Liv Releases 29" Version of Embolden Value Trail Bike

Feb 14, 2022 at 18:16
by Sarah Moore  
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The Liv Embolden was launched in 2016 with 27.5" wheels as a full-suspension aluminum women's trail bike. Now, over five years later, Liv has added a 29" wheel option to the mix.

Mirroring the 27.5" model, which retains its current geometry, the 29" Embolden has 120mm of rear travel controlled by a FlexPoint Suspension design and paired with a 130mm fork. The 27.5-inch wheel models are available in XS, S and M, and 29-inch wheel models are available in S, M, and L. The Embolden 1 is $2,250 USD and the Embolden 2 is $1,800 USD.

Details
• 120mm (rear) / 130mm (front)
• 67-degree head tube angle (29")
• 27.5 and 29" options
• ALUXX-Grade Aluminum frame
• FlexPoint Suspension design
• Sizes: XS, S, M (27.5") + S, M, L (29)
• MSRP: $1,800 - $2,250 USD
• More info: www.liv-cycling.com


Geometry
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The head tube angle on the 29" Embolden sits at 67-degrees, with a 430mm reach on a size medium, and 438mm chainstays across the board. The 27.5" model retains its 67.5-degree head tube angle, 430mm reach on a size medium and 435mm chainstays.

The rear triangle has been updated on the 27.5" model and so both the 27.5" and 29" Embolden feature 148mm boost hub spacing with a 12mm through axle. Increased tire clearance now allows riders to run up to 2.6-inch tires on 27.5-inch wheel models and 2.4-inch tires on 29-inch wheel models.

All models come with dropper posts, tubeless-ready wheels, a Liv Sylvia trail saddle, 1x drivetrain, and a 35mm handlebar and stem setup.

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The expanded Embolden series will be available worldwide starting this spring.

Author Info:
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83 Comments
  • 31 1
 So the Giant Stance finally gets a boost standard through axle in the rear. Great! Could be a decent bike for lots of beginner riders.
  • 11 2
 Once the Stance and Fathom FINALLY got through axles they became the most attractive bikes in Giant's lineup.
  • 31 2
 Whew! I’m sure the previous axle made them completely unridable, especially for beginner riders
  • 6 0
 You said it--this is a beginner's dream! Full suspension, price point where it needs to be, and the right axle standards on the frame means it might be worth upgrading down the road if a person wants. HTA is in line with what is usually more comfortable for a new rider too. Love seeing stuff like this, this is exactly where I'd point any female friends looking to get into a full suspension without breaking the bank.
  • 5 1
 @VtVolk: The previous model was obviously not unrideable. But with modern standards and hopefully a stiffer rear end it's now probably worth keeping and upgrading rather than replacing as soon as a rider progresses out of the beginner stage.
  • 1 3
 would be wise for anyone in half-rugged terrain to fork over an extra $300 for something like the Siskiu T8. Real tires, Fox Rhythm front/Performance rear, good geometry, and mid-travel.
  • 1 0
 I thought the Stance's problem was its suspension design, not its hub axle standards.
  • 2 0
 @peterman1234: The T8 gets "Performace Tire 29x2.4" per their website. The T8 is better by about every measure other than price, and, ironically, tires. The Embolden 2 is $750 less than the T8. And while the T8 is a much better bike, trying to bring in new riders is about that price point. Ever had a girlfriend and tried to convince her to pay 35% more for things she doesn't have any frame of reference for? It's an uphill battle. Embolden 2 gets Deore, the same fork as the Embolden 1, and maxxis rubber.. for $1850. Great platform for a new rider to decide if they like the sport or not.
  • 1 1
 @mikealive: referring more to the $2300 embolden. And my girlfriend's T8 just showed up with very good Schwalbe's (I forget the tread name) but they're miles better in the steep/loose than any Maxxis Forekaster. For a brand new rider, yes, I can't fault your logic. But for someone who's maybe rented or has a cheap hardtail and knows they wanna get further into it, the T8 is a helluva bike.
  • 3 0
 @peterman1234: I don't know too many newbies worried about the "steep/loose" riding for their first bike. Did you get the T8 from the Sikiu website? "Performance Tire" seems like a placeholder, meaning they will ship you the bike with whatever tires they have available at the time. If you got some Schwalbe's, that's great I suppose, but sounds like you have a bias against Maxxis if you are set on the Schwalbe's that you don't remember the name for sure being better than the Forekaster. Anything less than a Hans Dampf and I'd at least say there is a debate to be had, but I digress. No argument from me, the T8 is easily the better bike, and *more expensive* bike, as I've said.
  • 2 0
 @VtVolk: disc brakes and QRs don’t mix. Pain in the ass having the brakes rub almost every time you take a wheel off.
  • 2 1
 @mnorris122: How many times is a beginner taking their rear wheel off? And wouldn't learning that it takes a single allen key and literally 10 seconds to realign a caliper be a good thing? I'm not saying QRs belong on high end mountain bikes, just that rear through axles are somewhere near 35mm bars on the list of standards beginners actually "need" to enjoy riding.
  • 2 0
 @VtVolk: your argument is weird. Why not give them a bike that will take them further than the QR axle if they have the option
  • 1 0
 @peterman1234: Not really. TAs are better, sure, but it’s a question of cost. On a price point beginner bike, either the overall cost goes up or they compromise somewhere else more important, like brakes or tires.
  • 5 0
 @peterman1234: The Polygon Siskiu T8 is $2600 though. At this price point I'd much rather buy a Giant Trance X.
  • 1 2
 EWWWWWW!! This bike looks like it's made for girls.
  • 22 0
 Y'all might think this bike is silly but this thing is going to sell like hotcakes in places like my hometown. Trails with little elevation and mild/no tech dominates the area. Add that to the fact most of these buyers are likely going to be on the older side and it's a no brainer to get something like this to smooth out any roughness in the trails without spending a pretty penny.
  • 15 0
 Not just a good option for places with mellow terrain, but a great entry level FS bike for kids who aren't sending it on A-line. My daughter rode a Stance 27.5 (preferred the boys colour scheme v the Embolden) from age 11-13, and it was great for blue trails on the North Shore / Whistler. Definitely not the right bike for 200lb wannabe enduro-bro, but 10/10 for a 100lb trail rider.
  • 1 1
 @cooperstrailbuddy: 2K bike for a kid? Yeah big nooo... This is a pretty good entry bike for an adult who wants to learn how to shred singletrack... The kid will be fine on a 500 CAD 10 years old trail \ enduro bike from the local FB Marketplace listing.
  • 1 0
 @valrock: bought for $1500 and sold 3 years later for $1375 - not bad value
  • 16 0
 not many XS full suspension bikes under $2000 with a dropper post and air fork. I reckon people will get it for their kids too.

