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Giant Trance SX Advanced vs Cube Stereo HPC Race

4K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Cotharyus 
#1 · (Edited)
New bike time - looking for longer travel Enduro / Trail build. Options have come down to Cube Stereo HPC Race vs the new Trance SX Advanced - 160/140mm rear respectively, with 160mm 34's up front. Trance is new out and haven't seen one in the flesh yet, nor seen any useful reviews.
Ride lots of technical trails, with steep, rocky, rooty terrain both for the ups and downs.
Trance slightly better specced (new XO1), probably lighter (haven't seen any weights for advanced), but also a bit dearer.
The Cube reviews very well - with most reviewers praising the climbing ability.
I'm leaning towards the Trance due to higher spec, but is a bit longer and slacker (66 deg HA / 72.5 SA) - I'm a wee bit concerned at how this may affect climbing - although it does have Talas to drop to 140.
So - Firstly, has anyone out there managed to get a leg over a Trance SX in anger yet, and how did they rate it?
 
#5 ·
There was a review around here someplace of someone that rode the SX I think at the Giant demo. Raved about it as I recall going up and down....not realizing he never switched the Talas to 160 going down. Had it in 140 mode the entire time.
 
#6 ·
I briefly demoed an SX (not advanced). As stated, it was definitely fun going downhill, though i was wishing for shorter chain-stays. It climbed and pedaled well. Maestro is a fairly efficient platform. I never dropped the Talas to 140mm, but I also didn't climb anything that was particularly steep or technical.

I really enjoyed riding it, but personally the long rear-center would keep me from spending money on this bike. YMMV...
 
#7 ·
Ok, got to ride the SX. I had a couple of issues with the bike. Number one - the chain guide and Zee 1x10 drive system. Could the guide be any uglier, and more useless in the face of the wide-narrow chain rings available? A better choice in chain rings, and a clutched RD and you can nuke that hideous business. The weight. Solving the first problem would help with this, but ultimately, I guess the weight is the price you pay for a bike that will stand up to the abuse that bike is designed for. Now, I haven't had the guys at the shop put the bike on the scales yet, but it was heavy enough that I had to make a significant brain adjustment to get the bike in the air. Last problem, the brakes. For $4K, a set of shimano deores doesn't cut it for me. End of story. However, you asked about the advance.....


And it cures all these problems.

As far as the actual ride, I purposefully left the fork in 160 to make things as bad as possible for climbs, and the bike didn't feel like it was wandering around on me. As stated, it peddles well. I didn't have any fundamental problems with the physics of the bike and the way it rode. It's put the SX (advance) on my list of possible options for a "bigger hit" bike, or something enduro capable.
 
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