Tell me why i can't! (or shouldn't). Downhill on a giant trance 27.5 (2)

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Tell me why i can't! (or shouldn't). Downhill on a giant trance 27.5 (2)
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Posted: Aug 9, 2014 at 19:04 Quote
Bought my first ever mountain bike wanting the best of all worlds, but knowing it would also be a compromise. Been riding a mix of XC and all mountain type terrain close to home (rock gardens and roots, no big hits) but am looking at some lift access riding a couple hours away. We're not talking french alps here, but blue mountain ontario (canada) and probably 10 minute long descents.

Random youtube vid of what i can expect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiG-XnEBYxc

Pretty sure my 32mm fork will survive without issue but the float ctd shock that comes on the bike is pretty much garbage IMO. This leaves me with 3 options.

1- Rent a rocky mountain whatever downhill bike they have for 100 a day
2- Buy a reservoir air shock
3- Quit my whining and just ride what i got.

Watching some videos (blue mountain, collingwood) it really doesn't look that much more gnarley than what i'm riding on a regular basis, i'm sure the only thing that would get really beat up is the rider being on a small travel AM bike. Wondering if a reservoir shock is worth it or if i'm going to hate it for xc riding?

Posted: Aug 9, 2014 at 21:35 Quote
If there isn't a problem with what you ride now, I wouldn't change it. Me personally I ride a santa cruz heckler with coil front rear and 160mm travel, I keep up with dh guys. So If you feel the shock is holding you back, get a new shock, dont rent a bike tho, thats just my opinion.

Posted: Aug 9, 2014 at 22:11 Quote
As someone who has ridden DH on an older trance (2010 model) I think you would be fine on the posted video or similar tracks - relatively smooth, flowy and not steep.

Where I found the bike became an issue were on 'proper DH' tracks so to speak, significantly steeper, rough. At speed I found the 32mm stanchions / 120mm travel was not enough. The fork would run deep in the travel (tipping you forwards) and felt like spaghetti due to flex.

Another consideration is whether your brakes can handle the added duties. Mine overheated regularly (Avid Elixir Rs) which meant having to stop regularly or take it easier.

Posted: Aug 10, 2014 at 5:44 Quote
Some really good points guys!

I hadn't thought about the brakes. I'm on some crappy shimano brakes but can upgrade to the slx or xt deore for around 100 bucks assuming i dont need to also do rotors. MTBR gave the slx top praise for its price and zero fade on lift access, and the xt deore is only 10 bucks more.

I agree with you fergo about the type of tracks. As a bonus being on a newer model i'm on a 140mm travel fork and also have slacker head angles than you would have had on the 2010. Would be nice to be on 34mm tubes (and preferably not something made by fox, blech) but if i run some low sag numbers i think it'll be fine.

The shock i do worry about. I'm going to look at playing with spacers to get the air volume down because i just blow through the travel, but even setup right for me i'm thinking thats too much abuse for a non reservoir shock. Thats getting into a more pricey investment though.....thoughts?

Posted: Aug 10, 2014 at 7:47 Quote
Hi there,
Take my advice for what it's worth, but just ride your bike down the hill. If you think your brakes are letting you down on your regular rides replace them. If you blow your rear shock replace it with a better one, but wear it out first if it's not holding you back. There is no real point of putting your stock parts on the shelf if they are good enough.

I agree about skipping the rental bike, because once you go full DH you'll never want to ride your own bike downhill again.

Posted: Aug 10, 2014 at 11:38 Quote
mtlsam wrote:
I agree about skipping the rental bike, because once you go full DH you'll never want to ride your own bike downhill again.

Lol yeah i could see that. Or it would just make me want to buy a second bike Big Grin that'd have to wait another year or two though. 90% of my riding is either XC trails or rock gardeny, rutty nonsense with some short steep downhill bits so i'm pretty happy to be on an AM bike. Supposedly there is some good xc stuff at the lift access place i want to go so might check that out as well.

As for kit the two things i'm looking at replacing are brakes and possibly the shock. I really hate the fox float shock but will likely play around with maybe adding some shims to reduce the air volume before i replace it.

The brakes might be easier to convince myself to replace. The slx/xt brakes aren't that expensive and would be pretty sahweeeet.

Posted: Aug 11, 2014 at 20:15 Quote
Well i really appreciate everyones advice both here and on a local forum. What i've basically decided is that my trance isn't worth upgrading for what i'd cost vs what i could sell it for and replace it with more suitable applications.

I wish i knew at the beginning of the season what i know now because in retrospect something with 140mm travel and enduro geometry is just bloody stupid.

