Located just north of Whistler, British Columbia, the small town of Pemberton sits underneath the watchful gaze of Mount Currie, which towers 7800 vertical feet above the valley floor. While Whistler may garner the lion's share of the media spotlight due to its world renowned bike park, Pemberton's trails are world class in their own right, an easily accessed network of well built, technical singletrack that can test even the most seasoned rider. Giant Bicycles chose this location to launch the latest additions to their mountain bike lineup, the Reign 27.5 and the Glory 27.5, and invited us to spend two days familiarizing ourselves with the new rides. The first day was spent putting in shuttle laps on two different trails close to town, and the second day was the grand finale, involving a helicopter ride to the top of a nearby peak followed by a 6,500 foot descent back down to the valley floor.
Giant Reign Advanced 27.5In 2014, Giant announced that they were "fully committed to the 27.5” wheel size," eliminating a number of their 29” models and introducing nearly 40 bikes with the middle wheel size, everything from hardtails designed for the recreational rider all the way to their 140mm Trance trail bike. The Reign was the notable exception, and remained relatively unchanged from the previous model year. That's no longer the case, and the new Reign is now rolling on 27.5” wheels, and is also available with a carbon fiber front triangle. The use of a carbon front triangle on the Reign Advanced has allowed Giant to drop the weight to a claimed 2260 grams (without shock), the lightest Reign the company has ever produced.
The updated model is meant to be able to charge down the roughest enduro race courses while at the same time being able to hold its own on the climbs, a balance that Silas Hesterberg, the product developer in charge of the Reign, stressed was an important factor during the bike's design. Feedback from the Giant Factory Off-Road enduro race squad was also taken into consideration, and the bike is now longer, slacker, and lower than previous models, with 160mm of rear travel, a 65° head angle, and 17.1” chain stays. In order to preserve the bike's handling characteristics while also slackening the head angle, Giant chose to go with a RockShox Pike with 46mm of offset, an increase of 4mm over the 'standard' Pike. Like the previous version, the new Reign uses Giant's Maestro dual link suspension layout, which uses a rocker link mounted on the seat tube and another link that curves over the bottom bracket to join the rear swingarm to the front triangle.
All of the models in the Reign line come equipped with an air sprung rear shock, but there is enough room to fit a coil shock if riders choose to go that route, and the 200 x 57mm eye-to-eye and stroke measurements means that there are a number of options that will easily fit. Giant has also gone away from their Overdrive 2 headset standard, reverting to the more common 1 ½ x 1 1/8” tapered standard, a welcome change that greatly opens up the number of available stem and fork options.
There are four models in the Reign 27.5 line, two with carbon front triangles and two full aluminum models. The top of the line Reign Advanced Team ($8250) has race-ready build kit, with a dual position, 160mm RockShox Pike up front, a Monarch Plus Debonair rear shock, Avid Guide brakes, SRAM XX1 drivetrain and Schwalbe's Magic Mary front tire paired with a Hans Dampf in the rear. The aluminum version is spec'd similarly, with only a few slight model differences in the brake and drivetrain area, and retails for $5975. The second tier carbon and aluminum Reigns both have 2x10 drivetrains with a chainguide, and there are a few more house brand components than what's found at the upper level, although the Monarch Plus Debonair rear shock is in place on every bike in the line. The Rein Advanced 1 retails for $4750, while the aluminum version is $3400 USD. The full specs for all four bikes can be viewed
here.
Ride Impressions | With wide bars, a short stem, a dropper post, and 160mm of travel, the Reign is ready to rally right from the start. It's good to see that Giant has gone away from their inconvenient Overdrive 2 headset standard, and also that most of the bikes in the line have a 125mm RockShox Reverb post instead of Giant's own house brand dropper, which only has 100mm of travel.The bike's rear suspension is incredibly supple, so much so that I ended up checking the sag a few times to be sure I had set up the Monarch Plus correctly due to the fact that it took so little effort to initiate the rear suspension's movement. On the trail this suppleness helped the bike roll over all of the loose rocks that filled the rutted sections of the trail during the long descent from the summit of Mount Barbour, and kept the bike glued to the ground while pushing it through loose, dusty corners.
It's hard to say for certain whether it's due to the custom offset fork, or some other geometry number, but at slow speeds the Reign had better handling than you'd expect from a 160mm bike with a 65 degree head angle, and still maintained excellent stability on the wide open straightaways. This is a bike that likes to go fast, with more of a ground hugging, planted feel as opposed to poppy and playful manners.
