[Closed] Giant Reign Advanced...any good?

What kind of riding do you do?

It's quite a serious bike, you may be better looking at a trance if you're not smashing downhills/enduroing.

what are the real world differences between the advanced and alloy versions of the Reign?

200g apparently. The alloy one is certainly stiff enough.

Planning a year ahead? You're worse than Renton!

What kind of riding do you do?

It's quite a serious bike, you may be better looking at a trance if you're not smashing downhills/enduroing.

current bike is a Giant Reign X2. a lot of the riding i do is exactly that sort of stuff but i need something that is light enough to pedal back up the hills.

Planning a year ahead? You're worse than Renton!

i'll need about 12 months to scrape the money together for it. it also gives me enough time to build up a valid case for support to convince wifey that spending that sort of money on a bike will be a great idea...it may cost me more than the bike itself

What size would you be looking at gonzy?

You can have a go on my medium alu over Gisburn sometime if you like.

You can have a go on my medium alu over Gisburn sometime if you like.

thanks for the offer Chakaping, i may take you up on that offer if only to just take it for a quick spin around the car park...my current Reign is a small but the top tube length is the same as my friend's medium Whyte T-129.
its been mistaken as a medium before...the only give away seems to be the massively sloping top tube and short seat tube
ive had a look at a medium at my LBS and it looks to be the right size for me but i havent ridden one yet.

you met some of my mates on sunday...im a few inches shorter than the lad on the orange Bronson (thats a large)

Just drop me a line if you do want a spin on it. I'm 5ft 8in (but short legs) and I half wish I'd got the large FWIW.

thanks Chakaping!

I've one too, like cha****ng would be interested to see what a large would be like for me (have a medium, 5'7") in the world of longer longer bikes.

I've had a lot of bikes before it and really rate this. Not heavy, climbs fine and is great downhill.

i've read all the reviews and they have been quite positive, but one thing confused me yesterday.
i picked up a copy of a certain rival bike magazine who shall remain un-named...mainly because it had a feature in the new Reign Advanced and also it was giving away a free helmet bag.
reading the review of the bike wasnt good,,,they didnt seem impressed by the bike and gave it 3/5....but on bikeradar the very same writer did a review of the 2015 model of the same bike and gave it a glowing review and 4.5/5.
looking at the specs of the 2016 and 2015 model the only major change i could see is the change from Shimano XT drivetrain to SRAM. so essentially, or at least to me, they are the same bike just with a different colour scheme
generally i generally don't go by what a journalist has said about a bike or product...but when its going to cost this much i'd like to know what they thought of it as well as finding out what its like to own and ride from people who actually has one.

but what gives with the 2 differing reviews from the same person?

but what gives with the 2 differing reviews from the same person?

Review will be proportional to advertising spend of the manufacturer...

Pah, reviews!

I bought an end-of-line 2015 Reign Advanced just before Xmas because:

1. I loved my old (2013) Reign, still got it but need to get around to selling it....
2. It was a bargain.
3. I wanted (and had been told, by a guide in Finale Ligure that my bike was too small for me) to try a longer bike. I went from Medium on the old to a Large in the new - that is a big step-up for a 5'11" shorty, but the new one feels great and is much, much faster than I am.

Go for it, great bikes 😀

aha!!....you know who i'm referring to?

I think I read the review you mention gonzy.

IIRC the main criticisms were the wheels being bit lightweight and the custom 46mm fork offset feeling odd.

I had a different model and upgraded my wheels anyway, but the jury is still out on the fork.

It does feel quicker steering than I expected from the bike's geo. It might make it feel a touch nervy when descending. Can't be sure until I've ridden it on more terrain. Local trails been muddy or submerged since I got it.

