Giant Trance 29 2 Review: Mash Market – Travis Engel | The Radavist | A group of individuals who share a love of cycling and the outdoors.

Whenever we veer into the mainstream by covering a bike from The Big Three, we do it because that bike has something special going on. And the Giant Trance 29 2 certainly is special. Travis spent a month aboard the moderate-travel, moderate-price trail bike. He praised its modern features, sophisticated suspension, and thoughtful spec. It does need bigger brake rotors, but that’s kind of a compliment if you think about it.

I’ve been on quite a journey with Giant Bicycles over the decades. At my last bike-shop job, Giant was our bread-and-butter. In fact, that’s all Giant was to us. We would steer most of our high-end mountain bike customers towards Kona. But that changed in 2004 when Giant introduced their Maestro rear-suspension platform. I had never ridden a full-suspension bike that was so quick and efficient, but at the same time so supple and comfortable. The next year, I bought my first Maestro-equipped bike, the Giant Trance. I warrantied the rear triangle after a crack appeared hundreds of miles later, and it’s a bit of a time capsule, what with its external cable routing and rim-brake mounts.

Suspension has evolved a lot since then, and Maestro’s performance advantages simply aren’t as dramatic as they were 20 years ago. Thanks to things like modern shocks and modern geometry, most well-designed full-suspension bikes are adequately quick and comfortable. Where Maestro will rise above is if you’re pedaling hard over uneven terrain. When under power, the rear suspension doesn’t “squat,” but simultaneously, it will remain active. It offers equal measures of efficiency and traction on the technical climbs that demand them most.

When recommending affordable full-suspension bikes to new riders, I usually don’t fill their heads with this stuff. There are already so many factors to consider when starting out, and technical climbing prowess may not be the most important one. But when recommending affordable full-suspension bikes to seasoned riders, it’s a different story. My go-to suggestions are usually the Ibis Ripmo AF for the shredders, and the Ripley AF for the pedalers. Ibis’s DW-Link suspension is similar to—though legally distinct from—Giant’s Maestro. But unless Ibis bikes are on sale, they start at $3,000. When I saw what the Trance 29s were selling for right now, I figured it was time for a revisit.

Trance 29 2 Quick Hits

29” wheels
120 mm rear travel, 130mm front
Aluminum frame (full-carbon versions also available)
Dual-short-link “Maestro” suspension design
UDH hanger
Sold through retailers, or consumer-direct
33.8 lbs (XL, no pedals)
$2,800 (Currently on sale for $2,200)
giant-bicycles.com/trance-29-2

The Trance 29 2 is a mild-tempered trail bike. It’s not a short-travel shredder like the Chromag Darco. And it’s not an XC rocket like the Pivot Mach 4 SL. It’s meant to be efficient enough to cover a lot of ground, and forgiving enough to survive whatever that ground is made of. It’s a do-it-all platform that can appeal to the casual and capable alike. And that’s why it’s a perfect budget full-suspension bike, if such a thing exists.

I rode the entry-level Trance 29 2, which usually goes for $2,800 and is currently on sale for $2,200. That would be impressive even for a value-focused, direct-to-consumer brand like Polygon or Ari. They save cost by cutting the retailer out of the equation. But you can still buy a Giant Trance at a bike shop.

Like many of the bike reviews we publish, this one will be useful regardless of where in the model’s price range you’re thinking of shopping. That includes the carbon models like the Trance Advanced Pro 29 2 (now $4,500 down from $6,000) or the Pro 29 1 (now $5,000 down from $7,000). But after my time on the Trance 29 2, I think the clear winner in the lineup is the Trance 29 1. It’s an alloy-frame, SLX-drivetrain, Fox-suspension build that’s on sale for $2,700 down from $3,550.

In normal times, I wouldn’t let discount prices play into my value assessment. But these are not normal times. Discounts are everywhere now. Also, they are rarely temporary. In 2024, you can probably bet that the sales are on ‘til the bikes are gone. And full disclosure: although every size and every level Trance was in stock at Giant USA when they shipped me this bike, that has changed slightly. As of publishing this, the size-medium and size-large Trance 29 2 are not in open stock at Giant’s US headquarters, though you can still find them in shops. In fact, there are three within ten miles of my house. This current lineup of the Trance 29 was introduced barely two years ago, but there’s no official word on what the model’s future is. Again, these are not normal times. But because there are a number of other in-stock Trance 29s in the mix, and because the sweet-spot Trance 29 1 is in stock in all sizes as of publishing, I think it’s still safe for me to release this review into the wild.

