. If you don't want to be dependent on lifts or shuttle drivers, you will probably no longer be happy with current enduro bikes. The range of use, which was once so broad, has become extremely narrow and is now beyond what most of our readers think of as mountain biking. This is because up to 170 millimetres of suspension travel and the heavy weights often seem out of place, and not just on the home circuit. The industry has realised that the enduro segment has left a big gap on its way into the niche. The market is crying out for touring-capable bikes. The new generation of all-mountain bikes is now set to take over the legacy of the once so popular enduro bikes. No easy task for the Giant Trance X and the Kona Process 134.
You can download the complete comparison test of the Giant Trance X and Kona Process 134 Supreme from BIKE 2/2021 as a PDF below the article. The objective comparison including the test reports costs € 1.49.
Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in BIKE. We don't charge for them, but the opposite is the case: we do charge for them - tens of thousands of euros every year.