Have my eyes locked on a Devinci troy XP with more travel and a 300mm shorter wheelbase which realistically would probably be perfect for my local very rough XC single track. Then get a separate bike for doing DH.

I'm going to head to the lift access stuff in a few weeks. Plan is to ride my trance the first day to see how it goes, and rent a DH bike for the next 2 if just for the sake of getting to experience a downhill bike. Think i've got er all figured out. Thanks again everyone.

Posted: Aug 11, 2014 at 20:23 Quote
Trance and a proper DH bike are different animals. you can "try" to DH on a non DH bike but you'll just "get by". no point trying to explain until you ride a proper rough steep techy fast DH trail on both bikes and see the difference for yourself. and be sure to ride that trail and not creep down it like a pussy, trying to convince yourself that a Trance can do DH

Posted: Aug 12, 2014 at 4:04 Quote
Actually you can ride downhill with a full suspension mountain bike, downhill is a term that is too big too be specific , when you say a downhill bike they are built to race downhill very fast , but when you say just normal downhill which is not that risky, many full suspension bike would be ok and a Giant Trance is one of the most used full susp bikes out there so you can do downhill with it, if you are not thinking of racing downhill

Posted: Aug 12, 2014 at 12:19 Quote
my first mtb, was a DH rig.... after lugging around 40lbs, trying to climb with it, etc, i purchased a Giant Trance. rode that bike a couple of times. the first time out, great, bike was light, i could pedal uphills... wonderful.

got to a not so techy but rocky section, crank clipped a rock (i was in attack stance - not pedal down) and i was over the bars and on my back. Trance was sold a week later, and i went back to riding my full DH rig. NOT enough clearance in my honest opinion.

once i was back on my DH rig, i stuck to DH. no more pedaling up stuff, but the fact of the matter is i never clipped a pedal again, even hauling major ass in the rough. to me, if i went OTB on a sissy trail with the Trance, theres no way it would really handle a legitimate DH trail well.

Doable? sure.... but why....

as someone else mentioned, dont be a puss and ride the trail, you will see why dh rigs > trance for dh.

Posted: Aug 12, 2014 at 17:57 Quote
gnarbar wrote:
and be sure to ride that trail and not creep down it like a pussy

Hey you better watch it or i might just come out to BC and chase you down some trails (actually already contemplating a trip to whistler next season. Forget snowboarding, i'm coming during the summer!)

The more i think about it the more i realize how stupid enduro is. On one hand i'm pouting because my trance cant handle what i thought it could going down, but the rest of the time i'm complaining that it's not agile enough for single track. I generally go for the roughest trail riding that i can find and as a new rider the geometry of the trance truly is confidence inspiring when i pick the hard line going down.

Like i said i've decided to rent a DH bike for 100 bucks a day when i go to the only lift access stuff available to me (big hill not a mountain) and i will go from there. Incredible DH in quebec is only 6 hours away and a trip to whistler once a year could certainly be in the cards. The idea of trying to ride one bike on everything, honestly makes me sick. lol

Posted: Aug 13, 2014 at 14:53 Quote
I also rented a DH bike and definitely recommend doing so, even if you can only try it for some of the time. As pointed out, there is a big difference between "getting down" the trail and riding it aggressively.

As a bonus, afterwards I found my riding improved dramatically from the extra confidence once I moved back to the Trance and my regular trails (I live in Sydney, Australia so would not get much riding with a DH bike)

However, for the type of trail you posted up I dont see the need for a DH bike to be honest. I rented mine in the French Alps and for doing black DH race runs here in Australia which are a completely different kettle of fish.

Posted: Aug 13, 2014 at 15:06 Quote
"rough trail riding" is not DH

Posted: Aug 13, 2014 at 16:27 Quote
gnarbar wrote:
"rough trail riding" is not DH

I wasn't comparing the two. Maybe i didn't give enough back story to that comment. Was just talking about how i bought the trance thinking it could do DH, but still justifying my purchase (to myself) as i think even though an xc bike again can handle the trails i ride on, when they get rough it's nice to have the trance Wink

sirfergo wrote:
However, for the type of trail you posted up I dont see the need for a DH bike to be honest. I rented mine in the French Alps and for doing black DH race runs here in Australia which are a completely different kettle of fish.

I'm inclined to agree with you but local people keep telling me otherwise. I'm likely going to bring the trance and ride it on the first day, see how things go. The one thing i know is regardless of how gnarley it is my little air shock is going to be glowing hot by the bottom of the hill.

I'll probably rent a DH bike for one day regardless just to get to experience what it's like especially to see if it gives me any extra confidence jumping off stuff.

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