http://www.ambmag.com.au - 81with trail punishment. An upgrade to an in-house
brand of carbon wheels makes up for the short
straw in the in house branded contact points with
the bar, stem, seat and grips all Giant branded.
On The Trail
I was genuinely taken by surprise at the life in this
bike, not only compared to the Trance of old but to
the comments amongst the riding community, Giant
really seem to be onto something. The ergonomics
for myself a 174cm rider were spot on out of the
box. I initially had some concerns with the Giant in-
house bar and stem combo in regards to their reach
and width, but it they were unfounded. The 60mm
stem was 10mm more than my usual go-to for this
style of bike, but it alleviated any extra length I might
have wanted from the frame and still did not affect
the steering too much.
The extra height of the bars offset the slackness of
the head angle giving me a comfortable attacking
riding position. The bar width could be a little wider
for the more open and aggressive tracks, but at
730mm they were perfect for tighter tracks and
everyday use.
The Giant dropper post was as it should be, maybe
a little stiff on the uptake at times but working as it
should none-the-less. It was let down a little by the
lever which was hard to place with the SLX controls.
Unfortunately what took the shine away from the
seat post area was the seat, it was just the wrong
seat for the steed. The large profile and tacky cover
regularly caught on shorts if the dropper post was
not completely dumped. Being a rider who onlyTeSTeD
tends to dump the post in trickier situations, it did
give me one or two unneeded frights.This was the first time on Shimano’s SLX
components for me, I had sampled the older
brothers of XT and XTR and was keen to see
how it would all stack up. The XT crankset was
never a worry, having proved their worth as a
season lasting component in previous tests. The
MRP chainquide was always there for the 38/24
tooth dual ring setup as well. The drawback was
feeling like the 38/24 tooth to 11-36 in the rear as
a combination was a touch broad. I spent nearly
all my time in the 38 tooth as the range of the 24
tooth simply either wasn’t needed or resulted in
a lot of spin time. For the more aggressive rider
it is quite easy to see an early switch to a single
ring conversion. This is of course a personal
preference but for anyone who stays with the
dual ring and guide setup, it will certainly last the
distance. You could always put a 26 or 28 tooth
small ring on for less than the cost of a new tyre.
Discuss this with your local bike store and see
what is best for you.Brakes were an unknown quantity going into this
test but the SLX levers and calipers offered moreThree ThingS yOu likeD
abOuT The bike- Comfortable geometry ready for almost
any situation - A solid componentry choice that will last
for a long time but with room to grow. - Balanced suspension
Three ThingS yOu wOulD
change abOuT The bike- Personalise contact points, seat,
pedals and grips - More aggressive tyres
- Switch to a single ring conversion