I would get the 1x10 shimano with suntour rear-shock over the SX version with monarch-r. This will sell fast.
  • 8 0
 I am the last person in the world that Liv needs to justify their bike design to but I am dying to understand why their sizing differs from giant. It would be super interesting to hear the rider feedback or dimensional differences they base these decisions on.
  • 7 0
 Some solid info in this podcast actually. Different takes on this question from Liv, Pivot and Juliana.
www.pinkbike.com/news/the-pinkbike-podcast-episode-28-all-about-womens-bikes.html
  • 10 0
 According to the Dreyfuss Scale and NASA, as well as a physio from British Cycling, there is no statistical difference between the limb proportions of mens' and womens' bodies. It's just a case of finding the right bike for the rider. There are plenty men's bikes out there which aren't an ideal fit for me, so I buy something that is. What does matter is stance width though, women do need wider than men (statistically wider hips).

www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/bike-fit/custom-bikes-womens-specific-geometry-381525

There's a lot of marketing about it - but I'm all for encouraging more women into the sport by providing affordable options which are positioned in the market to be aimed at women (particularly beginners). People need to see themselves represented to feel welcomed and included.
  • 1 0
 @lpat1717: Yeah I listened to this and it was mostly marketing. There wasn't anything about bike design. The only real reason I want to know is so I can help female friends pick bikes. I can already filter the marketing BS I just want more context for looking at a geo chart.
  • 15 4
 Opinion : Proper websites shouldn't have paywalled articles.
  • 5 1
 It's just sad and cringey at this point. Beta must be a sinking ship.
  • 13 0
 Click you profile:
Go to Edit settings. “News settings” click the box to exclude Beta MTb from your feed.
  • 3 0
 @Starsky686: Beta filter!!
I have looked for it several times before, unsuccessfully. Here was my problem; I don't have a laptop, and those settings weren't viewable on mobile.
Anyone else reading this on your phone, switch to desktop version et voila! they appear.
Thanks for prompting me to dig deeper.
  • 2 0
 @Starsky686: You star, I had no idea that was possible.
  • 7 0
 It should be named Embiggen.
  • 1 0
 That's a perfectly cromulent name.
  • 1 0
 @flattoflat: weren't they in Star Trek?
  • 4 1
 They have the crappiest rear caliper mount on these bikes I have ever seen. It is tucked up inside the seat stay. Many brake calipers won’t fit because there is no room laterally to align the caliper. It’s like they designed a bike around a $50 set of Shimano mt400s.
  • 5 0
 Back when a Reign 2 2015 was 2299€ with Pike RCT3, Monarch Debonair, SLX-Deore Mix, Reverb Dropper.