Go for it, great bikes

i intend to.
i love my current 09 Reign X2. it may be a bit on the lardy side with it weighing at around 35lb, but it climbs quite well for a heffer and descends like a full on dh bike.
i can easily keep up with my 650b wheeled friends.
in the 25+ years of riding mtbs i've only ever bought 1 off the shelf mtb brand new and that was my very frist one....a raleigh activator back in 1993. after that i bought a used marin. since then i have bought mainly used or brand new frames and parts for custom builds.

i've owned close to 30 different bikes in that time but as i hit 40 next year it will be my last chance to buy an off the shelf bike then it has to be the right one...and this seems to be the one

a few of my friends have mondraker dunes and have tried to convince me to get the same but they dont do it for me. riding one i can see the benefits of the geometry but the reign has a similar geometry.

i think my mind is pretty much made up and the only thing left now is to get a test ride to make sure i'm happy with it.

chakaping has been kind enough to offer his for a test...unless i can get down to my LBS and blag one off them for a quick test

IIRC the main criticisms were the wheels being bit lightweight and the custom 46mm fork offset feeling odd.

i cna understand about the wheels potentially being an issue but the bikeradar review had the same bike with the same fork and same offset but it wasnt a problem but now in the magazine it suddenly has become an issue...it doesnt make sense

aha!!....you know who i'm referring to?

I've had a few Mondrakers and the Reign does have a similar suspension feel as well as geo. Also feels way sturdier than my old Dune, though that was a 2013.

Is it right that it's pronounced as per the US actor/president's surname

Ha...

About to turn 40 too. Looked at the Reign. Also looked at the Anthem. Went for the Trance with 140mm 34s. Middle ground. Goes up hills. Goes down hills. Goes over bumps. Looks like a bicycle. Very happy with it. Great trail bike. Bang on 29lbs using my luggage scales. With pedals.

i hit 40 next year it will be my last chance to buy an off the shelf bike

Other than slacker geo, weight wise, how does an average Trance stack up to an average Reign? I bet there's not much in it at all.

really? Just about to hit 50 here and just bought an off the shelf bike. I did consider the reign briefly, but it looked a bit hefty for carrying up passes in the lakes

TBH i cant see myself spending £5k+ on a bike again...

having said that i've just noticed that for the sort of money i'm planning on spending i could go for a custom built Evil Insurgent or Santa Cruz Nomad.... 😯

The trance (in SX guise) is considerably better as an all rounder.
The reign needs the terrain to get the best out of it. It can go around trail centres etc, but it's happier on steep, rough stuff (which is exactly what it was made for).
The trance is a very, very good bike.
If you want a big bike, the reign is as good as a nomad and an insurgent.
Oh, and the reign advanced frame is heavier than the trance alu (weighed and confirmed by a Giant store).

Did you change the fork on yr Reign wrecker?

If so did you ride the original too and could you tell any difference with the offset?

My feeling is that the Pike may be a tad flimsy compared to the frame, though that review and comments on other sites suggest the offset could be a factor.

Did you change the fork on yr Reign wrecker?

I've a feeling I may end up with a 160mm Lyrik, eventually.

I've heard they're only a little bit stiffer - but that's all I'm after.

I've manned the Reign team up a bit. Evo2/ex471 wheels, solo air forks, shimano zee drive (w/short cage mech) hope E4 brakes. Feels more proper now.
The DPA pike/XO1/DT swiss XM/Guides have gone on the Trance (and it's a ****ing rocket!)

just spoken to the wifey and she has given me the go ahead to get it for my 40th next year!! 😀

but she has reservations on me paying full price on one and even more concerns about me paying for it outright....i've now been instructed that if i can get it on a 0% finance deal then she would be more than happy to allow me to get the bike.

i was expecting her to tell me to buy it outright and not get it on finance, so it comes as a bit of a surprise....but i suppose it takes the pressure off me in having to save up £5k for a bike.

i only rode the original bike when it came out with the special offset fork, but it didnt really feel odd to me.

I've got the Lyrik back on mine now, but I've run a few different forks and can't really notice the difference in offsets.

The two Pikes I have had have both ended up with creaking crowns so I gave up on them really.

The bike is still awesome though, still love it a year later 🙂

<arrives from the other thread>

gonzy - Member

looking at the specs of the 2016 and 2015 model the only major change i could see is the change from Shimano XT drivetrain to SRAM. so essentially, or at least to me, they are the same bike just with a different colour scheme

One review is for the 0 model, the other for the 1, so there's a lot of changes in there. Higher spec fork, carbon bars and cranks, Reverb instead of a Stealth, XX1's a higher end groupset than XT, lighter wheels... So it's pretty different in the detail.

But it's £2200 more expensive! So it's easy to see how one could get a much lower mark, if it just doesn't bring enough added value for that 66% extra cost. And it's also over a year later, so progression/competition could have impacted it too.

