First Ride – Giant Trance Advanced 1

The Trance has evolved over the years as Giant’s flagship trail bike. It wasn’t too long ago that this machine was available in 29-inch wheels, but when Giant went all in with 27.5, the bigger wheel size faded, leading way to the current version.

For 2017 Giant revamped the Anthem and Trance line, putting both in the trail category, with the Trance leaning towards aggressive trail riding.

The Trance Advanced 1 sits just below the highest end Advanced 0 version with a full carbon fiber frame and aluminum rear triangle with 12×148 Boost spacing, ISCG tabs and clearance to run 2.6-inch wide tires. Giant introduced internal cable routing on the previous generation and carries that along with their patented Maestro suspension design into the 2017 models. Retail on this bike is set at $4,950. Riders can get into the entry level carbon version for just over $4,100 and the aluminum versions start at $2,100.

Giant did tweak their Maestro design with a new composite Trunnion shock mount that adds quite a bit of burliness to the suspension platform. Our test bike came equipped with a Fox EVOL Factory shock with 140mm of travel.

The higher end Adv. 0 and frameset comes with a RockShox Super Deluxe, so don’t worry, there is plenty of room for a bigger shock if you want one.

Up front is a Fox 34 Factory fork with 150mm of travel and 15×110 spacing.

The Advanced 1 comes with a full Shimano XT build kit, including brakes and 11-46 cassette. The cranks came with a 32-tooth front chainring.

Giant spec’d their TRX 1 Composite wheels that have an internal width of 33-millimeters, paired with Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires. Other in house products included their Contact dropper post with 150mm of travel along with the bars, stem, grips, and saddle.

This bike ships with tubes installed, but Giant included rim tape, tubeless valves, and even a couple tire levers to convert the bike over to tubeless.

A couple of our test riders have spent plenty of time on the previous generations and are anxious to see how this one stands up to the rest. The full review and write up is slotted for our July issue, keep on eye on newsstands or your mailbox. For the full component spec and geometry number’s click here. To see our write up on the Giant Anthem Advanced 0 click here.

 

Words/Pics: Joe Mackey