BIKE tip All Mountains: Giant Trance X Advanced

With the new Trance X, Giant breathes his bestseller Trance more suspension travel, placing it firmly in the all-mountain category. A 150 mm fork and 141 millimetres of travel at the rear provide the perfect conditions for a downhill all-rounder. With its 2392 gram carbon frame and in-house carbon wheels, which come with a tubeless setup as standard, the Trance X Advanced Pro 2 has the lowest total weight at 13.42 kilos. The Giant is correspondingly light-footed and propulsion-orientated on the throttle and also cuts a very good figure on extended tours with long climbing sections. The rest of the equipment is rather basic at a price of 4299 euros. A Sram NX drivetrain with only 454 per cent range and somewhat underpowered, groupless Shimano brakes are below the average of the test field. The suspension of the Trance X Advanced Pro 2 relies on Rockshox suspension elements. However, the affordable Pike Select fork and the Deluxe Select+ shock were the most sensitive and active compared to the other Rockshox suspensions. Pleasing: Even when pedalling out of the saddle, the rear suspension only pitches slightly and is comfortable to ride even without a platform.

All testers also praised the immediately harmonious handling and the slightly sporty riding position. Despite the long, modern reach (482 mm), the Trance X strikes a good compromise between smoothness and playfulness and is also very responsive on the rear wheel. Sit on it and feel good in all situations. In the practical evaluation, the Giant collected a lot of points and is one of the absolute favourites in this comparison.

Test summary of the Giant Trance X Advanced Pro 2

Despite the favourable gearstick and brakes, the Trance X with the most harmonious impression in our Comparative test of all-mountain bikes around 4500 euros. Both uphill and downhill, the lightweight All Mountain is at the forefront and fulfils the requirements of an all-rounder with flying colours.

Technical data - Giant Trance X Advanced Pro 2 (model year 2021)

Price 4299 Euro (specialised trade) >> e.g. available here

Frame material / sizes Carbon/ S / M / L / XL (46 cm)
Weight without pedals 13.42 kg
Frame weight without damper 2392 g
Wheel size 29"
Weight of wheels 4933 g
Handlebar width 760 mm
Frame rigidity (absol. / STW) 37 N/mm / 13.3 N/mm/kg
Spring travel fore/aft 148/141 mm

Fork Rockshox Pike Select Debon Air
Damper Rockshox Deluxe Select+
Cranks Truvativ Descendant
Circuit Sram NX Eagle / 1x12 gears
Translation / bandwidth 30; 11-50 / 454 %
Brake system / disc front / rear Shimano BL/BR-MT501/520 / 203 mm / 180 mm
Seat post / stroke / diameter Giant Contact Switch / 170 mm / 30.9 mm
Impellers Giant TRX 2 Carbon
Tyres Maxxis Minion DHF/Dissector 3C MaxxTerra Exo Protection TR 29 x 2.5/2.4
Reach / Stack / BB-Offset 482 / 636 mm / -37 mm
Ease of maintenance Weak

BIKE judgement* VERY GOOD (194.25 out of 250 points)

You can download the complete comparison test of the eight all-mountain bikes for around 4500 euros from BIKE 6/2021 as a PDF below the article. The test costs 1.99 euros. Why not for free? Because quality journalism has a price. We guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in EMTB. We don't pay for them, but the opposite is the case: we charge for them - hundreds of thousands of euros every year.

We tested these 8 all-mountain bikes:

• Canyon Spectral 29 CF 8.0
• Giant Trance X Advanced Pro 2
• Lapierre Zesty AM 6.9 CF
• Last Glen
• Propain Hugene
• Radon Slide Trail 10.0 HD
• Rocky Mountain Instinct C50 Tour
• Scott Genius 920

*The BIKE judgement reflects the laboratory measurements (BIKE laboratory measurement) and the subjective impression of the test riders. The BIKE judgement is independent of price. BIKE judgements: super (250-205 P.), very good (204.75-180 P.), good (179.75-155 P.), satisfactory (154.75-130 P.), with weaknesses (129.75-105 P.), unsatisfactory (104.75-0 P.).

Downloads:

All Mountains around 4000 Euro (pdf)