It takes more than a day and a half of riding to thoroughly assess a bike, no matter how spectacular the trails, but it certainly looks like the new Reign was worth the wait, with modern geometry and a well thought out build kit that should make it a common sight at the starting line. The number of bikes in the 160mm category that pedal and descend well continues to grow - with so many capable choices hitting the market, there hasn't been a better time to be a mountain biker. |
Giant Glory 27.5When Giant first started working on the Glory 27.5 project, their biggest limitation was the lack of components, particularly suspension forks, that were available for 27.5” wheels. Initial testing of the bike took place in San Romolo, Italy, a location commonly used for suspension testing due to the rough nature of the tracks, as well as the typically favorable weather. For those very first sessions, Giant only had one custom made fork on hand that they swapped between their team riders' bikes. Luckily, it didn't take long for suspension and other component manufacturers to catch up, and now there's a full range of DH worthy products available for 27.5” wheeled bikes.
The new bike has 203mm of travel, a 5mm shorter rear end than the 26” version, and the front center has been increased by 30mm. In addition to this revised geometry, the Glory 27.5 uses a longer rear shock and now has cartridge bearings in the linkage, a change that Giant claims results in a 10% drop in the force needed to activate the rear shock. Another small change, but one that many riders had been asking for, is the routing of the brake and rear derailleur housing along the top, rather than the underside, of the downtube. Of course, the question that will inevitably arise is “Where's the carbon version?” Giant wouldn't comment, but it does seem that that would be the next logical step, and they certainly have the manufacturing facilities to make it happen.
There will be three different Glory 27.5 models, beginning with the Glory 27.5 0. Spec'd with SRAM's X01 DH 7 speed drivetrain, a RockShox Boxxer Team and a DT Swiss EX471 wheelset, the Glory 0 checks in at $6600 USD. The least expensive model, the Glory 27.5 2, will retail for $3000, and gets a more wallet friendly mix of parts, including RockShox Domain and Kage suspension, and a SRAM X5 9 speed drivetrain. It still has the same frame as the higher end versions, making this a good candidate for the rider who wants a bike that they can upgrade as their budget allows. The full specs for the three models can be viewed
here.
Ride Impressions | I was able to take a handful of laps on the Glory 27.5, just enough to start to get a feel for the bike. The Glory has the type of planted, stable manners you'd want from a downhill bike, while at the same time requiring little effort to manual or push hard into corners. One of the test trails had a 100 yard section that was filled with roots and rocks, but it was nearly perfectly straight, with good sight lines. This was where the speed that's possible on the Glory became apparent. Grabbing or not grabbing the brakes was a mental game - the bike was taking everything in stride, and it was just a matter of whether or not my brain could come to terms with how fast the terrain was flying by. Of course, wheelsize is still a contentious topic, especially when it comes to DH bikes, but during my time on the Glory I never felt like I was missing out by not having 26" wheels. Blasting into berms or doubling up sections of trail was just as fun, and made it easy to see how this bike could excel everywhere from the World Cup circuit to the bike park. |
www.giant-bicycles.com
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They've gone back to press-fit bb again, which makes sense on carbon frames but prefer threaded on AL, and getting a little fussy, I'd go the 150mm reverb over 125mm. Downtube guard and 12x142 both welcome additions, but haven't noticed that much flex or tyre rub against the seat stay. Reign paint job also looks the business!
I don't know where these bogus generalizations are coming from, I've never even met a mountain biker that can afford an E car, but you should lay off the Fox news for a bit. Ya sound like that kook Bill O'reily.
A used/new prius can be pretty affordable. Used nissan hybrid, ..etc
Bill O'Reilly/Fox news,..no thanks most of those guys are hanging with k street and the chamber of commerce crooks.
Sierra club, epa...some bad dudes right there.
Cheers!
Maybe al gore can chime in here or his scientist emailing buddies.
Own any land? Got water/mineral rights? Ever tried to build on land you owned in tahoe, ca? The sierra club/epa lunatics are not friendly to mountain bikers.
Anyways, og point being that's its histarical how many enviros buy items bad for the enviro ie., carbon, lithium; have huge thirsty lawns...
Aka, limousine liberals/al gore and his mansions, jets...
These bikes still use an OD2 headtube, just goes to a standard tapered steer tube on forks again, which is a really smart move!