Design details

Praise be, the Trance has an accessory port. There are plenty of fancier, pricier bikes out there that don’t bother to include one. Bonus points for Giant putting it in a thoughtful location, where it isn’t crowded behind the head tube and doesn’t interfere with the bottle, even my Wolf Tooth B-Rad double-decker setup. And sure, I tested a size XL, but there’s a usable amount of accessory space even on the size small. The frame also gets some generous downtube and rear-stay protection that actually seem to be staying very firmly in place. I don’t call this out enough, but most brands’ rubber panels start peeling week one. A small thing, but not insignificant.

Another small thing is that Maestro bikes mount their lower shock eyelet concentric with one of the frame pivots. That means it rocks on that pivot’s bearings, and doesn’t need a bushing. Again, no big deal, but it’s fewer mounts, fewer bolts and fewer parts to wear out. There’s also Giant’s smart approach to internal cable routing. The removable port plates leave a good amount of room for fishing. And to my utter delight, all the lines are already run through silencing foam tubes, right out of the box.

Trance 29 2 Spec

This bike is an example of what the Shimano Deore 12-speed group has done for the budget market. You get nearly as crisp a shift as with XT. Plus, the Trance specs a Micro Spline rear hub, meaning you get the wider range of the 10-51-tooth cassette, not the 11-51 often found on price-point 12-speed bikes. That higher high gear wasn’t a big deal to me until I started preferring a smaller, 30-tooth front chainring. When I’ve got a couple miles of road to pedal, a 30 / 10 combo will rarely spin out. And that’s great, because Giant happened to spec a 30-tooth ring.

The Trance 29 2 runs on a Fox Float DPS rear shock with three-position “lockout” lever that works like a compression-damping adjustment. Usually, rear lockouts disappear at this price point. The Trance doesn’t totally need one, but it’s a useful luxury, especially on such a versatile bike that might spend a fair bit of time on less technical climbs.

As far as the odds and ends rounding out the spec, I’d have liked to see a longer dropper, but Giant’s house-brand post is surprisingly quick. The 2.5-inch Maxxis Aggressor / DHF combo are not quick, but they help bump the bike’s overall capability beyond what you’d expect from the travel range. That’s about everything but the fork and brakes, which I guess it’s time to talk about.

I should start by setting expectations. Again, this is a moderate-tempered trail bike. It’s not built for big hits. If it were, it would have compromised much of what I enjoyed about it. And most riders looking at this price point and this travel range aren’t out there slaying the gnar. But an important part of choosing an affordable mountain bike is choosing one that can grow with you. So, before we get to the part where I heap praise on the Trance, I want to briefly explain why this model’s fork and brakes may limit that growth.

Marzocchi forks are made by Fox, but the Bomber Z2 runs on a simpler damper design than what’s found in a Fox-branded fork. It’s built around 34 mm stanchions and thicker (heavier) materials than the lighter-weight Fox 34. I never sensed any unwanted waggle when trusting it in the rough sections. The Z2 runs Fox’s Evol air spring, which can be tuned with volume spacers. And it has the huge perk of featuring adjustable compression damping, which offers support under slow, predictable loads. But it sometimes wallowed in the middle of its travel amid successive hard bumps. It wasn’t recovering quickly enough despite my fast rebound setting. I should mention that this was only noticeable when I was riding at the edge of the Trance 29’s ability. It should not be a deal-breaker unless most of your happy places are steep and rocky. But if they are, the Fox 34 specced on the Trance 29 1 will perform meaningfully better.

I’ve got a similar complaint about the brakes. Tektro makes good stuff, but they’re always a little behind the times. For instance, these lever blades are strangely long. They comfortably fit three fingers, for some reason. So, positioning them for one-finger braking made it hard to find a good spot for the shifter and dropper lever. It also made for a long lever throw. But most importantly, they were lacking in stopping power. Like my fork nit-picks, this is mostly an issue when riding aggressively. But I’d argue that everyone can benefit from lighter-action stoppers. It’s easier on the hands, wrists, and peace-of-mind. Unfortunately, the Trance 29 1 also has the same brake spec, presumably due to supply-chain issues when orders were going in for these bikes. During testing, I fixed it with dual 200 mm rotors, and could have stood to swap the organic pads for metallic. And the bike deserved it.

Descending

I debated whether or not to even do the whole “Descending” and “Climbing” subheading thing, given that this bike is such an efficient all-rounder. Because of course it is. The 120 / 130 category is packed with efficient all-rounders. But on some of my faster, chunkier downhills, I actually felt surprisingly secure in this the Trance’s hands, fork and brake complaints notwithstanding.

