Giant Reign 1 long-term review

Giant is discreetly producing some really rather progressive mountain bikes these days. And for decent prices too. The geometry and spec on this (Medium) Giant Reign 1 ticks a heck of a lot of boxes: 63.5° head angle, 78.3° seat angle, 445mm chain stay length, 425mm seat tube length, suspension is Fox Performance Elite, the stopping and going stuff is from Shimano, Maxxis tyres, decent length dropper.

• Brand: Giant
• Product: Reign 1
• Price: £3,999.00
• From: Giant Bicycles
• Tested by: Aran Francis for 7 months

Pros

• Great geometry
• Sorted parts package
• Top value

Cons

• Suspension bobs a bit when open
• SLX drivetrain went rough

Whilst I’ve jumped around different test bikes over the last few years, the one constant in my biking life is that my personal bike is a 2020 Giant Reign. This five year old Reign has been used for big days out in the fells, enduro racing, downhill racing and bike park uplift days. Before I unpack The New Reign, it’s worth reflecting on my experience of The Old Reign. 

The Old Reign

I’ll attempt to keep this brief- since it’s not strictly what you came to read! My initial doubt when buying the 2020 Reign was its relatively modest travel for an ‘Enduro’ bike; 146mm rear and 160mm Fox 36 front, where most other enduro rigs would be at least 170mm and come with a 38mm stanchion fork.

For the rear, even on some big days out, the classic Maestro dual-link suspension did such a good job of delivering the travel that – whilst I did occasionally bottom out – the modest travel was never a limiting factor. One one hand I did think the 2020 Reigns could have benefitted from a bigger, burlier fork and a slacker head angle. On the other hand, the main strength of that 2020 Reign was how nimble it was.

I was sitting at the top end of the recommended rider height for a Medium size bracket, so perhaps this had something to do with it. Nonetheless, it was a really playful and nimble bike which could still handle steep and rough sections of track. There’s no denying that The Old Reign sometimes left me underbiked when things got rougher and chunkier.

The New Reign

To compare the new Reign to the old (something which I will be doing a lot throughout this review!), the headline changes are: more travel (160m rear, 170mm Fox 38 fork), and a flip-chip in the upper rocker offering three geometry settings (63.5, 63.9 or 64.2° head angle).

With more travel, a beefier fork, a little more length and adjustability to slacken the head angle, the previous issues of being occasionally underbiked appear to have been addressed. These changes aren’t just for the spec list, they do translate on the trail. The bike definitely feels more stable in a straight line and better at tackling big features in general.

Okay, it’s not a Downhill bike – nor a Super Enduro bike – so naturally there are limitations. I think the rough stuff at Dyfi Bike Park is where you could find some limits. However, having raced both UK-based Enduro and Downhill events on this bike, I would be confident in saying the Giant Reign is an incredibly capable bike. 

The Giant Maestro suspension linkage design is nearly as old as me, but it has stood the test of time well. It certainly still works now. One criticism that is often given is that of pedal bob. You might notice this as an issue, even on the new Reign. It is possible to minimise the bob by learning to pedal smoothly where possible – and possibly running a click more rebound than typical – but in the real world, if it bothers you, use the climb switch on the Fox Float X shock.

The Reign hasn’t really lost any of its playfulness with the improvements in its rough and steep capability. It is still fun to chuck around and the bike turns really well. 

As an Enduro bike, it isn’t all about the down, and I was largely impressed by its ability to climb efficiently. Especially with the lockout on the shock, progress is efficient and the riding position is comfortable. 

In its stock settings the Reign works really well on long, big mountain days. I have taken it on some big missions in the Lake District often involving some on the shoulder carrying. The traction on offer and the general efficient riding stance make for a manageable climber. Yet its capability on the downs make for a really enjoyable descent, especially on chunky, natural mountain paths. 

Components and build quality

Shimano Deore brakes are always remarkably good for their price and especially with the whopping 220mm rotor on the front. I have zero complaints about brake performance. The SLX drivetrain did cause some complaints with jumping and slipping off the jockey wheels after a while, but nothing new cables and better maintenance couldn’t solve.

Giant’s AM wheels have always had strong rims with not too much weight and robust hubs. The cup and cone bearings on the front did need tightening up properly after some irritating front wheel teething wobbles. The stock Romero saddle was impressively comfy. The same however cannot be said for the harsh grips which were swapped out immediately.