The marketing is strong with Giant though. If the OD2 is so much stronger than a standard tapered headtube, why not go to the extreme and offer a 1.5" headtube with a tapered fork allowing an even bigger bearing to be used in the top cup?
Honestly, I'm very far from being a pro but I've reached speedtrap-like speeds before on a demo (and other bikes with similar chainstay lengths) and never felt like I would benefit from a longer, more stable bike so I'm not too sure why people were so quick to blame it all on chainstay length.
Talk to the Moto guys who have been doing this for decades longer than mountain bikers and see why they don't stand on the rear axle...
A case can be made for a short rear centre on a DH bike and steep descents. For an AM/trail bike it makes little sense. Like head angle, BB height, trail etc there is an optimum measurement.
I haven´t measured any frames yet, but I find it very strange for welding tolerances to be that huge on frames, thought Taiwan would do better..On the other hand, you can have a very precise measuring device and ruin all the measurements up by not using it correct (no offence). Car factories produce over 1000 cars a day all within 0.1mm...so if the (not sure if you can even can call that) tolerance is so big on bicycles, they are definitely overcharging.
And trust me, geometry on a motorcycle is as important as on a bicycle!
(a) There can be no argument that short CSs make for a tighter turning radius and easier front end lifting, but like others have said, there are so many other factors that affect ride feel that it's ludicrous to point at CS length alone as the key handling trait. Comparing CSs between moto and mtb is silly though, because the power curves and levels of rider feedback are completely different. Put a moto engine on a DH bike and you'll spend your whole day laying on your back.
(b) Jedrjeza, I understand what you're saying but if anything shorter CSs would give you more rear traction (possibly harder to drift) by putting your COM closer to the rear contact patch. Plus, the rear wheel can only pivot the way you describe at very low speeds. As a counterexample, touring bikes (without loaded bags) are super easy to skid but impossible to wheelie. They have massive chainstays, which robs the back wheel of weight, and they steer like a limousine.
(c) Anyone who says they can feel the difference between 2-5 mm of chainstay length is likely nuts. On the other hand, 5mm would be f*cking atrocious quality control. I would be very surprised if it was that much. Not sure what tool was used, but a 5mm difference could be the result of a +/- 2.5 mm (~0.5%) uncertainty, which could easily come from lack of parallelism or similar during measuring. I can't think of any reason why a frame assembled on a jig would have half a centimeter of tolerance, unless the heat treatment warps it like crazy.
(d) @Reignonme Two sentences?? Come on... that's more of a marketing rule. Tons of scientific points are impossible to state in 2 sentences (unless it's a BS marketing pitch).
It has nothing to do with power. It has to do with front to rear grip differential. Weight distribution is critical regardless of the rider/vehicle combination weighs 100kg or 300kg.
It's exactly why Gwin was crashing on the stock Demo after coming from the Session. His body position (mass) was in the wrong place. If a guy with that much talent struggles to adapt then what chance do average riders have?
The myth of short rear centre length is used as a marketing tool by companies and a misunderstood public (half of who can't ride for shit) to improve low speed agility at the expense of high speed predictability, neutral front to rear grip and suspension spring rates.
a) I agree about the weight bias, but out of my experince it is easier for me to drift rear end with a shorter cs. It seems illogical now after the COM argument, but this is how I feel it riding. Here @Waki may have a point in mentioning about the fork. Rebound adjustment, unless very radical one, does not affect any of my jumping. Thus it may all be a matter of different techniques we all own, to do a similar trick. I think I lean my body over back wheel and to the inside of a corner while trying to slide rear tire, so it is more about lateral momentum.
b) I meant low speeds because it is visible this way, but I don't believe the phenomenon does no occur while serious shredding. You also assume that your COM is always at some constant point set between axles. This is more likely to be stable in motorbikes since a moving rider does not stand for 90% of the whole vehicle. Motorbikes have always more centred mass, because, among others, heavy engine stays in the same place.
c) I know measurements should be done parallel, but it does not matter when I measure two identical frames and compare differences between them not with a geo chart that shows us real (parallel) measurements. All of the frames were used ones. After few years of riding. This way I think frames change their dimensions when ridden a lot, even if it does not really matter to what we can feel riding.
d) Immagine a listener standing up after an hour and a half of a lecture and saying: "in two normal length sentences, what is your main point?"
@jclnv You are right about different rider feedback, but if you sit on your bike and try to lift your front wheel with one pedal stroke only, a shorter CS will help, so the more power you have and the less you want to wheelie to longer the cs should be, right?