While other 120 mm trail bikes lean into their more sprightly tendencies, the Trance feels more planted. Compared to the Pivot Trail 429 or the Trek Top Fuel, it likes to hover a little deeper in its rear travel. I went up one size of rear-shock volume spacer to add a little extra buffer, but I didn’t want to fight the feeling too much. Because the Trance was never designed to be fully shred-tastic, I ended up riding a tad lighter on my feet. Flowing, not forcing my way down the trail. I even wrote that old chestnut, “feels-like-it-has-more-travel-than-it-does” in one of my post-ride notes. Not to mean that it’s got a big appetite for big hits. More that it’s got a sort of effortless hover. And I think that’s thanks to more than the suspension.

I rode the Trance with its flip chip in its “low” setting, so 65.5-degree head angle and a relatively tall 637 mm stack height on my XL frame. It made the front end feel what I’d call “comfortable.” Not just because I could be more upright, but because it felt natural at the speeds this bike is meant to reach. On overforked, overly slack short-travel bikes like my Canyon Spectral 125, the idea is to really lean forward so the front tire gets more bite in fast, steep turns. But the Trance ain’t about that. It doesn’t need to be at race pace or in race posture to feel responsive. It’s more about comfort. I haven’t said this in a while, but it’s got that “in-not-on” feeling, which was also in my notes.

I’d chalk that up, partly, to the generous 45 mm of bottom-bracket drop. That’s about 10 mm deeper than the aforementioned Pivot or Trek. Too deep, in some situations. I believe that a flip chip’s low setting should be too deep sometimes, but we need a “climbing” subhead to explain why.

Climbing

So, yeah. I was knocking pedals more often than I’m used to while charging the Trance up technical climbs. The very same type of technical climbs where its Maestro suspension is so outstanding. I just don’t happen to charge up that many technical climbs in my world. And I don’t think it’s condescending to say the same might be true of a lot of mountain bikers shopping in this price point. So, I liked that the Trance 29 defaults to the low setting. Let the riders hunting down widowmaker climbs flip the chip. I spent a couple rides in the high setting, though, and I’ll admit that it’s nice in the right setting. I already covered Maestro’s strengths, but that was the intro. I was still working in hypotheticals there.

In the real world, the Trance would pass over shelfy rocks with a kind of noble indifference. Like, it didn’t matter how hard I was pedaling, or if I was seated or standing. On many other short-ish-travel bikes, getting over an unavoidable rock requires more body english. I have to do a bit of a lurch to keep my momentum from getting interrupted. On the Trance, I was able to save some of that physical and mental energy. It didn’t make those rocks disappear by any means. It just shaved off their edges. I say this a lot about well-designed suspension platforms like the DW-Link on an Ibis or the CBF on a Revel, but it would hover up sections that my personal similar-travel bike would get hung up on.

And I don’t ride mountain bikes clipped in anymore, so I can’t calmly but forcefully spin my way through rocky climbs. I sorta have to mash. So, the Trance did bob, but not excessively or distractingly. Going back again to the Pivot Trail 429, that’s a 120 mm bike that almost refuses to bob. And it comes with a sacrifice to its hover-y-ness. The Trance, on the other hand, embraces the hover. That means it’s not as sprightly as some of its category-mates, but I kinda like that. Your muscles don’t have to overdose on lactic acid for you to feel like you’re meeting the bike on its level. The Trance is good if you’re good.

Value

I almost titled this review “Budget Full-Suspension Bike: The Movie,” but that’s not very SEO-friendly. The word “review” kinda has to be in there somewhere. What that title means is that the struggles of properly speccing an affordable mountain bike are written all over the Giant Trance 29 2. Everything was a compromise, but to varying extents. The Deore drivetrain was a great compromise. And for the average rider, the Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork was probably a good one. The Tektro brakes, on the other hand, were not.

But this isn’t “Boutique Full-Suspension Bike: The Movie.” That movie’s plot is totally different. Hopefully, the Trance is the bike that will hook you on the sport. It’s how you’ll learn what you like and what you don’t. It’ll teach you how to maintain, repair, and eventually replace parts. It’s not going to end up on Facebook Marketplace as soon as the new one comes out. If it’s got good fundamentals like the Trance 29 2 does, it’s going to stick around. Or on the other hand, if you’re already hooked on the sport, that doesn’t mean you’ve got $7K to spend on a bike … but you should spring for the Trance 29 1 with the Fox fork.