Or the Maestro Trance/Intrigue could´ve had from 1500€ on.
  • 3 0
 The interesting part is how is Giants in-house Crest fork doing? Apparently there were a fair amount of warranty issues but if those are resolved, this could be great. The Rockshox recon stuff is so damn bad but that's all you could get on a sub 2k$ bike. Giant filling a big gap here if they made a good/great fork for the money.
  • 1 0
 Which Suntour is it based on is the question.
  • 1 0
 @JohSch: www.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-giant-manufactures-its-own-range-of-suspension-forks.html
  • 1 0
 its not that good. I bought a recon silver rl and it feels a hellof a lot better than the crest.
  • 1 0
 @Ethan-Baker: ugh really? My experience with the recons was from like 3 yrs ago. The recon silver was awful then and just messing with the Crest seemed way better. Maybe the recons have gotten better? Have you ridden the crest?
  • 1 0
 @Svinyard: I have ridden the crest. I bought the fathom back in march and within a week it started making a horrible clicking noise whenever you go through any travel. The recon has gotten a lot better
  • 4 1
 The $2,500 aluminum trail bike seems like a sweet spot for sales. Trail bike geometry, trickledown functions of low end drive trains, decent fork. Not just for beginners and kids. Excellent ride for budget cost!
  • 5 1
 Good looking, affordable, nice color. Now giant just needs to hire a better brand director and update their advertising and social media presence.
  • 4 2
 My GF absolutely loves her Liv Hail but saddly they discontinued these types of bikes from Liv. And going with a Giant isn't an option as even a size S Reign has a very long seat tube. Chances are Liv will loose what would have been a loyal customer otherwise, girls like Enduro too, not just dull trails.
  • 3 0
 There’s no Reign 27.5 on the Canadian Giant site this year either.

Methinks if you hang out for a bit the new Reign/Hails are coming. (A betting man might but a coin or two on mullet)
  • 1 0
 Yeah, they now lack what once was their top selling point:

good 27,5 bikes with Maestro VPP for smaller riders
  • 2 0
 @JohSch: for started Liv is oriented towards women so having smaller size and smaller wheels to match with the smaller size isn't as niche as it would be for a normal brand for instance. And currently they don't have an Enduro bike which is shit since women like to ride proper stuff too. Having the equivalent of a Reign with 29" for the bigger sizes and 27.5 or MX for the XS and S would be good in their line up.
  • 2 0
 Mountain biking is going to blow up for the next ten years. Not at the rate of the past two, but man - with bikes like this and economies of scale soon driving down prices on the technology that matured in the past few years the sport is really poised to be legit mainstream for the middle class soon.