And o'course there's the Kesteven Random Factor.

tats a fair point to make Northwind...i hadnt noticed theat the first review was for the 1 and the second for the latest 0.
but even then the frame is the same as are the shocks and forks. as you would expect with a more expensive model it uses more expensive and upmarket kit such as the SRAM kit...but he seems to be gushing about the bike in the first review but in the second, if you read his final paragraph he seems to suggest that its not a good bike to ride (not very lively and not stiff enough) even with all these upgrades especially given the price. he then hints that the 1 may be more tempting but then he baulks at the price tag (which in all fairness has gone up by about £700). but then if one bike rides shit, then surely the other rides even worse with lesser parts?
this is the weird bit considering he nearly creamed himself over the same bike in the first review.

as for geometry as far as i can see the geometry for the both the 2015 and 2016 frames are exactly the same

speaking of geometry i checked the geometry of my 09 Reign X2 last night
head angle - 64.5
seat angle - 70
wheelbase - 1150

the current reign advanced in the same small size
head angle - 65
seat angle - 73
wheelbase - 1150

That doesn't look right. Unless you're running an offset headst and shock.

The 2009 x2 Should be 67 head angle, and 72.5 seattube.and its a 1140mm wheelbase for a medium, or 1120mm for small.

Were you looking at the Glory?

Also... The guys under 5'9 going for a large... What length dropper do you run? I'm 32" leg, and wouldn't be able to run a 150mm dropper, as it would bottom out on the seattube junction.

Gonzy - I wouldn't tell you not to spend £5k on one, but I couldn't afford to myself so I did it on the cheap.

£1.5k for the 2 Ltd in the sales - this came with Pike & reverb stealth
£200 for XT 11sp bits
£120 for Zee brakes
£350 for Crossmax XL from CRC (BC discount)
£80 for a good selection of new & secondhand 650b tyres

By the time I sold the stuff that came on it I've not spent much more than £2k for a really nice spec bike.

What p**ses me of with these reviles is when you get a group test.

Bike A "has quite wide 24mm rims giving the tyres loads of volume and support"

Bike B "has too narrow 24mm rims that cause the tyres to squirm in the corners"

WTF do these [s]magazines[/s] comics even have editors?

To me most bikes are pretty good these days, most of the difference is down to fork/shock selection/tune and tyres.

Chakaping - ive seen the current 2015 models on sale at a reduced price of just over £3k
im going to go for a 2016 model in the hope that i can get one at a reduced price...if not then wifey has offered to contribute the rest

That doesn't look right. Unless you're running an offset headst and shock.

The 2009 x2 Should be 67 head angle, and 72.5 seattube.and its a 1140mm wheelbase for a medium, or 1120mm for small.

running offset bushes and 170mm travel Marzocchi 55cr fork. the fork is longer than similar travel forks so hence the slack head angle

Were you looking at the Glory?

nope...i was looking at the 2016 Reign Advanced...geometry can be found [url= http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/reign.advanced.27.5.0/25008/90566/#geometry ]here[/url]

Were you looking at the Glory?
nope...i was looking at the 2016 Reign Advanced...geometry can be found here

I think he meant were you looking at the 09 Glory instead of the 09 Reign X.

Geo for 2009 Regin X is:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/reign.x1/2415/32131/

H/A 67
Seat 72.5

Another great quote by the same author...

"The Tarn's personality is lively and playful – what you want from a plus bike"

What?! Isn't the point of plus sized tyres stability and grip? If you want liveliness and playfulness wouldn't you have stayed 26er? WTF.

I think he meant were you looking at the 09 Glory instead of the 09 Reign X.

Geo for 2009 Regin X is:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/reign.x1/2415/32131/

H/A 67
Seat 72.5

the angles i gave were the angles i measured on my bike using a digital inclinometer...i then compared them to the current reign geometry

just seen what looks like the new 2017 model and its looks damn good!!
my mind is now definitely made up...

[img] [/img]

Hoping they bring framesets in this year. If not, will wait until the revised version is released next summer/autumn

Hoping they bring framesets in this year

The US market had the frameset option last year, but Giant UK elected not to bring them in. I'm probably going to wait until next year, as would hazard a guess they will introduce the metric shock to the Reign. No real performance gain from swapping from a 2015 to 2017 frame.

No framesets again this year (friends owns a Giant store).