There are other nice little touches on the Reign. The downtube stash is a relatively new feature for Giant. I like that this stash is more just a hole to access the hollow downtube, allowing for a good amount of space for a spare tube (providing you can fit it through the opening).

There is a good amount of frame protection that comes stock with the Reign: ribbed chain stay protection (it’s nice to see here that some effort has been made to deaden chain slap), pretty comprehensive downtube protection and even some little plastic patches to stop cable rub on the headtube.

I would always recommend some sort of aftermarket frame protection if you want to keep your bike nice but the Reign, after a summer season of loose stones, crashes and some hike bike excursions, looks to be in pretty good condition with very minimal paint chips or scratches.

One thing I have often noticed about the Reign is it wasn’t always the quietest of bikes. There is some chain slap, cable rattle and often mysterious clicking from headsets/pivot bearings. These noises do seem to lessen through the bike’s lifetime as things soften up. 

Tweakings

One strength of the Reign is the ability to customise the geometry. The Reign comes with a flip chip in the rear which changes the geometry of the bike between three settings: 63.5, 63.9 or 64.2° head angle. This corresponds to 78.3, 78.7 or 79° seat tube angle, resulting in a 35, 30 or 25mm bottom bracket drop.  The flip-chip method is relatively easy – not necessarily on the fly from climb to descend or anything – but it only takes about five mins with some Allen keys. 

Seeing as 2025 is the Year Of The Mullet, one alteration we made was to switch out the rear wheel for a 27.5 set-up. There is the option of using the flip chip to raise the bike back up to retain the geometry of full 29, but we went with the middle setting to allow for an even slacker and low-slung dynamic. The main negative of this was with that lower bottom bracket, the susceptibility for pedal strikes did increase.

The second alteration we made was switching to a coil shock for a while (DVO coil from The Old Reign). With this shock, the Reign did become noticeably more difficult on the climbs; the DVO coil had no climb mode feature to counter the pedal bob. If you do coil on a Reign, make sure you get a shock with a climb switch.

What I will say is that my best results of the season came on this coiled-mullet set-up. And not just with a Downhill win but breaking into the top 5 and a podiums on the Enduro circuit too. 

This ability to chop and change really impressed me for the Reign. One weekend you could run it as a downhill-centric, corner bashing, lapping weapon in mullet mode. Another weekend you swap out for the full 29er guide for more of a trail bikey all-rounder. 

The only thing I would be expecting in the longer term would be a drivetrain upgrade. The good ol’ SLX stuff perhaps wasn’t up to the rigours of a season’s racing. Other than that, the bike’s spec warrants no complaints from me.

Overall

I am trying to put my Reign fanboi bias aside, but even so it’s hard to find many complaints about the new Giant Reign. Okay, it is a bit noisy at first, and the pedal bob is noticeable. But in truth the new Reign is excellent. It is great value with a spec which isn’t showy, but certainly more than good enough. In stock settings it climbs well and descends well and It is both nimble and capable. The customisability is great and I have to recommend the two-bikes-in-one strategy of implementing a 27.5 rear wheel. If you can adjust to the increased pedal strike risk, the mullet set up added that touch extra Downhill capability with no real compromise to the playful character of the bike.


Giant Reign 1 specification

• Frame // ALLUX SL-Grade Aluminium, 160mm
• Shock // Fox Float X Performance Elite, 205/62.5mm
• Fork // Fox 38 Performance Elite GRIP 2, 170mm
• Wheels // Giant AM 29
• Front Tyre // Maxxis Assegai 29×2.5 WT, 3C MaxxTerra, EXO+
• Rear Tyre // Maxxis Minion DHR II 29×2.4 WT, 3C MaxxTerra , DD
• Chainset // Shimano MT512, 32T
• Brakes // Shimano Deore BR-M6120, 220/203mm
• Drivetrain // Shimano SLX M7100, 10-51T
• Stem // Giant Contact SL 35, 40mm
• Handlebars // Giant Contact SL TR35, 800x20mm
• Grips // Giant Tactal Pro Single
• Seat Post // TranzX travel-adjustable dropper, 140-170mm (Medium), 30.9mm
• Saddle // Giant Romero
• Sizes Available // M, L, XL
• Size Tested // M
• Weight // 16.8kg

Geometry of our size Medium

• Head angle // 63.9°
• Effective seat angle // 78.7°
• Seat tube length // 425mm
• Head tube length // 105mm
• Chainstay // 443mm
• Wheelbase // 1,245mm
• Effective top tube // 586mm
• BB height // 30mm BB drop
• Reach // 460mm