So where a mass centre should be localised then? ..and does it really matter that slacker head angle should result in longer cs and so on? I've heard from Intense that they pushed it forwards in the 951evo to improve front grip because of the larger wheels, whatever they mean by this. Especially when their headangle is 62.5.
When I compare 951evo to the giant glory above I can see 62.5 vs 63 degrees of HA, and 444.5mm vs 43.9mm of CS 64 vs 63.6 SA, almost similar wheelbases. The frames all almost the same! First attempt of the big producers and they all try to sell us the same geo. 650B magic narrows their geometry variations.
I see you still are an idiot. You are a fkng idiot, yes I can tell it by reading what you wrote. Belief in CS-gate is characteristic to a mind believing in 9/11 or moon landing conspiracy. You know shit about riding a bike if you believe that a change from a Session to Demo changed anything for his results. Aaron had a lot of stuff on his head after move from Specialized and bike change was quite a small bit of the whole picture, messy change of sponsors, messy change of coach . He said it himself in a dozen of the interviews: it wasn't the bike, in the interview for Dirt he even laughed that not matter what he said, people still know better.
You are welcome
As consumers that cant ride any where close to the speeds and skill level of pros we like to discuss about the subtle differences in frames and parts so we can justify our purchase.
i have freinds with old crappy bikes that can ride any trail with skill and precision that 90% of you will never experience.
I get a big kick out of the ignorent comments from riders who think they understand what it takes to win a race but are average in skill. You have no f*cking clue what you are talking about. lol
Waki knows his shit when it comes to bike desighn but his sweet sarcasm went out the window. Missin the Waki sarc.
If you know what you're looking at you could see, especially in that early Redbull promo, that Gwin was a mess on the 420mm RC Demo compared to the Session. Those guys can ride around anything in time but it was obvious to some that he was having issues. Plus that is on a DH bike with specific use. Weight distribution is far more important on a Trail/AM bike.
Do you really think he would blame the bike? Really?
Moto GP riders spend seasons getting weight distribution down to the mm and they're riding 360lb motorbikes on predominantly flat circuits. Now think, a mountain bike rider weighs 150lbs+/- and a mountain bike weighs 30lbs+/-...
If you don't understand the implications of that fact you should buy some vehicle dynamics books and start reading.
I am 6"3 and ride a large 2013 Reign with 785mm bars and a 50mm stem. Climbs superbly and is super easy to jump. I do sometimes wish for more space in the cockpit when standing - it feels as if I am using extra energy maintaining the correct position. Would the new frames geo solve that problem?
The rear suspension sounds a bit soft and too progressive- much like my bike was before I added the largest volume reducer Fox make. No bottoming on jumps and still getting max travel.
Good to see the Pike and RS shocks on all the bikes.
I have RS PIKE now, and really it's just a fork doing what you expect it to do - all the excitement speaks more of the crap we have been fed before.
I always thought Giant been pretty good value for the money - and that's what I'm looking for - but with all the new mail order bikes(YT, Canyon, ROSE..) it will probably be a while before a regular company gets my money.
First thing I noticed w/trek slash via parking lot test (I rode it on trails too), was that the front end wanted to flop to the side, even just sitting still and taking hands off bars.
Why are the geo charts never readable (mobile v.)? Same article on vital is...
Your link to the Reign specs is down too BTW. Thanks.
If they had a frame only option in aluminum for a fair price i would be interested in that but you say not happening, so...
I spec'd out a build kit for pimpin' stuff to fit my needs exactly @ $3495, if the framset was available like the older style reign x was @$1600 range you
could custom build your own bike nicer than the stock parts for $5100 before tax... But Giant wants to make this difficult to do custom builds I guess.
Will the reign be compatible with a 150 stealth reverb? Or does the reverb only come in in 125 in the st dia. that giant uses?
I hate double dropn...
Hope we can get a frame/shock only option!
Try Loctite 609 retaining compound with a Loctite 7649 primer for the creaking. These are acceptable for composite & metal shells as well as the Delrin cups.
What I want to see is whether the rear end is stiffer on either hard charger. If so I'd consider on in a few years.
That Trance SX is a great bike. So fast down a hill, and not too shabby at climbing considering that.
Its gotta cost them like $5 more to move up to at least X7.
That just sucks if the bike doesn't take a 150 reverb...
www.alcoa.com/mill_products/catalog/pdf/alloy6013techsheet.pdf