How about getting a nice watch?

I work at very large giant store and we have been told that they are bringing in framesets this year to the uk

oooohhhh so who's lying??!

How did you get on with this gonzy?

Interested in one myself.

The German Giant site has all the weights:
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/de-de/bike-catalogue/series/mountainbikes/21/

I have a 2015 Trance and love it, it climbs fast and descends well, but I do sometimes find myself wishing I had bought the Reign.. depends what terrain you are going to be riding..

Don't listen to what the mags say about the 46mm offset, it feels loads better on steep stuff simply because it puts the wheel further out in front of you.

As for head angle, the true, real world angle is actually about 64.5 degrees.

The 46mm offset makes hardly any difference going downhill, I've swapped out my pikes for some 42mm offset lyriks and after swapping back for a bit decided there's actually f'all difference, maybe very slightly slower steering with the 42mm but that's it.

What's the real world weight of an advanced reign? Loved my old trance but want to start riding some bigger stuff next year.

My Advanced 1 was 32.1lbs, dead stock with XT Trail pedals.

It's now at 29.7lbs (1 x 11, carbon cranks, carbon bars, Easton Heist 30 wheels, Grid/Supergravity tyres tubeless).

My Reign was my first proper mtb, rode it from 2006 to 2012 as my only bike. XC to Alps. Obviously the new models share little except the name but its such an important product for Giant I can't imagine they'd screw it up. The new bikes look great and ime the frame pedalled well and descended even better and you can upgrade or not as you wish.

Was that an XL Reign Advanced? My Reign 2 Alu weighs 32.5lb and the only thing I've done to reduce weight is go 1x11.

I guess it weight 33.1lb before though - so the carbon must be a fair bit lighter. It's just a lot pay for a 32.2lb stock bike.

What's the real world weight of an advanced reign? Loved my old trance but want to start riding some bigger stuff next year.

My ali reign hovers around 30lbs, depending on tyres. Would expect for the same build, the advanced would be approximately 1lb lighter.
[img] [/img]

Thanks, was hoping around 30lb. I know weight isn't everything and it's more how it pedals but I'd be using it for everything so I don't want to be dragging a big lump round if I'm on a decent ride.

How's the sizing in the reign? Was going to go for a medium being 5' 9" with a 32" inseam.

Mine's a large. I'm 5'10" with a 33" inside leg - large is perfect for me.

Sounds like I'd better get to a dealer and cock a leg over one, thanks proutster!

Chucked a leg over a large alu and a medium advanced today. Tried the large first on which I felt a little stretched then the medium which felt fine but lower at the front, I know the large has a slightly longer head tube but I didn't check the sag on either.

Could probably get away with a large but I'm not convinced.

You could probably go either way.

Large with a shorter stem maybe?

Check what length stem the full builds come with, also bear in mind the bars are pretty wide at 800mm and check if the seatpost has any offset (last years giant ones were circa 25mm!). So swapping to a shorter stem and a more sensible width bar and a inline seatpost (unless one was fitted to the bike you tried), the large will feel a little smaller.

bluearsedfly, I'd say you were more of a medium than a large, especially if you are using it for everything. FYI, I am 6ft with a 33" inside leg, I have a large with a 40mm stem and a 780mm bar, 170mm dropper (with seat slammed forward in the rails to get weight over the front for climbing)

How did you get on with this gonzy?

Interested in one myself.

not managed to swing a leg over one yet. i need to head over to my LBS and arrange a demo ride...but due to the father in law passing away a fortnight ago and this week our house sale falling through...i dont think talking new £4k bike purchase is the best topic to be discussing with the wife!!

most likely i'll be going for the advanced 1 but i do like the look of the reign sx but it only shows up on the US website and not the UK website...so my guess is its only available for the US market

even if the bike weighed 32lb...i'd be happy with that...my current reign x2 weighs in between 35-37lb depending on which wheels and tyres i've got on it

5.11 here and ride a large, felt streched out with a 60mm stem so swapped to a 35mm - feels perfect now.

5.11 here and ride a large, felt streched out with a 60mm stem so swapped to a 35mm - feels perfect now.

5'8" so i'll most probably be going for a medium but i'm going to try a small as well as the size charts put me between the 2 sizes

Sorry to hear that gonzy, sounds like a proper shit fortnight.