And of course bikes aren’t the only things pointing that way. Trails are popping up all over the place, and communities are embracing the benefits the sport brings. Other outdoor groups recognize that we build the urban trails they’re hiking on and increasingly see us as partners. There will be growing pains of course - expect a lot more directional trails even on XC stuff, and the sport will get a roady snob vibe in some corners - but it’s a great time to be a mountain biker, and those who want to contribute will have a lot of opportunity to mold and grow the sport for the good.
  • 2 0
 Other than 29er wheel options, looks like most of the "upgrades" only apply to the Embolden 2. The previous Embolden 1 already came with a dropper & rear thru-axle. My GF picked up an Embolden 1 last year and it came with the Crest fork instead of the Rockshox. I promptly broke it riding off a curb during the test-ride. The bike shop ended up warrantying the fork and she got a Rockshox as a replacement. They said that they had another model that had the Crest fork fail so maybe just bad luck. The Recon has been great so far. Are there other comparable options? Sure. But my GF is super short (5') and it was hard to find a full-suspension mtb in a decent price range that fit her. The Liv Embolden 1 checked off all the boxes.
  • 1 0
 Very curious to see how the flexpoint rides now that it's a proper through axle and not a qr skewer. And if they made any improvements to that flexpoint concept, and overall frame rigidity, with the axle change. Get the Mikes back on it for the next value field test!!
  • 2 0
 The XS 27.5 has made for a great kids bike. Got one for my 12 year old almost 2 years ago, its been great and growing into it nicely.
  • 2 0
 My wife has an XS Liv Lust and she loves it. Great entry level full suspension bike. Did a few upgrades, put a dropper in it and set it up tubeless.
  • 3 0
 HAHA LETS ALL BUY THE REAR TRIANGLE FROM EMBOLDENS AND UPGRADE OUR STANCES
  • 3 0
 Man, these look like homeruns. Nice job Liv!
  • 3 0
 Flex pivot aluminum?
  • 6 0
 Been common on a few brands for the last 4/5 years now
  • 1 5
flag kingdrew (Feb 15, 2022 at 8:12) (Below Threshold)
 Yep... Pretty silly to see these large companies move towards this idea. Aluminum is much more susceptible to fatigue failure than steel or property layed up carbon and I suspect these frames will have a shorter lifespan due to it.
  • 5 1
 Not an issue, if done correctly. The last-gen Scott Spark also had flex stays on the alloy models and they worked absolutely fine.
  • 4 0
 My Stance has that, it's been fine. Jason even did a huck to flat on it and it doesn't look like it flexed that much.
  • 3 0
 @kingdrew: No one will cycle the suspension on their bike even nearly enough for fatiguing to take any significant effect. Depending on the alloy, the specific design and the occuring forces, that could be a couple of millions of times before you could observe any significant detrimental effects.
  • 1 0
 Nothing new, Trek had this on bikes 20 years ago.
  • 3 2
 I've lost count of how many warranty claims I've seen for Stances, usually after 2-3 years the rear triangle will crack. Giant must be well aware of it as they always had plenty of stock of replacement rear ends.
  • 3 0
 @kingdrew: All true. But most of these frames will likely not come close to that realistic fatigue limit.
The few warranty claims they'll have probably make up for the cost benefit gained by design simplicity. Giant may also factor in the reduced riding time that a decent number of entry-level bikes see over their lifetime.
  • 4 1
 What… is that fork
  • 6 3
 Giant Crest. "Through precise in-house manufacturing processes like thixomolding and horizontal machining, the Crest’s uppers and lowers are perfectly circular and concentric and offer a virtually frictionless action. " It's the new cool kid enduro fork. But it'll be old soon. Perfectly ovalized uppers and lowers are going to be the new shebang /s
  • 6 3
 It's their in-house fork, called crest.
  • 15 2
 It's a rebranded SR Suntour XCM 34 Air Boost. Decent entry level fork.
  • 1 0
 @Muscovir: Is it really a rebrand? Didn't know that. Hoping its decent and holds up.
  • 3 0
 @Svinyard: no, it's their own in-house brand. Here's an article about it : www.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-giant-manufactures-its-own-range-of-suspension-forks.html
  • 2 0
 @Coolwinner05: that’s what I thought. Here’s hoping it’s dialed in on the quality side. I messed with one and it definitely was better and smoother than a recon
  • 1 0
 Looks like it is designed for short travel droppers only. Every dropper in the picture is sticking out like 4 inches.
  • 4 2
 Women specific is a thing in 2022?
  • 1 1
 It's called marketing Smile

See also pink razors...
  • 6 0
 I showed my wife a few bikes off Giant’s website. She finally ask me why I kept sending her mens bikes so I went to Liv. I could have told her she was ignorantly falling for a pseudo-patricharchical marketing trick, or I could just show her a bike she wants.

The sport has a male dominant vibe, and it’s not such a bad thing to have an explicit invitation to women in the product description.
  • 1 1
 Seems to go against the DFI movement.
Diversity/fairness/inclusion taskforce.
  • 2 1
 WIFE BIKE!!! Time to revisit the budget
  • 2 0
 Stylish frame!
  • 1 0
 I need it
  • 1 0
 I wanna Liv, I wanna giv
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