Nearly 12 months to the day I had to sell my Spitfire as we were running out of money moving house, the survey on our house found knotweed and the survey on the house we were buying said we needed to carry out structural engineers reports etc. It ended up costing us around 8k more than we budgeted for with the above and other stuff. We'd sold cheaper than we wanted to and went over budget with the house we bought. I never thought I'd be looking at another 'proper' bike ever again. I'm sure your time will come!

The stem on the large only looked around 50mm so I'm not sure going down in length would make that much difference. Bars were very wide but I did try riding with my hands over the brake/shifter clamps but still felt stretched.

The large just felt really 'long' and as Sir HC mentioned I'd be worried about the front lifting on steep climbs. The medium just felt a bit more agile. I've always ridden medium everything else so I think I may stick with it.

Thanks.

You learn to ride around the front lifting on climbs - it only happens on very very steep gradients. You can go shorter than 35mm, down to 30 or even 25 if you don't mind forking out for the PDent bar/stem combo.

The Mediums reach is only 13mm less. 50 to 35 is a 15mm loss so you can more than make it back.

My fathers riding a bike thats as long as mine in the reach and he's 5 foot 8. He loves it (Nukeproof Mega 275 - which is one inch shorter in the seat tube for the same reach).

I'd always go for 35mm or less stem these days.

In case anyone's interested, before spending money - I've got a frame kit Advanced Team for sale. I wouldn't normally post it up here, but could save a good amount of cash....

Very nice bike, I just prefer single pivot bikes these days 😉

[img] [/img]

Daft question, but what would I be gaining from going to a large with a short stem? The reach would then be the same, the front slightly higher which I admit felt a bit better (on the car park), but what else would I gain?

my current bike is a 2009 reign x2. its a small but the long top tube means that the frame measures up more like a medium. i also run a 50mm stem.
ive sat on the 2016 reign and it felt pretty much spot on so id be interested to see how the small measures up if only for comparison. i didnt take the bike for a spin as it didnt have any pedals fitted and i was in a rush...so im going to wait for the 2017 stock to arrive.

funnily enough i got told that the reign is the only bike that giant didnt have in its demo fleet last year...maybe that will change this year.

the interesting bit will be the geometry for me. my current bike runs a 170mm fork and also has 170mm at the rear. with the offset bushes the head angle is a very slack 65 degrees.
but like tom said once you sit on the bike and account for body weight the head angle will slacken off. mine drops to 64 degrees.
so with the current head angle on the 2017 bike being 65 degrees i would be surprised for it to drop to 64.5 degrees once the rider sits on it.
the reign sx also has the same 160mm rear travel but the front fork runs on 170mm so the stock head angle is 64.5 degrees...i would imagine that it would drop to 64 degrees or less once the rider weight has been added.
i like my bikes nice and slack...so ideally the alu sx is more appealing to me but its not a deal breaker....id still be more than happy with the reign advanced 1

why does it have to be such hard work deciding on a bike??

Daft question, but what would I be gaining from going to a large with a short stem? The reach would then be the same

The frame reach would be longer, more of the distance to the bars would be made up of frame, giving the bike a longer front centre = more stability.

Think I'm going to have to sit on them both again, it just feels like a big risk plumping for a large then swapping the stem and bars it the hope it will feel better.

Will the longer wheelbase of the large not make it hard work on the tight stuff? 46.9" for the medium and 47.9" for the large Reign versus 45.4" for my old bike.

I cope fine with my Reign on the tighter trails (cannock off piste). My Trance is a bit shorter and more nimble, so a little quicker.

Something else to consider is where you position your body on the bike, if you ride off the back of the bike, a medium will make more sense, keeping weight on the front to get the bike to turn.

Rickon
How old is your frame, size? I've been thinking of going from my single pivot back to maestro..

Thanks Sir HC, after going to another dealer today and from what I've read here I'm going with a medium. I presume by riding off the back of the bike you mean generally having my arse over the back wheel? If so that's how I tend to ride most stuff that doesn't involve pedalling.

Gold-digger, my Reign above is a medium, and is about 9 months old. But in that time I was off the bike for about 2 months with injury.

The front triangle looks new, the back end looks in excellent condition.

Long shot, but is anyone here running a 150mm dropper on a medium frame?

Looks like it might be a tight fit.